Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki, Greece
72 degrees, sunny


Where do I begin....
Thessaloniki is not exactly the romantic Grecian paradise I envisioned it to be.  There are several reasons for this I believe.  One - it is November and thus the "off season."  Two- Greece is poorer than usual right now.  Three- Greece is taking a lot of shit for the damage they did to the economy so moral is low.  And four is that I had unusually high expectations coming away from my trip to Barcelona.  Despite these factors I like exploring the city, have met some nice people (also some very rude people), and have had some delicious Greek food.

Quick observation:
I know it is sunday and people in europe are really into sunday as a day of rest, but Greece takes it to a whole new level.  The city was covered in nappers.  Literally people were napping everywhere: benches, beaches, grassy spots, you name it - they'll nap on it.

Moving on- here's what I saw today.

The White Tower, previously the tower of blood when it was used as a prison/ torture chamber by the Ottomans, is calleed the white tower because in exchange for his freedom a slave whitewashed the entire thing.  That's a pretty big job for one guy.
At the end of the ocean walk, the tower is a symbol of the city.

A little further down the street, a statue of Alexander the Great.  Thessaloniki is named after his sister Saloniki

We took a short little boat ride around the inlet and got some pretty great views of the city.

 

We headed to the old city at the top of the hill next.  What is so incredible to me is the way the ruins of this ancient city are incorporated into the city today.  In many cases this is a good thing but it can also be a little sad to see the foundations of some ancient building covered in plastic bottles and other trash.

 

There is also a SERIOUS cat issue here.  They beg for food outside restaurants, and like many of the people here can be found nappin' all over da place.

 

We had more amazing views from the top of the hill.

We also wandered around this gorgeous monastery for a little while.  Unfortunately like everything else here today, it wasn't open.  Maybe next time.

Tomorrow I off to Athens- more from there!


Allison