Thessaloniki
After four days in the Pindos mountains, entering a big city is quite a shock. Our hotel is in the town center. Before we start to discover the city, we're looking for a quiet place to adapt to the new environment. We decide to walk to the seafront. On our way, we cross the colourful Ladadika quarter. It seems pretty deserted at the beginning of the afternoon.
Right next to the warehouses, we find a very nice place that offers a splendid view over the seafront with the Platia Aristotelous and the White Tower.
Walk along the seafront to the White Tower
Some highlights: The Nuts Factory - feast for the eyes; the Platia Aristotelous, the main city square of Thessaloniki; and a typical sign post that for longer walks indicates the number of calories burned.
We visited museum in the White Tower that gives an overview of the history of Thessaloniki and enjoyed the view from the roof We are looking forward to visit the upper parts of the town tomorrow.
Now we want to see the “Umbrellas”, an impressive work of art by the famous sculptor Giorgios Zoggolopoulos. The umbrellas are 13 meters tall and give the impression that they reach the sky. We had discovered the work of Zoggolopoulos last year in the Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art in Andros.
To decide where to go next, we first have a look at the restaurant recommandations in our traval guide. The "Bit Bazaar" sounds good. Several restaurants in a quiet patio, not too expensive and not too far from our hotel.
So we cross a lively parc before we head to Gounari Street with the Galerian Complex, the most important monumental group in Thessaloniki, built at the turning point of the Roman and Byzantine Empire, with the ruins of the Galerian Palace, the Galerian Arch and the Rotonda.
Today, we want to follow the city walls from the citadelle down to the harbour. Instead of taking the bus number 23 we decide to walk up there and visit some interesting places on the way. We walk along Egnatia street to Hamza Bey Mosque where a new metro station is being built. Next stop: the Church of Panagia Chalkeon built in the 11th century.
Next to the church, Bey Hamam, the oldest of all the Ottoman baths in Thessaloniki. We'll spend a lot of time there because not only the building is fascinating but there's also an exhibition of the great fire of 1917 and its aftermath.
Now it's time to plan our walk up to the Kastro quarter from where we want to follow the old Byzantine walls. So we start climbing uphill. Ano Poli, the upper town is very different from what we saw so far: a web of winding, narrow stone paved streets, small beautiful houses - you feel like time stood still. But we don't have much time to take pictures beacuse all of a sudden the sky turns dark and it starts raining like hell. We find shelter under the roof of a garage but it doesn't protect enough. All of a sudden, the owners of the garage come back from the market, and they invite us to stay at their house and have some coffee until the rain ceases: another example of Greek hospitality.
During the afternoon, there are still some rain showers, but we can do our walk along the Byzantine walls as planned. Starting from the citadelle (Eptapirgio), that from 1890 to 1989 served as a prison, we explore the Kastro quarter. Inside the citadelle, there are still some hailstones.
We pass by a panorama cafe, and we can't resist. It's very nice up there, the music is just to our taste.
Afterwards, we stop at the Monastery of Vlatadon (Moni Vlatadon), one of the oldest and most important Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki, that also offers a splendid view over the town.
There are only a few pictures from our way down. Not far from the harbour an interesting modern building in which a part of the ancient wall has been integrated. There are still some remains of the Fortress of Vardari that once watched the harbour.
Downtown, it's a desaster. First, we notice, that the traffic lights aren't working anymore. Then, we understand that in a big part of the city the power went out. In many shops and restaurants, there's mud and water, and there's a lot of pumping going on. There's no electricity in our hotel neither. We decide to walk as long as we come to a quarter where the electricity is working and to look for a restaurant there. The strategy works out. We find a nice place to eat not too far from the hotel.
The next morning, the power functions again. Unfortunately, it's the last day of our holidays. We have two hours time, before a taxi brings us to the airport. This is a good possibility to visit the markets nearby.
