Day 04
April 18, 2013 Thursday Drive from Macedonia to Thessalonica, Greece
The itinerary: We will leave Skopje on our private bus. After a 4 Hour
bus ride we will reach the Greek border and continue to
Thessalonica where we will be at for the next three nights. Thessalonica is my parents hometown. It
will be very moving to be in this town for me I will tell you the
stories about this town that I heard from my grand parents. The dinner
will be included on the sea front in this beautiful city. Overnight at
ABC HOTEL very centrally located.
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We left the hotel with
out any delay. The streets were empty and having no traffic gave
us another chance to see the river Vardar dividing the city in
two, the old and the new. The highway rolling through the verdant fertile valleys, and running by various rivers took us to the Iron Gate, Demir Kapi, Tunnel. The southern end of the tunnel had Mediterranean climate versus the severe inland climate of the north. We could see the difference, the sky got bluer and the yellow mustard plants were dominating the landscape.
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Growing agriculture where once during the socialist area they had inefficient steel factories which were polluting the environment. |
The border crossing was
very easy. We did not even have to get out of the bus. Only one more
hour to our lunch and the beginning of our adventure in Greece. As soon
as we started enjoying the Greek country side, we received a phone call
from our guide telling us that she will meet at at the ABC hotel and
our
lunch is ready... After the last wheat field left behind, we could have
no doubt that we were coming close to Thessaloniki. The traffic and the
number of people working in the streets were a definite news of a big
city ahead.
On the one way streets, we had
to go around quite a few blocks to get to our hotel. When we finally
arrived, it was exactly 1:00 PM as planned. Athina, our Greek guide, won
the hearts and the confidence of the group when she told us that she
would show her grand mother's embroidery to us at her house. The
afternoon was free. Every one had a different agenda . some spend the
afternoon resting, others explored the city and the innumerable
coffee houses of Thesoliniki.
I went to visit the house of Ataturk. I returned with a terrible disappointment, the house has been under restoration for a year now and all I could do was take a picture of the house from out side . How can a restoration of a house last as long as a year especially when it is a such an important destination to visit for those who come from Turkey. I wish I could ask this question to the Turkish Prime Minister who always takes pride in saying that his ability to get things done is the best of all the leaders. He is either misjudging his ability or he does not want this house to be completed.
The
dinner was down at the waterfront. Either because it was only 07:00 PM
when we went for dinner or because the economy is really bad here there
was not another soul at the restaurant. The food was great. The wine was
acceptable, the evening was great.
We walked back to the hotel and promised to be ready to leave at 09:00
am tomorrow.