Thoughts on Thessaloniki

We have been home from Greece now for a couple of weeks and have had plenty of opportunities to answer questions about Greece; what was it like? Was it clean? How was the economy? Did we feel safe? Were there any problems? And many more. So we thought it might be nice to break down the two major cities that we visited (Athens and Thessaloniki) and give our feelings on them. Hopefully, this will help others to see (and for us to remember) what our little window of time in Greece was like. Please bear in mind, this was just our experience and how we viewed being there with two young children.

Our first day out in Thessaloniki, we were both very surprised at the disrepair of the city. There is graffiti everywhere, streets and sidewalks crumbling and buildings in desperate need of work. 

With each historical landmark we located, we were always surprised at how every spare inch of the walls and signs around them were covered in graffiti. Many stores have been closed down and boarded up (eg: the "bustling street full of great cafes to sit and have lunch" that our walking guide suggested we stop at was now a street with only a select one or two places to get pastries at). It was sad to see the great need that was around us. 

Against that backdrop though, the people and culture quickly absorbed us into their world. We were welcomed with opened arms from worried citizens. Those that we talked to whom live in Thessaloniki (store employees, owners, hotel staff, Jason's research associates etc.) were eager to ask us how we liked their city, if we felt safe and to apologize that we had come at such a time. The people were incredibly kind and absolutely adored children. 

It was so easy to fall in love with the people, the pastel colored buildings,

the orange trees that ran along the sidewalk,

the musical talent...

the interesting choice in street sculptures...

and the bakeries...oh, it was soooo easy to fall in love with the bakeries. 

Yes, there was a protest while we were there. No, there were no riots. Yes, we felt safe. Did we enjoy our time - absolutely.

With all that in mind, this is not a city for those who are looking for big tourist attractions. There are certainly things of interest to see and do, but we enjoyed it most by exploring the city without an agenda and talking to the people. Being there certainly took on a whole new element as we spruced up on our Bible history before and during our visit. We were happy to have spent a short time here to see a small glimpse of the city.

Oh, and for those who have been wondering about the "spitting" thing that we have mentioned. The Greek spit for two reasons (at least according to what we have been told). One, is when they are talking about bad news and they spit three times to keep the bad spirits away. The other reason is for when they compliment a baby/child or even adult for their beauty, they will also spit three times. It is pretty traditional.

So, there you have it, our little answers and feelings about the questions!

Greece - Day 2 (Thessaloniki)

On our second day in Thessaloniki we knew that Jason would be in meetings until late in the evening so the kids and I planned a nice, relaxed day which was much needed after yesterday's overdose on walking and sugar. Atticus awoke requesting fresh fruit for breakfast. Unfortunately, fresh tomatoes was the best we could muster up (we ate all our fruit supply from the day before), but he was pretty happy about that.

Then we headed off to spend the morning at the Archaeology Museum. For the first half hour we were there, we had the place entirely to ourselves which gave Atticus ample opportunity to have every single sign read to him in the exhibit on gold (at his request). Then the teenage-aged school groups starting coming in and were treating the kids like local celebrities with plenty of 'ooooo's and "ahhhh"s, pictures, cheek pinching, and even some spitting. Thankfully, I snapped a couple of photos of the kids before they got a little overwhelmed by all the attention.

After leaving the museum we went in search of lunch. Atticus had put in a request to have veggies for lunch. (you could definitely tell that we had all had an overdose on sugar the day before.) Trying to find veggies that are already prepared/easy to prepare with limited resources in downtown Thessaloniki was proving to be an impossible task though. While in search we wandered through the park by the seaside and caught another glimpse of the Alexander the Great statue.

I was just about to give up on the search for veggies when I found a Crepery all the way up by the arch that sold veggie crepes - YES! Rather sad when that was the best I could find. We loaded up two crepes with lettuce and corn (the only veggies they had on offer that weren't with some heavy sauce) and sat next to a dog on a bench, soaking up sunshine and enjoying the view of the arch in front of us. The kids thought it was pretty wonderful to have all birds gathering around us to snatch up all of our spilled corn.

Then it was off to the hotel in hopes of a short nap before heading back out. 

Naps didn't happen as we were all a little too excited to get back out. So the kids got an afternoon bath and we dressed to head back out. 

We had no particular destination in mind, the goal was to explore every possible street and see what there was to be found.

The kids enjoyed the toy stores that we stumbled upon but especially loved the candy/dried fruit/nut store we went in where they were completely gushed over, spat on and given treats. 

We stayed out way past bedtime. Atticus wore his little feet completely out. To be honest, I cannot remember much of what we saw, but we laughed a lot and soaked in every little detail that Atticus or Milayla paused to look at. 

We really lucked out and managed to catch Daddy before the kids went to bed. And Daddy even left a couple of sweet treats for Mommy (to enjoy after the kids were sleeping) before heading back our for more meetings.

It was spaghetti for Atticus (his leftovers that he promised he would eat) and greek salad for mommy then off to bed!

Called Kalitsounia Kritis, these little Greek Cheesecakes are my absolute favorite dessert right now. The ones we tried were from Ble Bakery and they were divine.

Greece - Day 1 (Thessaloniki)

Day 1 involved a lot of walking and a lot of eating. 

The view outside our hotel window. You can't see it very well, but there is a big castle on the hill in the background.

Our first official day in Greece was in Thessaloniki; the 2nd largest city in Greece. This was where Jason's meetings were going to be. We had a full day with Jason all to ourselves so we wore out our feet by traipsing all over that little city to see as much as we could. 

We began our day with breakfast at our hotel which consisted of our first boughasta (a sweet pastry made with phyllo), our first Pantespani (a sponge cake soaked in syrup) and a very large helping of fresh tomatoes, olives and feta. Not the most well-rounded breakfast but oh-so-tasty! 

Then we hit the ground running. First stop after our big breakfast - a bakery :)

Not just any bakery though, we were told that this was the bakery to go to and that we would smell it before we saw it and boy, did we ever! We got a few assorted sweet treats along with a Tsoureki loaf (a greek easter bread flavored with Mahlab; ground wild cherry pits). Atticus loved the tsoureki and is still asking for more tsoureki! 

(And, on a related note, is there anyone who can enlighten us as to what the sweet below is called? It had a glazed, doughy outside and was filled with cinnamon, sugar and walnuts. It was very delicious. Thanks!)

Of course, on our way to the bakery we continuously pinched ourselves at how awesome it was to be in Greece. We adored not being able to read any of the signs and took pictures of random store fronts merely because it was all in Greek. We have no idea what any of the signs actually said so we started trying to find similarities and provide our own translations (all of which were most likely terribly wrong :).

And after the bakery we took our sweets on the road to soak up the sights of the city and a little history. 

We wandered down to the sea and marveled at the large ships out on the water while we caught glimpses of The White Tower (which we stopped at later).

Then back up through the streets to walk through central market where we made sure to stock up on some oranges, bananas and strawberries (to counterbalance all our pastries :). 

The central market led us into a maze of outdoor shops and what felt like a completely different world. It was cramped, smelly and loud as we made our way through corridor after corridor of skinned animals which dangled from the roof with the internal organs ripe for the picking. Anyone for kidney? Jason sure enjoyed the look on Laura's face when a man tried to sell the girls a large, googly-eyed fish, by attempting to place it in Laura's hand. Honestly, it was a bit gruesome in the meat market section, but it was quite the experience to get lost in all those corridors!

I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of all the dead animals (besides, who would really want to see that?) so here is a picture of a very tame fish stall.

And after the market it was on to a few historical ruins...

The Roman Forum...

The Yahudi Hamam (double turkish baths)...

This was all on our way to arrive at the Aghios Demetrios Church (the patron Saint of Thessaloniki). This Church has been through a lot. The original site was built in 321 AD, then a larger Basilica a century later but it burned down so they built a larger one. That larger Basilica was turned into a mosque during the Turkish rule (1491) only to become a Christian Church once more in 1912 (liberation of Thessaloniki!). Sadly, the building was then burned down again in 1917. The existing building has now been functioning since 1948.

And there were plenty of other churches that we stopped to marvel at. Many of the church interiors had their frescos taken down and white washed during the Turkish Rule as they were turned into mosques. 

After tracking down some lunch we made our way back down to the sea side to visit the White Tower. It is easily one of the most recognizable buildings of Thessaloniki and has quite the history. Built in the 5th Century AD it was originally called the Tower of Lions, then it was dubbed the Blood Tower during the Ottoman rule because of the blood of the convicts that were tortured there. And finally it received the name of the White Tower in 1890 when it was white washed by a convict in exchange for his freedom. Now it houses a museum. 

While we were down at the seaside we also tried to go take a look at the statue of Alexander the Great, however, there was construction and we could only get so close...

So we picked out a restaurant on the water to eat dinner at later and headed to the other side of the historical downtown to visit the Arch of Galerius (built in honor of Galerius' triumphant return from defeating the Persians; quite the honor!) and the Rotunda.

At this point our feet were aching and we figured that we all deserved a break so we went back to the hotel where the kids actually took a nap - a very late nap but it gave us a chance to rest before heading out to a late dinner.

We went to a place called Mangio on the water and chose it because it had Mousaka - though most restaurants have it so it was really poor reasoning... It was a great pick though.

The kids loved the restaurant and the waiter, who made sure to recommend all some delicious food from the menu. 

We enjoyed our first Greek Salad actually in Greece, Roasted Beet Root Salad, Piperies me Feta, Tzatziki, Keftedes (Greek Meatballs) and an absolutely delicious piece of Mousaka. Oh, how delicious authentic Greek food is! We indulged and enjoyed every single last bite. Atticus asked to order Spaghetti, which we ordered for him, then he politely declined it when he saw the other food and proceeded to ask for every single olive he could find. And Milayla serenaded us through a good portion of the dinner. 

Seeing that it was Valentine's Day our waiter, Constantino, surprised us with dessert and Ouzo (which we politely declined; the Ouzo, not the dessert :). 

It was a good thing we needed to walk back to our hotel as we were stuffed. A very good day rounded off with a delicious meal!

Greece - Getting There

And we're back! 

We had a lovely trip to Greece. We feel pretty fortunate to have been able to spend so much time all together while seeing some very fascinating places and meeting all sorts of new people. To get all the photos and details up on the blog, we'll be posting in order of each day starting with the fun of getting there - day one!

Since we were flying in the early evening, it meant we had all day Monday to make sure that everything was ready to go and to give the apartment one last clean (it feels so much nicer coming back to a clean home!). After a short nap we headed for the bus, then it was onto the tram.

While on the tram, Milayla, who was in the carrier gagged on a hair and threw up all over herself and Laura. Boy, was that unpleasant for both parties involved. Thankfully, we made it to the airport with enough time to get it all cleaned up in time for Laura to get sick. We were really off to a great start. 

Check in and security went smoothly (short of our back pack needing to be tested for drugs...) then there was nothing to do but wait...and wait...and wait. Our flight was delayed (not by too much though). So we went for a walk through the overpriced duty free where Atticus decided to open a very large bag of overpriced candy in the split second we were not looking. Well, you break it, you buy it...

When we boarded the airplane Atticus was beside himself with how exciting it all was. He could not believe that he was really on an airplane! It got even better when they brought him food. Both kids stayed awake for the first flight and we arrived safely in Zurich where we had a 2 hour layover. 

So we perused the shopping, enjoyed some salads and enjoyed some laughs about the funny things they had at the shops; like a 5kg Nutella. We had Atticus hold it for a photo, to remember just how big it really was. 

Then we found a spot to watch the airplanes land, unload and get prepped for their next flights. 

Unfortunately, when the hour began to get very late and the kids were getting tired, watching the airplanes was not warding off the crankiness as we would have liked. Thankfully, our gate had been announced so we headed off in that direction only to discover a lovely little play area for the kids! The last hour before our flight flew by as we all ran, jumped and laughed in the little play area.

Milayla was beginning to get so tired she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open so she sat on the side lines with Daddy and giggled at all of Atticus' antics.

When we finally got on the plane, Milayla was asleep in Mommy's arms before we even took off and slept for the entire duration of the flight.

Where as Atticus was just too excited to sleep...

Atticus stayed up and colored in his NASA notepad (yes, really...) to pass the time and dutifully fought the urge to fall asleep.

We arrived in Thessaloniki at 2am and were very grateful that we reserved a taxi service to get to our hotel. Our taxi driver was already waiting and greeted us in an enthusiastic, animated, way and even spat on the girls. It was awesome. 

We checked in at the hotel to find out that our suite had only one bed and a baby cot. Milayla got the cot, Atticus got to jump in bed with Mom and Dad. Despite our exhaustion when our heads finally hit the pillows shortly before 4am we were all very excited for the days to come!