Many many people visit Greece for the Islands, the beaches and the nightlife. I prefer the cities and the historical sites. And the food and the welcoming easy culture.

O.K. Perhaps Greece does not have the remains of Roman wealth and Renaissance art and history to offer the opportunity for unexpected wonderful moments like Italy. The country is say 25 years behind Italy and is a very different culture. But I hardly ever go back to Italy now that the tourists are year round elbow to elbow.

If it were your first visit to Greece, I would of course suggest go to Athens. But you can “see” Athens in two or three days. Of the historical sites I would recommend Olympia and Delfi, leaving the many others to history buffs.

More postcard pictures from Greece: Mystras, Messene, Olympia and Delphi | Lew’s Walkabout

And .. a long preamble to bring me to this .. IF you decide you enjoy Grece and want to hang around more .. then I would suggest Thessaloniki. The city on the bay looking across at Mount Olympus.

This is a very big city, but it feels small in the compact Roman area on the bay. Founded by the Macedonians, it was a small town until expanded by the Romans as a stronghold on their road between Rome and Constantinople.

Occupied for 500 years by the Persians and the Ottomans and accepting hundreds of thousands of Greek refugees from their expulsion from Turkey in the 1920’s .. the amalgamated culture and cuisine are unique.

There are historic ruins, fascinating churches and interesting museums. I enjoyed being here with CAMarchand on her first visit.

Here are links to some previous posts with much more information about the city:

Thessaloniki 2018 | Lew’s Walkabout

Thessaloniki 2024 | Lew’s Walkabout

We are heading over to chilly London for a while. There are numerous posts about London here and so I will probably not check in from there. Going then home for holidays and family visits .. and I will see you here again in February.

Thanks for coming along !