My Greek Adventure
 

Start of my Greek Adventure- ThesslonikiWe have been here in Thessloniki for 4 days, I’m just getting around to starting a trip report. Getting here from California was - let’s just say an adventure. I was originally scheduled to fly from SNA-DFW-JFK on Sunday April 30 to meet up with my daughter. On Sat. 4/29 I started getting weather alerts from American Airlines about severe weather in New York. Ok so I quickly punted and changed my flight to the first flight out of LAX on Sunday morning. Good thing I did, about 1 hr after I landed the weather turned really bad, thunder lightning and streets flooded everywhere. A lot of flights were canceled.
My daughter and I had reserved seats together so I could help her w her baby, at the last minute Delta split us up. We had called ahead of time to plead our case, but they didn’t care. I was stuck three rows back in the middle of the plane. I couldn’t really help her. Luckily she was seated between two nice ladies who helped a lot. The good news was that the entire Greek Presidential Guard was on our plane!, they are the troops that march in Syntagma Square.
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And I still don’t know if my husband is going to join me😞

That is such a wonderful photo. Off to a good start!

Greece is on my bucket list. Getting there does seem to be a challenge and it's one reason we haven't been there yet. Definitely will follow along with interest and I love that photo!!

Awesome photo! Should be on the cover of a guidebook!

Is it cold there? I notice you are wearing a jacket.

Thessaloniki updates
 

Yes it was cold with some rain the first three days were here- Tues May 2;- Thurs May 4. The weather has turned really nice sunny low 70’s. I should share the lovely apartment we are renting- great location on the walking street Dimitriou Gounari. Two blocks from the water. We rented it on Airbnb, the owner is Marina. This place is wonderful, she has everything you will need for your stay. Super nice lady. I’ll attach photos. Sorry I’m having problems uploading photos.

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This is the desk area, lots of interesting travel books
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View from our balcony Thessaloniki Bay
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Looking up the pedestrian walkway

Your photos give us a clue..you did well with your decision! I will be along for the ride....wishing you the best!!

Marina’s apartment in Thessaloniki
 

Ok more apartment photos

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Living room
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Dining room

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2nd bedroom has a small 1/2 bath
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2nd bedroom has small 1/2 bath





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Hall bathroom

Macedonia
 

Yesterday we traveled out to several archeological sites. The first, Veria, was in a beautiful hillside town. The museum was really quite nice, lots of historical exhibits about Macedonia and the town itself.
we then ventured on to the tomb of tomb of Phillip the II in Vergina. He was the father of Alexander the Great who was assassinated by one of his guards. One theory is that one of his seven wives was behind the plot to assassinate him because she hated him and wanted her son Alexander to be king and ruler of Macedonia.
Our last stop was a new museum which held a lot of items from Macedonian royalty. The whole area around Vergina is where the Macedonian royalty were buried . I’ll try and attach some photos

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The tomb was in a huge underground vault
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Body armour
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More photos
 

I’m going to add more photos, I haven’t been feeling great, I have caught a cold. Probably from the airplane. Yesterday- Sunday- we slept in and then walked around town. Went to the flower market and large food market. Lots of things were closed. We had a lovely lunch on the waterfront.
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Aristotle Square
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Lunch
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Beautiful day on the bay

Following along and enjoying your photos. Hope you overcome your cold quickly.

What a super first shot, uppsala30! The flat and views are great also.

Denisea, many years ago, DH and I took a guided 2-week trip to Greece that included one week in Athens with day trips, then another week cruising islands. It was a good idea for us as newbie travelers. As a seasoned one now, I'd still appreciate someone else schlepping for ferry tickets, cars, tours, etc. This TR should help with DIY travel mechanics.

Today we spent some time visiting local churches. First we went to Hagia Theodora monastery, which I believe is affiliated with Mt Atnos. Second we visited Hagia Sophia one of the oldest churches in the city still standing. It was built in the 7th century. When the Ottomans took over in 1430 it was converted to a mosque. Converted back to a Greek Orthodox Church in 1912.
We also stopped into the Rotunda, which is part of the palace of Galerius- those sites are further down the street. One part of the Arch of Galerius ( no longer standing) had portraits of all 4 Roman Emperors in power at the time. The mosaics inside the rotunda are amazing

Hagia Theodora
 

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Ceiling @ Hagia Theodora
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Outside of chapel
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Interior ceiling
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Hagia Theodora
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Hagia Sophia
 

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Outside of Hagia Sophia
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Chapel
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Rotunda, the roof here has been reconstructed- it was originally lined with marble
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Peacocks were worshipped in early Christianity- associated with paradise
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Mosaics
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Ancient front entrance
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Chapel, added on after the Church was converted back from the Ottomans

Amazing photos of the churches. I've never seen any photos from Macedonia. Very interesting. What is your reason for visiting Macedonia? You may have told us but I don't remember. It's not overflowing with tourists, I would assume.

On my bucket list so on for the ride. Excellent photos.

Karen, my daughter is an archeologist and is doing some research here in Thessaloniki at the Archeological museum. I am taking care of my grandson while she is at work. This is the slower part of my trip, and I am enjoying the pace, lots of naps for the baby. I am still battling a cold, We are going to do a couple of day trips at the end of the week. One place I would like to see is Dion, which is very close to Mt. Olympus.

On the topic of tourists here, very few English speaking tourists. Most tourists seem to be from the Balkans, at least that’s what my daughter thinks. They used to get a lot of Russian tourists, but not now. My daughter speaks Greek so that helps us a lot. Most everyone speaks at least a little English. People seem to always speak English to me, even if I haven’t said anything. My daughter told me it’s because I don’t look Greek at all, I have blonde hair and I don’t dress in all black. Black clothing is Omni-present here. All of the kids wear baggy black pants and jackets, adults are often in all black. Even the younger people. I think it’s too hot for black so I brought my summer clothes and shorts.