It’s Saturday the 14th and I’m at the airport waiting for my flight to Thessaloniki. It was originally at 9:05 am, however by the time I was finally able to check in that flight was closed so I got put on the 4:45 flight so I have plenty of time to kill.
Tip of the day travelers – when taking a domestic flight in Greece you need to be CHECKED-IN at least 45 minutes before the flight leaves or you don’t get on. In addition, the domestic flight section of this airport is CRAZY with long lines and booking attendants randomly and quietly announcing things in Greek. Despite several attempts to get direction, it is VERY easy to have no idea what’s going on – hence why I am now sitting in the McDonalds café at the Athens airport catching up on my blog. I think it goes without saying that I will be at the airport super early on Monday so I don’t miss my return flight!
One thing I did discover is that the McDonalds at the airport serves lunch at all hours so no need to wait until 11 to get your cheeseburger and fry fix – see there truly is a silver lining to everything.
Since we’ve been working so hard we have Monday off – actually we have it off because it’s a holiday – let me set the record straight, we haven’t been working hard. I decided to escape the city and explore other parts of Greece so I’m headed to the second largest city in the country - Thessaloniki until Monday afternoon.
Tip of the day travelers – when taking a domestic flight in Greece you need to be CHECKED-IN at least 45 minutes before the flight leaves or you don’t get on. In addition, the domestic flight section of this airport is CRAZY with long lines and booking attendants randomly and quietly announcing things in Greek. Despite several attempts to get direction, it is VERY easy to have no idea what’s going on – hence why I am now sitting in the McDonalds café at the Athens airport catching up on my blog. I think it goes without saying that I will be at the airport super early on Monday so I don’t miss my return flight!
One thing I did discover is that the McDonalds at the airport serves lunch at all hours so no need to wait until 11 to get your cheeseburger and fry fix – see there truly is a silver lining to everything.
Since we’ve been working so hard we have Monday off – actually we have it off because it’s a holiday – let me set the record straight, we haven’t been working hard. I decided to escape the city and explore other parts of Greece so I’m headed to the second largest city in the country - Thessaloniki until Monday afternoon.
I finally get into Thessaloniki around 6:30 and grab the bus from the airport into town. Holy smokes can I just tell how nice my hotel is?? The pillow top on the bed feels like it’s 3 feet thick and there is air conditioning! That’s right folks – limited air conditioning at kathy’s house.
I get settled in and leave to explore the city. I'm on a mission to find a taverna that is highly recommended in my frommers book - called Thanasis. This place is tough to find, but I finally find it or so I think. I actually end up a place called Athinas (close enough - right?) and I order up a serving of tomato balls or as the greeks call them tomatokeftedes. I highly recommend ordering these if you come to Greece. Herbs, chunks of tomato in batter fried up to be crispy and golden. They were delicious!
After my first strike out I am even more determined to find thanasis. After about 20 minutes of searching I FINALLY find it tucked away in a small alley. It's around 9:30 and since it is so early I am the only one in the place. It's small, but has a lot of character and there are a ton of pictures on every wall with famous greek celebrities that have eaten here. I order up a plate of cheese croquettes (which were really good) and a mythos.
On my way back to the hotel I take a walk on the harbor and see there is a lightening storm out in sea. So i clicked the following photo...
No comments:
Post a Comment