Hellas on Rails

The last time that I was in Greece (not counting airport stop-overs) was the summer of 1994. Two weeks of a high school senior trip were spent there – one week seeing sights on the mainland, and one week on Patmos, the home island of our AP World History teacher and chaperone, Mr. V. Of course, some of us behaved like complete hellions and Mr. V swore he would never take another trip. He ended up skipping one year, then taking it again. Big softy.

Those memories in mind, I took the public bus in town from the airport. I arrived at my hotel around midnight and decided that I really needed a drink. The desk guy said that there were some bars near the Hilton, so I walked in that direction. I settled into a small bar one block down from the Hilton and ordered a beer. The bartender gave me Bud in a bottle – it was 6 Euros. Drinking ain’t cheap in these parts. Next I ordered a gin and tonic, and after watching the way she poured it (heavy), I knew I had found my poison for the night. So, I sat there and continued for a couple of hours. The DJ was playing Latin music that I had not heard since living in Central America.

I woke up late, which was fine, as the fair did not begin until 2pm. I saw the sights of Athens back in 1994 and didn’t feel like fighting traffic and pollution to see them again. Besides, the Parthenon is in pieces right now. It was recently discovered that the last time it was put together they did it wrong. Oops. Next war, don’t use it as an arsenal. Accidents with large quantities of gunpowder tend to spread pieces far and wide (ok, it wasn't the Greeks fault - It was the Ottomans and Venetians fighting).



Above is the view that I shared with a few other reps after the fair, at the rooftop bar of the Hilton. That's all we had - the view. Drinks were way past our budget so we skedaddled after drinking some free water. We walked to an outdoor cafe area where prices were more in line with the salary of people in higher education. We actually ended up picking a place that had just opened, and they threw us some free ones as well.

I had to run at about 10:30pm. I had a midnight train to catch, along with a rep I shall call G.Ru, whom I convinced should accompany me to Thessaloniki for some school visits. A little adventure. We bought tickets on the spot. We dragged our luggage on with us. It looked like we might not even get a seat, then we found a couple in a nearby compartment. Then the ticket guy came by. Half the people in our compartment got thrown out. We paid to stay. I might have gotten a couple hours of sleep. Hard to tell. It was all very hazy. At 7am we reached Thessaloniki and took a cab to the Astoria Hotel. We were due at the school at 10am. I got another 1.5 hours of sleep. Not sure how G.Ru did. The kids at the school might have thought we were brain dead. We felt like it. The school counsellor told us that we missed some amazing scenery, having taken the night train. Wonderful. After the visit we crashed again. Apparently the train also passed through Thermopylae. One of the most incredible events of world history occurred here. Read about it here. See the kick-ass trailer for the movie based on the graphic novel "300" by Frank Miller here.



Above is the waterfront of Thessaloniki


Aristotle Square


A restaurant called "Kitchen" where we had dinner.


An old tower viewed from Starbucks, where I did some internet.



The waterfront pedestrian area runs from the vicinity of the port to the tower - about a mile. There are bars, restaurants, and cafes lined up one after another. Often, and establishment serves as all three. Below are some examples.







I definitely need to come back and spend more time in Thessaloniki. G.Ru and I were too tired to enjoy the nightlife after dinner. We just crashed. She had an early flight, I got to enjoy the town 'til about noon before heading to the airport and Munich.