Goodbye North Macedonia, Hello Greece!

Our non-negotiable need to be in Gothenburg, Sweden, on August 5th, is moving us forward a little bit faster than we have been prepared for! So Greece is getting short shrift on this part of the trip. We are hoping to come back at a later date.

We left Skopje and puddled down the autobahn to Thessaloniki on Saturday, the 13th. We took an Airbnb in Perea, about 25 minutes outside Thessaloniki at Sofia’s apartment. The next morning we got up and walked down to the beach in Perea – a gorgeous strand that attracts families for vacation and seafood lunches and dinners. No Roman ruins, no museums, just vacation!

Later in the afternoon, we drove into Thessaloniki for a stroll and dinner. Couples and families, groups of girls, groups of boys – the strand was full of people strolling along chatting and relaxing. Across the street, the restaurants and bars were full and hopping with action. We found a small restaurant and ordered mezzes – shrimp, french fries, and a lovely Greek salad. YUM! And all in view of the Mediterranean with its refreshing breezes.

The next day we packed up for the ferry ride to Bari from Igoumenitsa, Greece. But first, we headed back to Thessaloniki – mostly in search of a camera shop for Sam to buy another battery for his DSLR Sony camera. A stop at a pet store for LuLu allowed us to meet Maria, who (clarifying directions given us ten blocks before) referred us to Mr. Kostas, who owns a camera shop on Aristotelous Square. Scored the battery and then went off in search of Roman ruins!

These are the ruins of a Roman forum, built in the late 1st century CE, it was discovered by accident when beginning construction of a court house in the 1960’s! It contained an amphitheater, baths, shops and residences. Many ancient ruins are well below the current grade level. We have a seemingly simple question: Where did all the dirt come from?

That afternoon, we drove on to Igoumenitsa where we THOUGHT we had a ferry ticket that evening. But we were a day early! So, we found a hotel (the clean but CHARMLESS El Greco), had another lovely Greek dinner at the water’s edge and strolled along another seafront full of vacationing families. There was stage set up in the park and it felt a little like the Greek Festival in Oakland – groups of Greek folk dancers in costume, singers and musicians, all very animated and happy.

The next day we strolled around town and landed perhaps our finest Greek meal. We confirmed long-held suspicions the cockles are clams! When the rain started – no mere drizzle – it sent us to the lobby of our hotel where we read for a few hours before it was time to head to the boat.

The ferry is a very large vessel and its bread and butter – tractor trailers. There might have been 18 to 30 55-foot trailers on board, all backed onto the boat and into very tidy rows on two decks. The trailer backs on from the dock, gets hundreds of minute directions from the loadmasters. Sam was tucked into a narrow outside aisle designated for smaller vehicles, and watched while a semi parked next to him and it was parallel parked, period.

We had a simple dinner from the cafeteria line on the boat and headed to our cabin. The luxury suite consisted of a bunk bed (headroom: bonk) and a very compact bath with a shower. It was actually nicer than the room at the El Greco! Ha!

We spent one uneventful day & night in Bari. During another stroll at the water’s edge, we tipped the age demographic up several years. It felt as though every teen ager in town had converged on the passeggiata!

Tomorrow we are headed for the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento. We are enjoying southern Italy as much as we enjoyed northern Italy! Looking forward to some scenery, some seafood and some more Roman ruins!

Love to you all,

Sam, Donna & LuLu

July 17, 2019