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marginal_margiela Mar 12th, 2007 07:17 PM

Your Impressions of Thessaloniki...
 
Please tell me your impressions of Thessaloniki, Greece. My companions and I will be there for 3 days in July. We are staying at the Makedonia Palace.

Do you have any recommendations on restaurants or fun things to do? Thank you.

Balenciaga

flanneruk Mar 12th, 2007 11:15 PM

Thessalonica (the English for the largest city in Greek Macedonia: I don't tell the Greeks what to call my city in their language, and they've no damn business telling us how to speak ours) is wonderful in parts. Irritatingly, the Makedonia Palace is some distance from the interesting bits, and it's an unpleasant walk in the heat. Cabs are pretty cheap, but drivers got irritated at what for them was a nuisance journey. Buses are reasonably frequent, and you should familiarise yourselves with the payment systems.

There's a good review of some Thessalonica restaurants and its near-incomparable museums at http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34826690.

The Byzantine Museum is terrific, the Archaeological Museum should be finished by midsummer and the Agioritiki Estia seems to have practically permanent, though always changing, exhibitions of things from Mount Athos: its ads around the city were only in Greek, and most guidebooks ignore it. If you don't read the language, it's probably not worth asking the hotel (which knew nothing about things to see, though the staff were nice, if utterly useless about their city), but just go to Egnatia 109.

Navarino Square is one of those places with dozens of adjacent outdoor restaurants. So guide books used words like "fun" about it: they struck me as a kind of inner circle of Hell, and the food loked very mediocre. But the surviving bits of the palace of Galerius in the middle was great to look at, and the food at Aristotelous, in a galleria off Odos Aristotelous, 8 was really remarkable.

marginal_margiela Mar 13th, 2007 06:15 AM

How far would you say the walk is from Makedonia Palace to the White Tower? Isn't it a nice stroll, albeit in the hot Greek sun, along the waterfront?

Thank you for you assistance.

Thingorjus

marginal_margiela Mar 15th, 2007 06:19 AM

Anyone? Anyone? Is this all there is? How Peggy Lee.

GeoffHamer Mar 15th, 2007 07:00 AM

Thessaloniki really isn't a very interesting city. It's actually quite a pleasant place but has few historic buildings of interest to tourists - thanks to fires and earthquakes.
It used to be called "Salonica" in English and was cosmopolitan with large Turkish and Jewish populations, but is now very much a Greek city, though with much passing traffic from the Slav nations to the north.
It's presumably a stupid question, but why would someone stay in a city without a reason?

marginal_margiela Mar 15th, 2007 07:12 AM

We are combining Thessaloniki with Athens and Rhodes. We wanted to see the treasures of the tombs of Philip of Macedon.

We have also been to Greece before--to Delphi, Olympia, and Athens. Thessaloniki seems like a good idea because we like cities. Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing Delphi and Olympia, but after touring the ruins and museums, I WAS BORED TO DEATH with the small-town atmosphere.

The Makedonia Palace has a fabulous pool facing the harour, which is just great for us because we like to spend part of our vacation relaxing by a pool, reading and having cocktails.

We also like shopping, talking to fun people, disco dancing/club hopping, dressing up in Balenciaga and going out to diner.

I think we can handle Thessaloniki for 3 days, no matter how much YOU don't like it, Goeffy.

Thanks for your interest in our holiday.

Love you, hate your shoes. :)

xpi6tiva Mar 15th, 2007 07:33 AM

I was born in Thessaloniki and have been back to visit family through the years. The architecture isn't interesting and there aren't tons of museums. But it's a nice city to go walking around in, have a frappe and some good food. There are food items available in the north that aren't in southern Greece, such as fried mussels... Yum! Plus, I think shopping is pretty good. 3 days will be a good relaxing time... very different from busy and rushed Athens.

marginal_margiela Mar 15th, 2007 05:27 PM

xpi6tiva, do you think you could get some Thessaloniki restaurant recommendations from your Uncle Telly or Aunt Nana? I would appreciate it.

marginal_margiela Mar 16th, 2007 05:55 AM

ttt


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