After a quick short stopover on Christmas Day in Istanbul, I flew to Thessaloniki. I arrived at night and took the local bus into town. Free bus ride as the driver didn’t accept cash. The city was full of life and there was heavy traffic. This is on Christmas Day. I got to my hotel and checked into my tiny room. I enquired about the train station as I would need it in a few hours. I had an early train on my birthday to Meteora. By the time I fell asleep and woke up again, I had only 4 hours of sleep. I walked 45 minutes to the station and was surprised by al the shops still open. There were many people still out and about.
After a few hours on the train and a shaky change over to another train I finally reached Meteora. The sunrise over the beautifully shaped mountains let me know I was here. It was so cold and I didn’t really have the right clothes for this windy weather. I headed for the agency with whom I bought the tour from. I was early but luckily a lady (the owners mum) let me in and gave me some tea. An hour later the tour started.
I have always wanted to come here to see the amazing monasteries and churches perched on the tops of mountains. They almost look like they’re going to slide off. I spent the morning visiting as many monastery topped mountain as possible. When the tour ended I had almost 5 hours to kill in this really small town until my train back to Thessaloniki. If I had planned it better I may have stayed the night. The weather got warmer as the day went along and then got colder again. By the time my train arrived I was freezing. There was a change over again but instead of the 1 minute we did this morning, this change over took two hours. I found a waiting room with some heating and waited for the train. It was nearly midnight by the time I got back to my hotel in Thessaloniki.
I was flying back to Istanbul and then onto Van on 29th. So I had two days to explore this city. The harbour was near my hotel and it was lovely. The sun was shining but it was still cold. I walked as far as I could until the harbour got ugly. There were many families out and about. There were people fishing and selling chestnuts. The square was the busiest part of town. The ice rink was full to bursting and the music was loud. It was just Christmas after all. The city was ready for New Year’s Eve celebrations. I was in heaven as I had found the best pastry shop ever. I found Agapitos Patisserie and my favourite custard puddings were sold. Unfortunately they sold everything by weight and custard is damn heavy. It was an expensive treat but it was Christmas. The party shop was always full of people and the queues were long. So it must be good.
The next day I explored the other part of the city, away from the harbour. Well that was a mistake. I didn’t realise how run down the place was. There were so much graffiti on everything from walls to shop doors and even schools. It just made the place look ugly. Even some monuments had graffiti on it. It is such a shame. I stayed near the harbour until I left for Istanbul. The eyesore that was the rest of Thessaloniki just made me mad.
