Thessalonika day 2 and 3

I had the opportunity to be alone for two days and doing exactly what I wanted when I wanted to. Now FL will tell you that is a normal thing, but that is not really true. For example, if I wanted to walk through one or two of the 300 shoe stores they have in this city, he wouldn't really want to do that. Or, when I came across a really cool store that had some very up-to-date home furnishing, he wouldn't do that either. So, I just strolled. My perspective was a little different today. I walked through the streets pretending I was an American that didn't understand any Greek and wanted to see and experience everything from a tourists perspective. I pulled this off very well. I tried to not be so obvious taking pictures. And wearing my Sketchers shape-ups, I knew I wouldn't be noticed. By the way, if I can't be a spokes-person for them after all the walking I have done, I'm sending them back with a letter. The first place I went was to Starbucks to order a Frappe. I'm not really into picking up souvenirs from every place in the world that I have been, but I have to tell you I had to add the "Starbucks from Thessaloniki" cup to my collection. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that there is a universal language that everyone understands. It is called Starbuckian. Yep, no matter where you are in the world, if you walk into Starbucks and order a grande decaf non-fat cappuccino, everybody completely understands you. Woo Hoo! And they all have the same deserts. They have the muffins, the brownies, the juices and the little sandwiches wrapped up in cellophane. I wonder where they make all the things and how they get to all the Starbucks every morning? It is like USA Today. From here I walked through the city tying to experience what life would be like here. At one point, I actually took a horse and buggy ride. You know those movies that you see where people actually do things and then they hit the rewind button and undo them. That is what I wish I had done; rewind the fact that I got in a horse-drawn carriage with a Dutch speaking driver who (and I hate to say this), smelled worse than the horse. I thought I'd get a scenic view of the ocean front. However, as we rode along, the only thing that I saw scenic was the back of the horse. All along the seawall were closed down kiosks lining up side by side. And I was on the inside, away from the water. I could see this was going nowhere fast. (Not fast enough!) I tapped him on the shoulder and told him this was far enough, paid him and got out. Note to self: Not every horse and buggy ride is Central Park! As I walked through the streets, I discovered something about the people here. They have more of a shoe fetish than I do. Every other store was a shoe store with hundreds of shoes. Dressy, casual, sporty, you name it, they had it. The shopping here is pretty amazing. The first day, which was Friday, the streets were filled with very pretty young Greek women. Their makeup was perfect; their hair was typically long, wavy and flowing halfway down their back, or short and very stylish. Dressed in fresh summer dresses, or shorts or skirts, they were typically thin with really nice figures. And they were all shopping. Every street I walked up or down, was for shopping. Very trendy nice stores and the clothes were not inexpensive. Along all these streets there are about two or three or more small cafes or tavernas where, as I mentioned before, the young men and women are sitting out drinking their frappes. I wonder if Greece is the capital of the coffee bean industry? Everybody drinks their frappes. On Saturday, I noticed that most of the people out were men and more middle-aged women or older. The older men were standing around in large groups talking. Most of the younger men I saw, were alone with their chidren, either in strollers or walking. The women seemed to shopping with a purpose or grocery shopping. I hadn't noticed the day before, but the grocery stores blended in with the other stores. You could have a complete grocerly store in a store front. As I continued on, I worked my way down to the theatre district. This area is next to the seawall where the horse didn't take me. I had lunch at an outdoor cafe that was attached to the main theatre. The theatres in Thessaloniki are closed for the summer. The area was pretty nice with a park-like area next to the water. I found a few really cool shops that I enjoyed walking into. And then I made my way back to the hotel. That night I had dinner alone in my room. Our room looks out onto a pier that has a large building on it and some rundown almost collapsed stable-like structures. (I know, doesn't sound that great. I actually don't notice them when I look out.) But over the building, I can see the water. It is a grayish-blue that blends in with the sky. If there weren't large barges and tankers on it, it would be hard to determine where the sky ends and the water begins. Slowly a thunderstorm rolled in. In the distance the misty clouds were touching the water and reflecting the sunlight. I could smell the freshness in the air as the breeze blew in. And then the lightening began. If I had had my choice of music, I could have turned it on the the tempo of the lightening. It was pretty cool to watch. It began to rain here but not hard. The lightening subsided and then it was dark.

FL and Jonathan returned from Mt. Athos on Saturday evening. During dinner we talked about their experience. FL started his blogging for the first time last night. Unfortunately, he was up at 3:30 a.m. for church and fell asleep blogging. I saved the draft and I am sure he will finish it today. I'm hoping Jonathan will write something too. Sunday, it's off to church and then I'm not sure. But I know that Chris leaves Denver at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday for Athens. Please say a prayer for him for a safe trip. Let's hope we can find him at the Athens airport when we arrive on Monday! I can't wait to see him. I wish Charlie could come too.


Mount Athos....

On Friday, the 18th at 6am Jonathan and I left the hotel in Thessaloniki to take a two hour bus drive ( a maximum of 40 miles per hour) on a winding mountain road to Ouranoupolis, at the tip of Mount Athos at which point we received our Dimonitirion - permit to enter Mt. Athos. We then boarded a ferry for the two hour ride to Daphne. The Aegean Sea and the scenery of the peninsula was absolutely magnificent. There are about 125 pilgrims plus clergy allowed to be on Mt. Athos daily, only men. We eventually came to the first monastery and then to five or six more of the twenty that are still functioning on the Holy Mountain before entering the main port of Daphne. The largest of the ones we the beautiful Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon with its red roofs and green domes. At one time it housed 2000 monks! Probably a few hundred at the present time. Upon .......... (he falls asleep!) More to come.