I stopped for the week in Thessaloniki, just over the Northern border into Greece. On the sea coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before arriving I had been led by the international press to believe that Greece is bankrupt and descending into poverty and desperation.  HA.  This place is New York City compared to anywhere I have been in my travels this fall.

There are miles of boulevards lined with shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

And upscale consumer merchandise, not plumbing supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

Plenty of comparatively well-dressed people bustle around the city all day, and at night glamor shows up.  My guide book says that this city has more restaurants per capita than any city in Europe.  Certainly they are everywhere.  Probably forty within 300 yards of my hotel, and they are busy from 2PM until after 1AM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The restaurant food is very good, and inexpensive just now with the dollar so strong.

 

 

 

 

 

A glass of wine is 3 or 4 dollars.  An excellent dinner with wine is say 20 to 30 bucks.

I am not going to write much about Greek history. The cradle of western civilization. Certainly there is plenty of history to track down here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just two comments about Thessaloniki:  The city was named after Alexander the Great’s sister.   And, the town was not taken from the Turks until 1914.

Some city snaps:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I like about being here is that I can walk the boulevards taking in the city environment.  Or along the sea wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or east through a seaside park away from the traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, the comments:

Not good things.  Too many beggars.  Way too much graffiti.

Different things.  LOTS of feral cats. Many millennial females have a silver ring through their right nostril. Very thin, like a piece of wire. Their petrol pumps have exceedingly long hoses.

 

 

 

 

 

Good things:  Real tomatoes and bacon. Excellent whole grilled fish. Lamb chops to die for. Tiny chops, not mutton. Exotic spices. Charcoal grilled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, the light.  Byron was correct. The light seems to have a particular glowing quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have my train ticket south. Off the coast. Into the hills. To have a look.