To add a more personal flavour to this blog, I thought I would
share with you the diary I kept when I travelled around South-East Europe in
August 2011. The accounts span from part of a day or up to a day and half,
depending on when I was able to sit and write. I will provide the mainly
unaltered diary entry italicized, then add my current thoughts on that trip
along with views garnered from readings undertaken since my MA studies; as well
as some pictures of my trip. This first entry details my departure from the UK
and my arrival to Thessaloniki, but I will leave this one without comment. I
travelled with my partner of the time, but I have changed his name for this
purpose. Enjoy.
Today is the first day of this mammoth trip
that I am about to undertake, along with Liam. I will write this at the
specified time, but will begin where I previously left off. However this being
the first day, I should begin at the start.
I awoke at 2:07 this morning, and hour before
my wake up alarm. I blame it both on the worry of sleeping in, and the
apprehension of taking this trip. I wished away the minutes to 3:15 then
promptly woke Liam up.
We showered, changed, received a call from
the taxi firm, then had a quick brew before being whisked away to Gatwick
Airport. We found our area to check in, but had to cart our backpacks to a
separate location, as they couldn’t go down the normal conveyor belts. We then
marched to security and swiftly got through. I needed to buy cough/chest mixture,
so did so at the Boots store.
After that the boards showed our departure
gate so we briskly walked the 15 minutes route to arrive there. We had a snack
from Costa Coffee whilst waiting.
Within 20 minutes people were queuing up as a
steward showed movement – so like sheep we obligingly followed. I notified the
world via Facebook of my growing nerves about the flight.
We slowly and surely began moving. We got on
to the plane, a larger on from EasyJet than I’m used to but still not massive.
I luckily had my preferred seat on the last row.
Take off was fine, although I still had to
show fear. We dozed off for an hour or so during the beginning of the flight.
We then emerged out of our snoozing, and I decided to read the Lord of the
Rings that I had brought with me. In between doing this, I kept peering out of
the window with Liam as we passed over Montenegro.
The pilot then informed us that we would be
passing over Tirana shortly, then begin our descent.
30 minutes later we circled the Bay, at which
Thessaloniki was its head, then landed smoothly. We then piled into busses to
get to the terminal to collect our bags. The weather was clear, a slight breeze
but a glorious temperature. It was now 11:10 local time.
Inside the baggage hall, Liam struck gold
with his bag coming out first. However a moment of panic gripped me, as mine
wasn’t to be seen. So I went closer to the entry point and I could see it at
the bottom of the pile waiting to get out. 5 minutes later I was reunited with
it.
We then left the departure area looking for
signs for a bus to the city, we followed what we found, and saw a two-piece
‘bendy bus’. I asked the driver, slowly, how much. He explained in easy English
that I get a ticket out of a blue machine in the back – a choice of two. I
directed Liam to the farthest door, so I took the second farthest to buy us
both a ticket.
Two Euro’s later and a validation stamp meant
that we had paid our way into town on this packed bus. However, armed with only
a tightly focused map of the hotel, and an impression that the bus would go
down the main boulevard ‘Egnatia’, I hoped a park or name would be familiar.
After reaching a small, local bus station, we realized we’d gone too far. I
stood up as if ready for the next stop but people were still on the bus from
the airport; so again, following others (locals I assumed, too), we stayed on
until the end. This happened to be the KTEL bus station. What looked like a run
down domed cathedral/ice rink was in fact the transnational bus station. We
could either try our luck on the 78 again, or get a taxi. Liam opted for the
second option.
So I pointed out to the taxi driver the name
and address on my map. He took us back the way we came and dropped us off
outside ‘a’ hotel, just not ours. As we walked in another direction, he
exclaimed “that is your hotel”. Not keen on offending him, we did the British
thing and went to the door of the hotel, waited until he drove off, then walked
to where our hotel really was – 50 yards away on the other side of the Egnatia.
A few comments on the first impressions of
Thessaloniki. As we drove through on the bus going north, you could instantly
tell that the recession and current financial turmoil was having its effects.
Closed forecourts, empty buildings and a quiet feel of a loss of hope. We drove
past a very ‘western’ shopping park towards the town proper. Upon entering its
eastern city limits, you could tell it was the area of low socio-economic
residents. Unkempt gardens, rubbish patterned about the place, and a lower
standard of shops and services.
Once we started approaching the city centre
the content of the shops, or people outside, changed somewhat, but the general
‘untidiness’ remained. Graffiti is widespread, as is the case with most
European, continental countries. When we bypassed the city centre, the malaise
I could sense drifted back – epitomized by the bus station I previously
mentioned. The city didn’t seem alive, although I do concede that it is a
Sunday. Maybe it will spring to life tomorrow.
This general feel for the city so far,
although not disappointing but also not awe inspiring either, reflected my
impressions of the hotel. Upon entering we were warmly greeted by a young Greek
who spoke great English. He gave us our key to our room, took my passport to
make a copy, and kindly highlighted a map for us to some café’s for food.
Entering the room was akin to stepping into
an Agatha Christie tele-movie starring Poirot! The best word to describe it is
quaint. Neoclassical style décor with tiled flooring and an old fashioned rug
struck jarringly against the 14” LCD TV. However it looked comfy and had
air-con. After refreshing, we departed a light lighter, grabbing my passport on
the way.
We walked the 10 minutes to Aristotle Square
then down to the front. We found a café with fans so sat down and ordered two
salads, beer, Cola and water. All this gave us a second wind. One thing that I
can see will be a regular annoyance is the street sellers. 4 times we were
disturbed whilst eating. Their wares are fake DVDs and jewelry; the sellers of
black ethnicity and possibly north African descent (as I don’t know the accents).
We walked eastward along the front to the
White Tower. A beautiful sand-like coloured tower, some 40-50 meters tall and
the same distance from the sea. We walked around and tried to get in, but as it
was 14:55 we were denied entry as closing was 15:00. So we wandered back to a
Starbucks we saw for a light, cool relief. Again, the street sellers were out
in force.
We walked north-east from there for 10
minutes to the Archaeological Museum. €6 each and Liam was in his glory. Lots
of pots, tools, jewelry, sculptures, sarcophagi, grave stones, and more
reflecting 8 centuries of Macedonian culture from 4th century B.C.
It was all very educational – especially the technological side to the
experience.
We departed there heading north-west to
Egnatia, where we came across the Arch, and further up the hill, the Rotunda.
The Arch is not that impressive size wise, but its carvings were excellent. A
little tired, we walked back to the hotel for a short rest.
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