Thessaloniki - May 28

Yesterday was a travel day.  A 2 1/2 hour ride by taxi from Kalamata to Athens.  Then a short flight to Thessaloniki.  Then a taxi ride from the airport to our airbnb.  But each transition takes much time.  We were tired - but Mike went out and got provisions while I started the laundry.  We had tried to carry with us our left over sausages, butter and other items in a cooler with freezer packs.  The freezer packs, butter and a few other items were confiscated at the Athens airport security check.  But the sausages made it!  We also had some dry pasta - so diner could be made.  Mike could only find goat butter at the small local market.  It is Sunday night and most stores are already closed.  Tomorrow turns out to be a holiday, not sure what and some things will be closed.

Today we have scheduled a 5 hour photo tour with Spartakos from Salonica Secret Tours.  He picked up us in his tiny two door car for the drive up to the highest point of Thessaloniki.  The building we viewed had been a Byzantine fortress then  Ottoman, before being transformed into a notorious prison mostly for political prisoners.  The view below is on the second story, just outside the guard tower of the catwalk across the prison open space.  Now they are growing grapes.  I am sure it is so much prettier than it was in actual use.

Back to the ground floor - barbed wire - just to remind you of its last use.

I was in an "artsy" mood, as my husband says.

We drove down to a viewpoint.  Where we met all the tour buses.  We hurried up the tower steps to get some views before they all did.

On to the Vlatadon Monastery where the Apostle Paul was supposed to have preached.

This is the spot below where he stood.

Inside the Monastery.

We continued our tour by walking down the mostly steep streets.  It was worth it to see all the street scenes we would have missed by car.  We both know we will pay for it tomorrow.

Thessaloniki is one of the more colorful cities we have visited.  Both Athens, and Kalamata were very pain in comparison.  We saw a lot of homes in differed shades of green and blue in this old neighborhood.

                                      

Another interesting fact of Greece is that the people do not keep cats as pets.  But they appreciate them as mousers.  So there are a lot of street cats.  The locals feed them to keep them around.

Next, the Osisos David Monastery of Latomoy.

Further down, an Ottoman monument.  You will notice on this post that a lot of things are closed.  Today is some kind of holiday here as well (Memorial Day in the US).  The public officials had off and others could decide for themselves whether to open or not. 

 Local home - loved the colors.

An Ottoman period building.

As in Athens there is a lot of Graffiti.  I liked the picture below with the two gentlemen visiting below it.

 We saw several Ottoman period Hamam or Turkish baths.

The dominant religion in Greece is Greek Orthodox.  One of our guides mentioned that 97% of Greeks identify as Greek Orthodox.  But he added, that they mostly went about their lives, except they celebrated Christmas and Easter big time.

This church is the Church of Agois Dimitrois.

There are a lot of catacombs beneath the city of Thessaloniki.  These are below the church.

And we could not go to a Greek City without seeing a Roman Theatre!

Spartokas than took us to this interesting street.  It was very short, but its claim to fame is the characters that have been placed on top of the first and second stories of the buildings.  He also advised us not to eat here - as they were all "tourist" restaurants, and not very good.

The weather is quickly turning on us.  It has started to thunder and there have been a few sprinkles.  But I loved the little scene below.

As the rain got a little harder we ducked into a restaurant and went to the back of the restaurant to see this painted view.  It reminded me of  being in some places in Las Vegas.

The flood gates have opened.  We paused under an awning to photo this quaint building.  The guy sitting on the right seems to be protected from the rain.

It is now around 2pm, our guide does not have an umbrella.  You can avoid the worst of the rain by keeping under the awnings of the buildings as you walk, except to cross a street.  We decided to give Spartakos a break and stop for a giro for lunch.

This restaurant was just across the street from the 7 story high artwork. 

Finally the rain relented and we continued our tour.  The left hand section seems to be a tiny storefront.  There are cans of spray paint in the lower right section. 

I caught our guide on his phone in that window pane.

Then on to this famous section of French designed buildings around a square.  I think it is Aristotelous Square.  It leads down to the waterfront.

Next is the Agia Sofia Church.  Sofia means "wisdom" in Greek.  Something I did not remember.  It started out as a church, then was converted to a mosque when the Moslem's took over Greece and now is back to being a church.  But it has not lost all of the changes that were made to it along the way.

Our next stop was to have been The Catacombs of Agios Ioannis, but it was closed.

 Now we are back in our neck of the city.  Our apartment is just a block away from here.  Below, the Arch of Galerius.  The scenes depicted on it are the story of his life and exploits.

Our last stop was to be the Church of Agios Georgios.  But, of course, it is closed.  We have one more day in Thessaloniki on Tuesday.  No fixed agenda.  We will try to return to the places that were closed and also get to the port.  Only one more day in Greece, then on to Turkey.