We arrived at the port town of Thessaloniki on Thursday. We drove to the city center where our apartment was with tons of cafes, bars and shops right below us. Our fist meal was in a local place, recommended by the beautiful girl we met at the reception. She told us the greeks love to go there. It was quick, cheap and delicious. After that we had a short nap and spent the entire afternoon walking around the center to get a first impression of the city. We watched the sunset next to the White Tower, surrounded by locals playing guitar and singing together. Over dinner we drank wine at Zithos in the historic district of Laladika.
The next day we had a fantastic gastronomic tour. I have never been in Greece before so this was the tour I have been looking forward to the most. Starting with greek coffee and local patisseries we learned about the beginnings of this city and the origins of the greek cuisine.
We ended our tour by buying fresh roasted greek coffee blended with beans from all over the world (even from Colombia). With our bags full of coffee, olive oil and feta cheese we sat in a bar next to Aristotelous Square to enjoy the view of the port accompanied with some drinks.
That evening we decided to just walk around our alleyways and look for an easy spot to eat. We found a little place that was open late and got pizza with greek salad and beers. Later on we headed home. The day after, we bounced over to Afytos, a village in Chalkidiki where we had lunch on a local restaurant at the beach side... The sun was shining and it was beautiful. We loved being there!
The next morning we went to a restaurant called Estrella around the Hagia Sophia, where they serve brunch but not like the germans do. In Germany brunch is mostly "all-you-can-eat" buffet, while in Greece no breakfast at all is a common thing and "brunch" is basically a late breakfast. We spent our last day in Thessaloniki visiting the museums.
The visit to the Archaeological Museum was really short and after that we decided to take the Cultural Route Bus (No. 50) but (un)fortunately we missed the last one and because of it we had the chance to spend the rest of the afternoon with a couple of friends we made during the gastronomic tour.
National Theatre of Northern Greece
A jewish, some christian-orthodox, a couple of catholics, a lutheran-protestant and even and atheist drinking coffee, beer and discussing about religion, we closed this wonderful evening dining in a Cretan restaurant. As in every place we get a welcome bread basket and a glass of water. It was a good night, full of laughing and simple joys!