Handsome men in uniform.

Bob in Vatican City.

Stoke, Bob's Vatican shot above will be valued by you both. A cherished memory.
I am glad that your looooong trip went so well. You really got around!
I am done. the SBTR

Thank you, dear zebec.
This report is ridiculous long. I'll throw up a couple more Rome photos. Bob enjoyed his Colosseum and Forum tour while I sketched on the perimeter.

The other thing I wanted to see was the Appian Way, so we took a bus, don't remember which number, found Parco Appia Antica, I think, but never the actual road. Still a highlight for me, out in the fresh air and away from the crowds.

Caesar was not stabbed here.

Stoke the artist, just a couple things.
There is now over on the Rick Steves forum, a thread about travelers sketching whilst abroad. A great deal of the many posts there discuss paintbrushes and like that, while many others talk about art tours. Maybe of interest to you?
Mrs Z enjoys sketching too and we just this week discovered that Moleskine (of travel journal fame) also sells a wide variety of art-related products, painting kits and more---they've branched out big time!

Your second shot above Wow! It is so evocative.
I am done. the sketcherz

Thank you, zebec. I wasn't aware of the Steves forum; will check it out. Your wife and I know that the joy of sketching is not just the final product, but sitting and contemplating something for awhile.

I was looking back over what I wrote earlier, hoping your Glasgow friend held on long enough for the Scotland-Denmark match.

Love that picture of the Forum with the Colosseum in the distance. Definitely the best view! You must have been behind the Senate building.

I'm sure you are right, Susan. Thank you. I took a road that skirts along the western edge of the Forum, up the Capitoline Hill. Excellent view, wall to lean upon, and no entrance fee


She-Wolf copy outside the museum.

Enjoying Forum view and their mobile phones.

Yes, up the Cordonata and around the Senate. I always like to go up there for that view. In that last picture, it looks as though they are more interested in their phones than the wonderful view! They're not even taking pictures with those phones!

I strive to make a trip report helpful and informative. Why, then, didn't I start at the end, Thessaloniki, the least visited spot on our travels, work backwards? People have more information than they need about London, Paris and Rome. Northern Greece, Macedonia, not so much. Also, I have frittered a year away so my memories are dim. Well. Oh, well.

We left Trastevere by bus to Roma Ostiense then train to FCO. Efficient, though Mussolini is long gone, and painless. Arrived SKG in the rain around 2200 and caught a cab to our apartment. The driver was a melancholy old guy but friendly, glad to practice his English. Was on hour 11 of the 14 hrs driving a day to make ends meet, unhappy with the economic situation, and wished his grown children would move to USA or elsewhere in Europe. Not the buoyant national spirit Hannah and I had seen on our trip years ago, when economic bailout was big news. That plus the rain might have affected my impression. .

Our daughter Hannah had arrived early in the day, had been exploring, thought it was all just fine. Her participating in the Istanbul OdessaTango Marathon earlier that week, then a similar event in Thessaloniki, was the genesis of our trip. She'd had great partners/leads in Istanbul, likes to get out and about.

Our apartment was pretty much ideal for us. 5th floor of a modern building with elevator, 3br, with a spacious awninged patio where I had envisioned myself soaking up the sun. Quiet street one block from the seafront promenade, halfway between the old pier and the White Tower. This entire area was razed by fire in the early 1900's, so most of the buildings are modern multistory.

The next morning, Hannah showed us the open market and the ancient excavations nearby: a Roman agora, a forum, and ruins of the palace where Emperor Galerius spent his summer vacations. It was chillier than we expected, with glorious sunshine. Bob wanted a real breakfast, nothing too unusual, so we lighted on Bruno coffee and liked it very much. I had a pastry with feta and spinach, fresh squeezed OJ. We were starting to settle in.

I do like a market.

Part of the Forum, I thin

I can't seem post photos. Will try later.

Well dang it. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Photos look good after I upload them, but then when I say post reply it's all text.

The images help me remember how much I really did enjoy it

THAT FOOD IS MAKING ME VERY HUNGRY THIS MORNING! BACK ON FODORS, after a long absence & enjoying the Europe travel forum again! I hope to put together a new trip soon & the forum.

Great new additions, stokebaily!

Thank you, dear K.

I apprecitae it TravCaf, and look forward to your trip.

Bob doesn't research trips (except before yearly Yellowstone camping he watches YouTube hours of a guy walking trails hoping to encounter bears.) Sometimes this leads to delightful surprise. In this case, I think he expected Greece to be full of pure white Parthenons. Also, as a 20th C suburban white male, he associates graffiti with slums. So, on that first day the betagged vibrant young city failed to enchant him. He talked about wanting to go to Athens, thinking surely it would be more Parthenon-y. Hannah and I put that on the back burner, reality-and logistics-wise. When she and I were in Athens maybe 8 years ago, there was more graffiti per square foot than we had ever seen (though of course it has an actual Parthenon.)

One dish I discovered on that previous trip was bouyiourdi, baked feta, peppers, and tomatoes that the waiter had told us was from Thessaloniki. My goal now was to find the best example in town. Also, we wanted to stretch our legs with a walk up to Ano Poli, the Old Town less touched by the big fire. We set out towards Tsinari Taverna, up the hill on the near side of Ano Poli. Steep! Very steep when approached straight on. I wondered about cars' transmissions. Gritty. Finally we found Tsinari, charming, authentic, open for lunch. Wood stove warmed the dining room. I had the bouyiourdi and calamari, and they were delicious. A lovely and friendly spot. Young couple at the next table were from North Macedonia, and she had a device that printed us a little souvenir photo of the wood stove.. Now on my refrigerator.

Bob vetoed a walk higher up the hill afterwards, worried that I would tumble down the hill, not loving the vibe. But glimpses of the sea!

Sometime that day, Hannah got us an Uber whose driver wanted to know where we were from. When we replied US, he cried: Trump! Trump good! He talk real! We elected not to engage. He delivered us in stony silence.

That evening we walked a block down our atreet, Proxenou Koromila, to The Last Slice, a sweet little takeout pizza hole in the wall where you can get an entire pie or the slice of your choice quickly heated. Just right.

That evening I booked Bob a 16-hour tour to Meteora and the Monasteries, based on fodors recommendations, to get out and see beautiful Greece.