Month: April 2018

We’ve arrived safely and on time! Our flight plan was convoluted–Atlanta to Montreal, Montreal to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Thessaloniki so we’ve arrived in town a bit frazzled!

We took a public bus from the airport to our hotel.  The bus was packed with people—more than we could imagine and at one point the driver stopped the bus and made an announcement about the presence of pickpockets. Happily, we had our valuables safely tucked away and we had no issues.

We’re happy with the Electra Palace Hotel, right in the city center.

After a rest, we found a fun restaurant called Iy Gonia tou Merakli with good, basic Greek food. Our meal was off to a great start with olives and Greek salad.

And we’ve already experienced a peaceful demonstration–people marching opposing the war in Syria.

The weather is warm and breezy–we’re excited to explore more alleyways in this fun and unique city!

Two years ago we made our first trip to Greece and loved it!  The country is beautiful, the food is great, the people are lovely, and each region is varied with lots to see and do.  For those reasons and more, we’re heading for the less traveled part of Greece–the North.  This time, we’re skipping Athens and checking out the regions of Thessaly, Epiros, and Macedonia.  This Lonely Planet map shows some of the major cities in Greece but not all that we plan to see.

We depart on Monday, April 16 and return on Thursday, May 10.  If all goes well, we should arrive in Thessaloniki by 6:30 a.m. Atlanta-time on Tuesday.

Our itinerary is tentative by design so that we have flexibility.  We’ll be visiting cities, and villages in the mountains, seaside, and on the lakefront.  Most are new to us and many we’ve never heard of!  Here’s what we have so far:

• Thessaloniki (3 nights)
• Kastoria (2 nights)
• Metsovo (2 nights)
• Ioannina (3 nights)
• Affisos (2 nights)

The rest of our plan is open.  The possibilities include:

• Pella (the birthplace of  Alexander the Great)
• The Pelion region (for hiking and great views of the Aegean Sea)
• Litochoro (for Mt. Olympus hikes and the archaeological site of Dion)
• Kavala (to visit Phillipi, the grave site of Phillip II)
• Xanthi (for a colorful Saturday morning market)
• Damouchari (where scenes from the movie Mamma Mia was filmed)
• And, other places we learn about along the way!

We’re very excited to explore this less-visited area of Greece!

Hoping for sunny skies, good Wi-Fi connections, and safe travels!

Cheers!