Thursday, April 8, 2010

Travels through Europe: Greece

I travelled over the border to Florina and wandered around for a while before catching a train to Thessaloniki. It was sooooo nice to come back to the warmth. Apparently there had been snow in Thessaloniki until the day before I arrived but the day I arrived it was beautiful sunshine. Looking out across the ocean I could see the mountains in the distance. I walked along the esplanade to the White Tower and soaked up the sun. I sat at a cafe and drank beer. the cafes were packed out beig the first summery day for the year. The cafe culture there really reminded me of Melbourne which is not surprising given the amount of Greeks living in Melbourne.

I ate in a lovely Greek restaurant that gave me free beer and free dessert when I tried to pay my bill and leave so I ended out staying there listening to the music and enjoying the flamboyant atmosphere until about 2am. It was great.

I caught a train to Alexandropoulis near the Turkish border. It took about 7 hours to get there. And that was the express train. Trains are not very speedy in Greece, I got there in the evening and ate out and caught a bus over the border into Turkey the next day.