Θεσσαλονικη (Thessaloniki) Part I

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Greece. We basically had 3 sections in our trip, Thessaloniki which is the second largest city in Greece located in the north, is our first stop. We chose this area because we purchased a home rental from a WACAP auction. We knew nothing about the area only that it would be a wonderful escape to relax. It did not disappoint! Relaxation is exactly what we needed after our crazy trip from Seattle to Paris to Athens to Thessaloniki to the rental van (aka the Jumpy) to the hour long drive in the dark to the rental property.







It took forever but we finally made it! The house was wonderful, it had 3 bedrooms enough space for us and our 4 friends a nice kitchen and living room and beautiful outdoor spaces. It was so nice to be able to relax there, read and enjoy the quiet landscape.







First thing we did the next morning was go check out the local grocery store and beach. Siviri was the closest town to us and had a lovely beach area with umbrellas and cafes that brought you drinks and food whenever you wanted it. We stopped at one place for lunch and I ordered a chef salad with sauce. When the salad arrived it had at least a cup of mayo mixed with catchup slathered on top, I was grossed out. But I managed to eat enough bread and tzatziki, to keep full with intermittent bites of lettuce after scrapping off the sauce. Now it was off to the beach, sunscreen applied and we got started on our first day of sun worshiping!





We also had great access to our own private beach, though there were no chairs and umbrellas to entice us to spend a lot of time there. We took the funicular down to the beach (which was an adventure on it's own...it was VERY steep!) that night and took in the beautiful sunset and the amazing smells of the trees, flowers and sea.









The next day we all piled into the Jumpy to drive seriously north and east towards Turkey (said with a fist shaking in the air like on My Big Fat Greek Wedding :) We were headed for Philippi to see the ruins where Paul and Silas preached and were imprisoned. On the way there we found this lion statue. Not sure what it was for or where it came from.




We finally got to Philippi, which was a little further away than any of us really thought. And in the Jumpy, which has no shocks, the baby and I were a little less than happy. The ruins were cool, but the place was HOT. We ate a quick lunch of "toast", which in Greece is a cheese sandwich, and ate my first bag of chips for the trip then headed for the ruins.












At this point I wasn't sure I could make it much farther. It was so unbearably hot, I'd lost my hair thing (so important), sweat was dripping from every pour. I would have NEVER made it in a time period where there was no air conditioning. But we forged on and I saw some lovely patterns that made it worth while.







We even saw ancient toilets and the road to Constantinople.






On the way back we stopped in Kavala or ancient Napoli or New City. It was a beautiful view from above the city and we found some great gelato in the city center.







In the gelato place they had these really cute shaped desserts on a stick. We ended up seeing them in a lot of places. Not only were they fun to look at the shapes and colors, they tasted wonderful!



Back to the Jumpy. It was awful. Really. I felt terrible by the time I got home. Dan and friends went to the pool by our place when we finally got home while I stayed in bed. Once rested I went out and took a few more pictures of the funicular and the view we had.





The next day we decided to discover a little more of our peninsula so we headed to Afitos. It was a very quaint walking town with some interesting buildings and beautiful beach views. Pictures in Part II.