Greek Orthodox religious street shrine, Achiropitos Church, Thessaloniki, Greece
I liked Thessaloníki. It’s a mixture of dusty urban streets with shops selling beach umbrellas, interesting portals, attractive heritage sights, a glittering seafront, and varied cultural delights.
Captivating umbrella sculpture being used for community gathering
One minute I was standing surprised in front of a shop that seemed to be only selling beach umbrellas, the next I spotted a woman behind one on a far away balcony.
I stopped off here partly to break my journey to the north, but mainly to meet Shiatsu practitioners and teachers.
Evening drinks with Marie-Helene and a yummy lunch with Daphne were both really satisfying exchanges. The joy of meeting others in my own, rather niche profession and being able to talk shop, knowing they speak the same language (Shiatsu I mean! I spoke French with one and English with the other) was delightful.
I had a chirpy visitor as I sipped my fizzy mineral water, and gazed at the shining sea over the top of my laptop
Doorways
Beautiful doorways abound.
Copper bells outside a bar
I thought it was a church, but it turned out to be a night club! Thessaloniki, Greece
Someone’s front door – care and attention to detail make for everyday beauty hereA domestic front garden of contrasting coloursDoric columns adorn this frontage. Thessaloniki, Greece
Hostel accommodation
There was WiFi at the Studio Arabas hostel where I stayed for 2 nights, on Satchouri. I booked through Hostelworld. It is steeply uphill and I didn’t have time to explore the Old Town that it is in because I was meeting people in the part nearer the sea where most of the monuments are – that’s a good trek down and climb back up so be warned.
I left early to walk the hour to the bus station and caught the morning sunlight, Thessaloniki
The hostel was clean, but not in a squeaky clean sort of way. I got some advice from the lovely Charlotte while I was there. Although you can’t do this at her place…
Tip
… It is always worth booking a hostel by phone or in person because you often get money off or a free breakfast. They save money on the fees they have to pay to the third party, the booking website.
The book fair was on that day, Thessaloniki, Greece
Cafés
I was on my way to a meeting but needed a cup of tea. It was going to be an hour’s walk. Until, that is, I spied Vermilion.
Just my sort of place. Creative and friendly, good WiFi and recycled jewellery.
I was early and they were cleaning and preparing for the day, Vermilion, Thessaloníki, Greece
The menu was handwritten in the front of an exercise book
Nearby are other nice places – a bakery, cheese shop and more.
Recycled jewellery made by the owner
B caféCafé full of young people including women playing backgammon
Local people resting in the shade
I was fascinated to glimpse women sewing and men and women sharing a drink in the shade.
A group of men in the distance, taken with the zoom. They went back and forth through a door in the wall behind – I was so curious!
You can just about make out the women who had been keeping the church yard spic and span, taking a welcome break
She turned round and gave me a huge smile so I asked permission to snap
Churches
In Greece many people draw a cross on themselves when they see a church. A woman on the train did it as we whizzed past one. Later I saw a man walking a dog, doing the same thing .
The priest was just emerging as I crept around the lovely church near my hostel
Greek Orthodox Church, Thessaloniki, Greece
Columns
There are Classical Greek columns everywhere in Thessaloniki.
Ionic columns add finesse to the Cathedral, Thessaloniki, Greece
Ruins
City wallsArch of Galerius, Thessaloniki, Greece
This ancient monument was built in 305 AD following the final victory of Emperor Galerius against the Persians.
Carvings from the arch
I liked the apartment blocks cheek by jowl with the ancient stone
Gardens
The sunken garden of the Greek Orthodox Church of St Demetrios
Everywhere there was marble – walls, floors, and columns of course!
The marble basement of the B cafe at the Museum of Byzantine Culture
Other sights
Padlocks for peaceEnjoying the sunset togetherTrumpeter in silhouetteMuseum of Byzantine CultureGreek Archeological MuseumSarcophagus, part of the Field, House, Garden, Grave exhibition at the Archeological Museum
Church at nightGraffitiAlexander the Great. The spears are arranged in the formation from his best known battleWoman of Pindos, 1940An undressed version Emanuel Pappas (1772- 1821) and me with my clothes on. He was the leader of the Greek War of Independence.
Travelling around Greece is straightforward. On this, my second solo trip, I flew to Athens overnight with Air Baltic (on time, efficient) from Edinburgh; walked and took the metro in the capital; and then went to Thessaloniki, Komotini in the north, and the village of Proskinites by bus to see my friends’ new born baby. There I either walked or was driven in the jeep. I returned to Thessaloníki the same way, and then flew to Paris with Transavia for 39 euros.
Greek Orthodox Church, Proskinites, Greece
Travel around Athens
Crossing the road: Wherever you are, beware the motorised scooters – either being driven wildly with one or more people on them, or abandoned in the middle of pavements.
Looks tame sitting on its own like that I know, but add 1+ humans and it becomes lethal!
Like everywhere else in Europe, look left before crossing the road!
Museum antiquities exhibited in Acropolis Metro station
The Athens Metro
Metros are clean, cool in temperature, crowded at rush hour as anywhere in Europe, efficient, regular and all stations are announced in English as well as Greek. Ticket machines are quite easy to use and you can choose to view the screen in English. Tickets cost 2.70 euros for 2 tickets and go down in price if you buy more. You can use one anywhere within 90 minutes, which I didn’t realise and so wasted a second one on a bus connection. Make sure you register your ticket on the machine both in and out of the metro, and in (but not out) on the buses.
Reclining male nude – statue in Acropolis Metro station, Athens, Greece
Trains, buses and travel out of Athens
I took the Athens to Thessaloniki train, even though there is a lot of bad press to be found on the internet about trains in Greece. The service was clean and smooth (“better than the UK, like Italy” said my neighbour!) You can book online via the OSE website.
Athens mainline train station, Greece
Bus travel
For the rest of Greece, the bus is better, but finding information and booking by website is hard work if you don’t read Greek. The main page of the main Greek bus company website (ktelmacedonia.gr) comes up in English on my phone, but the list of places does not and anyway, even looking up the Greek spelling for the places didn’t mean that they appeared on the list although they do have buses which go there! On my laptop, the website was impossible for me to operate. If you are stuck, you could try asking a friendly waitress as they usually speak great English and can often be really helpful making calls for you.
Interesting juxtaposition of satellite tower and saw sculpture, Thessaloniki, Greece
I have discovered this since writing the above : Bus tickets pagebus website KTEL Macedonia – new e tickets available. I am leaving both sets of information so that you have 2 options. Please leave a comment if you find the best way and that will help others. Thank you.
You can also buy ferry tickets, and transport or store luggage through KTEL Macedonia (as above).
The police boarded the Komotini – Thessaloniki bus, looked at random people’s passports, and took 3 men off this morning who had no papers.
On the way to Thessaloniki by train
Which bus station?
It is therefore best to book at the bus station (KTEL has 2 bus stations in Athens: Kifissos and Liossion. Note that when it asks you which one you want to leave from, it also includes ‘Pireus, Athens’ which is actually half an hour away by car so you don’t want that unless you happen to be staying near there). Alternatively you can ring up: I got a very nice man on the phone who spoke manageable English and he took my name and gave me the information and advice I needed. ( When I got there a few days later and went to buy the ticket, he introduced himself to me saying it was he who I had spoken to – what service!) There is a 25 per cent discount in advance which is hard if you are making spontaneous decisions.
The Greek countryside between Athens and Thessaloniki
Other
There is no bla bla car (online car sharing in France, Spain etc) here in Greece. There are regular tolls along the motorways – between 3-13 euros depending on the distance. See below for other people’s blogs about travelling in Greece.
Bus Athens to Thessaloniki 39 euros one way, 59 euros return (note that the English translation says ‘refund’ instead of ‘return’!
The White Tower, Thessaloniki, Greece
23 euros bus Komotini to Thessaloniki (6 hours)
2 euros X1 bus Thessaloniki (dome) Macedonia bus station to airport. Every half hour. Buy ticket from kiosk by bus stop.Very crowded. 40 – 60 minutes.
For a few days I was lucky enough to stay at the Philippos Hotel, and I recommend it for the breakfast (a buffet – all you can eat, including olives, feta and fresh tomatoes, sumptious cakes and pastries – look out for the one with pine nuts and craberries – yum!), the huge balcony with table chairs and sun lounger, cleanliness, olive oil soaps and other toiletries, and friendly staff (and that means friendliness from reception, kitchen, cleaning ,and repairing people – all with cheery ‘kalimera‘s’ / good morning).
View from the Philippos Hotel balcony. From the other side you could see the edge of the Acropolis citadel, Athens, Greece
I stayed in Psyri which is described as ‘full of character’. The part that is closest to the Monastiraki and Plaka parts of the city is lively in the evenings with lights hanging across the streets and bars constantly full. However, it is full of the saddest cats I have ever seen.
Bars on Eschilou, Athens, Greece
Psyri
The other half of Psyri quarter, to the north on the way to Omonia, is full of friendly people, but dirty and noisy with a lot of men shifting large boxes and dealing in who knows what. The diminutive man in the corner shop opposite had communicative English and told me he has been working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week without a single day off in years, because he is saving to go back to Bangladesh and start a shop there.
There is a good bakery, a Pilates Studio which offers Shiatsu (42 Zone), and a brass bed shop – all on or near Sarri where my air bnb was.
Brass bed shop at the corner of Sarri, Athens, Greece
Although I had some considerable trouble getting into my apartment, the sign below for Athens Walkers (Their website (which is currently down) states that it is ‘a small cooperative that operates all year long. We want to establish human relationships and build authentic friendships’) was outside the door so I guessed I was in the right place!
Athens Walkers sign outside my air bnb, a signal that I had arrived at the right place because I am an inveterate walker
It turned out, after I had been there for 5 days, that there was roof garden on the 6th floor of my block, with fantastic views.
Nearly full moon over the Acropolis
Graffiti Street Art
What unites both sides of this neighbourhood is the street art – a veritable hoarde of fascinating images and skill. It looks like there are some vibrant clubs and bars in the back streets, but I was warned not to be out on my own in this area at night and was, anyway, busy elsewhere most evenings. There were other tourists who had strayed here, otherwise it was local people. I did walk home alone though and had no trouble – I simply did not meet anyone’s eye and kept on going straight, with an air of purpose!
The organ of the heart – graffitiPainted heart organ graffiti, Psyri, Athens, GreeceMore heart graffiti, Psyri, Athens, Greece
There was a place called Heart of Athens (maybe a nightclub?) nearby, which might have explained the subject matter of these graffiti artists. I don’t know about you, but once I have started to see a theme, I find it everywhere!
Written graffiti, Athens, GreeceParrot graffiti, Athens, GreecePride banner, Athens, Greece
Monastiraki, Plaka, Omonia areas of Athens, Greece
Monastiraki is south of Psyri, a bustling square with a metro station, beautiful church and a million people at all times of the day and night as far as I could tell. Plaka is slightly south east, a pretty hub full of restaurants (mostly for tourists I think) and some welcome green plants. It is beside the Roman Forum (a prime spot for sunset photos) and not far from the Acropolis itself. Omonia is a very large roundabout full of traffic, high rise flats with a shopping centre where you can find the Greek version of Boots The Chemist if you need it (Hondos Centre), and a metro station.
Early morning street scene with Acropolis in the backgroundPlaka area of Athens, Greece
Often when I travel I buy my food cheaply from supermarkets and prepare it for myself in the hostel – not so here. I sampled all manner of delicacies and was treated to traditional food from all parts of the country. I also learned about a long-standing Greek Orthodox funeral food custom.
Calamari, fish and chips, restaurant food, Greece
Street Food
Street food is good! I had a vege open pie from Feyrouz on Kapori in Athens, and at Falafellas on Ailiou I had falafels in pitta with aubergine (egg plant), yogurt, tomatoes and the option of spices for 3.80 euros for a medium, normal lunch size. Small outlets sell coffee and sandwiches with a wide array of fillings, such as the corner of Eyripidou and Eolou. At this place a take-away iced, decaff cappuccino is 1.20 euros and you get a bottle of cold water thrown in.
Fresh Fruit Juice
Likewise, juice shops are everywhere in the Greek capital and most refreshing in the heat. Nova Gea, 6 Vyronos, had a novel way of serving where you placed your jam jar under the tap at the base of the counter and waited for it to pour in.
Nova Gea Juice Bar, Athens, Greece
Restaurants
For meals with friends, try Avocado (vegetarian) where there are books to read.
Avocado Restaurant, Athens, Greece
There are so many places where you can eat under the stars in Athens. I loved Seychelles for an array of delicacies including flava bean puree, sardines wrapped in vine leaves, a cooked green veg salad (pvlita) and carob rusks; and Katsourmpos for Cretan food where I sampled chips cooked in goat’s butter with eggs on top, and Greek salad with bread soaked in the wonderful dressing.
Taramasalata with prawns and toast, Athens, Greece
Home Cooking
The best meal was one prepared by my hosts (Italian and Greek) of barbounia (red mullet fish), Greek cooked vegetables with a sauce made of mustard, spices and olive oil), and salads (Greek and Greens), all washed down by tsipouro (an un-aged brandy) which they had bought from a monastery on Paros – lethal at lunch time.
Salads on the table, before the fish arrived! Athens, GreeceSauce for the Greek vegetables – mustard, spices and olive oil Sea Bream (Tsipoura), Athens, Greece Tsipouro – deadly! Athens, Greece
Cafe advice
The café at the Acropolis Museum (outside which proudly flutters The Flag of Europe) was cool to cold with air conditioning and has an amazing view of Mount Lycabettus and the…. Acropolis – watch out you don’t get stuck in the Ladies loos!
Reflection of Mount Lycabettus in the roof cafe window, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece View of the Acropolis from the roof cafe at the Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
Supermarkets and Food Shopping
There are not many large supermarkets in the neighbourhoods mentioned above, however google for any Sklavenitis (8 minutes from Psyri) or AB Vasilopoulos (9 minutes from Psyri) which are the major chains in Greece. Cheese and fish counters are of particular note, but you won’t find biscuits or oat cakes (a Scottish delicacy)! The range of cakes, pastries and biscuits that you will find in the bakeries, however, is vast and there are sugar free options as well as artisan bread.
Herbs and spices hanging outside a shop in Athens, Greece
You can buy a dazzling array of fruit and veg from wayside shops and stalls in Aristofanous; there is a Central Municipal Market off Athinas (the name of the road); and there are fascinating individual shops selling cheese, olives, flowers, hardware and useful things to put on an altar on Evripidou.
A stack of olive oil and other Greek specialities Cheeses from all around Greece being sold in Athens Herbs (chamomile) and dried fruits (orange and apple) in huge sacks, Athens, Greece Meats and sausage, Athens, Greece
Other Shopping
For making an altar, Athens, GreeceGreek statuary is sold in various forms
Unlike Estonia and Norway, where the alcohol is sold in separate stores (not beer), here you can get it in the supermarkets, but it was much more expensive than I thought it would be – about the same as the UK. On the other hand, in the small villages near where I have stayed a couple of times in the north, you can get a bottle of retsina for 1.25 euros.
Recycling seems to happen in the suburbs but not in the centre, as far as I could see
On my beach day I was taken for a late lunch at Theodore and Helen’s (Leof. Legrenon, Lavreotiki 195 00 Te; +30 2292 051936) – where the platter of salads including the sea greens (which were the best) and the mussels were sumptuous.
Platter of salads, Athens, Greece
Sample menus with prices and deep fried strips of courgette (zucchini) in the restaurant outside Athens near Kape Beach
Sample menu
Sample menu 2
Delicious!
Stalls and shops line the streets around the Acropolis selling clothes, trinkets, leather goods and jewellery. Some shop keepers call or tempt you in, others sit outside smoking and looking very hot. If you pass by every day as I did, you start to see the displays changing, and without meaning to, you stop and browse. I had to rein myself in from buying anything that would take my rucksack over weight, even though I wanted to get mementoes for my daughters and family.
Two different sorts of fur coats, inside and out. Athens shop front and dogs, Greece
Coliva – Greek Orthodox Funeral Food
I was in Athens to lead a workshop for Shiatsu practitioners who are working with the dying or those suffering loss. On the second day, Panayiota who was organising the event, brought in a cake made by her sister.
Coliva – Greek food for mourners
This beautiful creation is called Coliva and it is for Greek Orthodox mourners to eat after the interment. The server mixes it up and then you can see that it is like a loose melee of mixed nuts including almonds, pomegranate, raisins (golden and black), white sugar and sometimes also coriander and parsley – lively colours and a variety of textures and tastes. It tasted really good and fortifying. Portions are put into individual, brown paper bags and handed to each person, and eating it together symbolises the sharing of the pain of living without the deceased.
Initially this dish was prepared to appease the gods of Hades, the underworld, so that they would give up the body after death, allowing it to go to a better place. Nowadays, it is to fortify the grieving.
A robot in a shop window carrying a ‘We heart food’ bag
Here is some advice from a local friend who was so kind as to send me suggestions:
If you are hungry you can stop at the oldest pastry shop Ariston (Voulis 10, Athina 105 62, Greece) which is parallel to Ermou Street. Ermou Street is the biggest shopping street.
For coffee or a cold drink you can visit A for Athens, it has a great top floor café open to everyone and you can see the Parthenon. And if you are hungry you can go at Savvas across the road (Ermou 91, Athina 105 55, Greece).
For drinks, here is a hidden bar at The Art Foundation Taf (Address: Normanou 5, Athina 105 55, Greece)
Another couple of places for nice traditional sweets are Krinos and Sermpetiko Nancys Sweet Home (Pl. Iroon 1, Athina 105 54, Greece)
Greek sweets sold from a bakery come wrapped in silver foil
Finally, I found this recommendation: Vasilopoulos deli in Klafthmonos square is where you can find a bit of everything, some of the best products from around the globe. 10 minutes walk from Psyri.
Photographs of some of the wonderful sights in Athens which I saw on my trip
Nearly full moon over the AcropolisThe Acropolis Museum, Athens, GreeceThe National Archaeological Museum, Athens, GreeceTomb of the Unknown Soldier, Athens, GreeceThe old National Library, Athens, Greece
There are many beautiful Greek Orthodox churches everywhere
Church of Ayia Aikaterini below on the left where P and L got married, Athens, GreeceGreek Orthodox Church, Athens, GreeceA Greek orthodox Church, painted white and In a side street off Sarri, Psyri, Athens, GreeceChurch entrance, Athens, GreeceChurch interior second only in richness (in my experience) to St Mark’s In Rome and Samye Ling Buddhist Temple in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. This one is in Athens, GreeceCrypt, Aiolu, Athens, GreeceEkklesia Panagia Chrysospilaiotissa Orthodox Church of Theotokou – Virgin, Athens GreeceEkklesia Panagia Chrysospilaiotissa Orthodox Church of Theotokou – Virgin, Athens GreeceVery grand school, Athens, Greece
Other nice places and things I passed by and snapped
Modern day exterior influenced by Classical Athens, GreeceFountain, Athens, GreeceThe three best known men in Ancient Greece – Saorates, Plato and Aristotle (at night), Athens, Greece
Overall it is very built up with only a few green areas, although you will come across gorgeous flowers every now and then. Try and cut through the area around the Acropolis and you will get a little mountain feeling – parched but traffic free and mosaic full. Thanks to the lovely Maria for showing me the way.
Athens is surrounded by the Imittos mountains – it was the first thing I noticed when I got off the plane at 5.30am. The centre of Athens, on the other hand, is dominated by the Acropolis – a citadel (or upper city) on a hill. Showing clear blue skies through the arches of its most famous ruin, the Parthenon, and baked the colour of pale sand which stunningly reflects the setting sun, it is proud and impressive in its old age. Planned by Pericles with advice from Pheidias, and described as “a unique monument of thought and the arts” by UNESCO, it is the world heritage site to end all WHSs.
Roman Forum, Athens, Greece
At its foot are more ancient remains; more tourists than you can imagine even if you know Marbella well; a suprisingly tempting selection of leather belts, ceramic blue and white ‘evil eyes’, and the sort of blousy, floaty clothes that are so attractive when it’s over 33 degrees, but which you are unlikely to wear when you get home unless you go to Shiatsu classes.
You can see it from miles around, at the end of many streets
Why I was here
I was here to lead a workshop, How we Cope with Loss with Shiatsu, at the peaceful Zen Center (link below), wonderfully organised by Panayiota Polychroni-Giannino. I had an amazing itinerary – danced at the Pride celebrations, attended ‘Norma’ (opera by Bellini) at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, and had some delicious and companionly meals with new friends.
Norma was performed in the atmospheric ruins of the Odeon, and after initial rain we were graced with a cool breeze, an attractive sunset and then an almost full moon. Directed and with costumes, set and projections by the challenging La Fura dels Baus from Barcelona, the opera was sung and played by the Athens National Opera. Part of the Athens and Epidaurus Summer Festival, it used both the theme of the opera itself – the almost-infanticide by a heart-broken mother whose lover has dumped her and gone off with the virgin priestess – and at the same time raised our awarness of the damage we are doing to our planet by making set and costumes from recycled waste / plastic.
The neon structures represent a forest (right) and perhaps the altar (left)Slowly it got dark, people assembled slowly. The strip between the audience and the towers is where they put the translation (sung in Italian, translated into Greek and English). The stage was made of recycled plastic and the two vats in front of the ‘forest’ looked like they were full of poisonous green fluid in which the ‘children’ floated and looked out at us eerily.
Finally it was dark enough to see the projections – random words and pictures including one of Maria Callas, the most famous Norma. The orchestra took their place and played the overture – so familiar to me from home listening
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre
Later I was taken to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, which, according to my laptop’s translation is a “remodeling of the Kallithea area and the phallic front, giving life to a place that has been devastated for many years.” It is an open area of 210 acres housing the new National Library of Greece and the new Opera House plus gardens and other performance areas and a water feature with cafes etc. A very pleasant place to visit (slightly out of town) when the temperatures cool, just a tad, in the evenings.
With Maria and PanayiotaSpace age buildingNeatly placed olive treeThe steps at the side of the National Library, looking towards the conference centreThe new National Library with floor to ceiling book stacks
Open Air Cinema
I loved the open air cinema, Cine Paris, on a rooftop in the centre. I recommend that you book as it is very crowded, although there are 2 films per evening. It did of course have marvellous views of …
The Acropolis as seen from Cine Paris. Athens, GreeceWatching The Green Book (great movie) at Cine Paris, Athens, Greece
Economical and Political Situation
According to the Financial Times, Greece outperfomed all the major European economies in the 1960s, but “In 1981 Greece joined the European Union, and that coincided with the start of its fall.” In 1990, in advance of joining the Euro single currency in 2001, things started to slowly improve, only to see another even more serious crisis in the run up to the approval of the adjustment programme in 2015. To all intents and purposes, it is still in economic crisis now and parts of Athens reflect this – pavements need repairing, buildings are falling down. There was a transport strike when I was there, so there were no metros, trams or buses for the main part of the day. I only hope the workers win their case.
Then there is the refugee crisis (our term, not theirs), which has seen countless people dispossessed, arriving here with no money or home, often with traumatic stories to tell and therefore depleted ability to integrate. They are to be found washed up on Lesvos disshevelled and desperate; wandering along railway lines in the middle of nowhere with nothing in their pockets (no ID papers means they are more difficult to send back), and in Athens begging or lining the streets, some working like beavers selling water melons the size of dragon’s eggs from the backs of lorries, and others standing around aimlessly or taking drugs in a corner. There are elections coming up soon (7.7.19) as a result of the defeat of Alexis Tsipras (prime minister) in the European Elections, and everyone expects the Right Wing party to get in now, although those I discussed this with told me there was little difference between the Right and the Left. I saw a truck with refugees lying down and sitting in the back of it and a loud speaker making announcements – presumably campaigning for votes.
Kyklos Project
I also visited the Kyclos project, a grass-roots day centre project where young people from Afganistan and elsewhere are making a community and others are having Greek lessons to help them find work and become part of their new community. Run by the indomitable Katerina, it has an amazing record for keeping the users attending and engaged, finding them work, training them so they have transferable skills and offering a vital lifeline to keep them off the streets and away from potential trouble. Like all such projects, it is in dire need of funds for more staff right now. You can donate here. (http://www.kyclos.org/page-story.html)
The indomitable Katerina
The suburbs
I took the metro (red line 2) to Daphne from both Acropolis and Omonia (direction Elliniko to get there and Anthoupoli to get back) to give Shiatsu.
On my final day I was kindly driven to Kape Beach where all the tourists from the streets at the foot of the Acropolis had gone to swim and sunbathe (or so it seemed!). The highlight was swimming with my goggles on in the silky Aegean Sea and watching the fish below and all around me. There were white ones with black stripes, shoals of what seemed to be tiny, black ones which glinted silver when the sun shone on them at the right angle, and flat ones which I initially thought must be leaves until they wriggled side to side raising the sand and revealing themselves. Thanks to Elena for a great day out.
Kape Beach, outside Athens, GreeceKape Beach, outside Athens, Greece
I left early to walk the hour to the bus station and caught the morning sunlight, Thessaloniki
Walking without a donkey 