Thessaloniki: Greek Hospitality Part 2

NB: This entry was equally written by Aaron and Lisa.

Aleka's Dad, Aleka, Aleka's mom, and Aaron.

Upper city at night.

After Athens, we flew to Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, and met up with a friend of Lisa's, Aleka (whom Lisa always has a hard time remembering not to call Alex because though that's a fine French nickname, it doesn't work well for a woman in Greek), whom she met during a summer seminar in France a couple years ago. Her family lives in Thessaloniki, too, so the first night we were there, she took us to her father's office (he's a doctor) and he showed us and explained to us the pictures he had on his wall from his younger years. Then he, Aleka's mother, Aleka, and we all went out to eat. Aleka's father kept ordering more and more food for us (Greek food is usually served family style) and making sure we were enjoying it and full! It was a lovely, welcoming dinner. The family shared Greek history, family history, conviviality and lots of generosity with us! We were overwhelmed and grateful for their kindness. Afterwards, he drove us all up into the upper city of Thessaloniki where we got to see the remains of a medieval Byzantine fortification (which now seems to be a nightly hotspot for teenagers!). They are all very proud of their home.

St. Demetrios Church. These 8th-century
frescoes survived a massive fire in 1917.

Aleka very kindly showed us around her city, taking us to a couple of fantastic churches, including the church of St. Demetrios. It's built on the site of the oldest church in the city and while it burned down in a city-wide fire in 1917, it was reconstructed exactly as it was and a few of the 11th-century Byzantine frescoes survive. She showed us the arch of Galerius, built by the Roman emperor when he lived in Thessaloniki in the early fourth century AD. Nowadays, the arch serves as a meeting point for people--"Oh, just meet me at the arch and we'll figure it out from there."

More locals--monkeys in Hagia Sophia.

Another amazing place that she showed us was the Hagia Sophia, upon which the Constantinople (now Istanbul) church was based.  While we were there, we got to experience some tourist behavior as well as local.  Alexandra's former professor was giving a tour, and he had a group of quiet, respectful English-speakers with him who listened and took lots of photographs (like Lisa).  The locals came in and kissed the icons, which we've never seen in any other church we've visited this year (as our readers, you know there have been lots!).  A man working there followed behind the old women with a bottle of windex, wiping down the icons after them.  The church was absolutely gorgeous and makes one want to visit Istanbul to see it's copy!

Arch of Galerius.

The Saturday morning that we were there, Aleka also took us to the archaeological museum (although half of it was closed because of budget cuts) where we got to see some amazing gold jewelry excavated from fourth-century BC tombs in the area. Lisa, who has done some jewelry-making from metal before, is always fascinated by the talent and skill in these pieces. Most of them belonged to very wealthy people and were found in their tombs (hence why they are so well preserved), and some were worn during the people's lifetimes at various feasts and festivals. Behind that museum is the Byzantine museum, a huge building with some nice Byzantine artifact, but also lots of empty space for some reason.

This is a view from the White Tower.

Aleka also took us to a cafe on the top floor of the chic Elektra Palace hotel overlooking the ocean for some nice views of the harbor. We felt rather helpful here because there was a lot of confusion on a lot of people's part on the elevator!  In the end, Aleka, some businessmen, some men in robes and slippers from the pool, and we all made it to our destinations. We enjoyed frappés, which are nothing like a frappuccino! Instead, they are iced coffee with very strong and very bitter foam on top. We found them delicious and refreshing.

Chrysa and Alexandra deciding what we needed to try.

At night, we met up with Chrysa, a friend of hers, and all went out to eat at a good restaurant featuring traditional Greek music, which was quite fun. The restaurant was on a street that until recently had been the home of the sex and drug industry. The government decided to clean it up and restore it to small (and some large!) restaurants with traditional food and music. It felt like a place in a cute small town instead of in the middle of a big city. We quite enjoyed it.

Aaron, rubbing Aristotle's foot for happiness. (Apparently
that's a popular thing to do, though we don't know why).

Our last day there, Aleka had to prep for class the next day, so Lisa and I explored the city on our own a bit. Thessaloniki isn't as old of a city as Athens, so the oldest remains we could see were late Roman (fourth century AD) like the ruins of Galerius' palace and a round building which would have been his mausoleum but was never used and so was turned into a church. We also got a very different vibe in Thessaloniki than in Athens (probably because in Athens, we were staying in someone's house far from the city center while in Thessaloniki, we were close to the action downtown). There were lots of young Greeks sitting out in cafes along the waterfront, enjoying the nice weather, drinking frappés. It was a nice place and it was good, I think, to see a different part of Greece than just Athens. Sadly, we didn't make it to any of the islands, which people kept asking if we were going to do. Next time we come to Greece, we will!

Our view from the restaurant and our hotel room.

As a final story, we had a great waiter at dinner our last night in Greece. We went to a little taverna next door to the hotel and greeted him in Greek and asked about the food options. The waiter quickly realized we didn't speak much Greek, so he explained the menu in English and Greek, before asking, in Greek, where we're from. We answered in Greek as best we could to which he asked, "How do you know Greek?" I explained I studied modern Greek for a year at OSU and he said, "As a Greek person, I feel very proud knowing that people in other countries want to learn my language. It's wonderful." He then asked if we were married, we said yes, he asked if we had children, we said no, not yet, and he said, "From the bottom of my heart, I wish you many children. Four, five six children - a big family! It's part of my religion and in my heart, I wish for a big, very big, family! Family is happiness." He asked how we liked Greece and we said it's our first time and we like it very much. He said, "Your first time? We must celebrate!" So he ran back inside to get a shot of ouzo for each of us and toasted our first trip in his country (it was a very long toast and all in Greek, so we aren't entirely sure what he said, but it was certainly heartfelt and very kind!). We feel this is emblematic of the kind of welcoming, friendly interactions we had with almost everyone in Greece and that, despite their political problems, this is still a wonderful country worth visiting.

A little add-on...

Lisa at Baudelaire's grave.

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport and then went on to Montparnasse, where we had some time to spare.  We decided, at Jean-Claude's suggestion, to visit the Montparnasse cemtery because Charles Baudelaire, a 19th-century poet whose work Lisa has read many times, is buried there.  We didn't have time to store our luggage, so we hustled over with backpack and duffel, found the grave, admired Baudelaire's poetry, and went back to the train station.  On the way, we enjoyed some delicious Amorino gelato.

Enormous candles for weddings at
one of the churches.

Bonus picture: sunset over the Aegean Sea.