I arrived in Thessaloniki at the Macedonia Intercity Bus Station, a large domed building almost like a storage building or the Roman Pantheon. It was early afternoon and it was very hot. I walked outside and I had the option of taking a bus into the centre or walking, Like always I decided to walk. I knew that it would take about an hour to walk to the hostel but I could also get lunch on the way. I head out and almost immediately see a Lidl, I go buy snacks, fruit and some chocolate milk. Glad to be using the Euro again, no more mystery currencies in Greece.
I keep walking, the area around the bus station was full with new buildings, shops and empty space but the closer I got to the city the older everything looked. Eventually I started walking up steep hills, on roads scarcely wide enough for a small car. This was clearly the cities old town, modern streets would not be laid out like this. As I got closer to the hostel I walked passed what looked to be an old two story house that had partially collapsed, I worried slightly about the safety of the area.
After about an hour I arrived at the hostel called Studios Arabas and was greeted by a tall ginger man on reception. I struck up a conversation about how he managed to survive in Greece with so much sun, he was covered in freckles and a little sun burnt. He was from Northern Ireland, a few years older than me and volunteering in the hostel. He checks me in and walks me to another building where I would be sleeping. It looked like a nice hostel but had a tiny common room.
My room was empty when I arrived and I placed my backpack under my bed and headed out. Despite being tired from the long bus and walking everywhere I wanted to go to the docks because I had yet to see the Mediterranean ocean on my trip. I walked back down the hills of old town, into the centre, a very modern looking city centre compared to my recent experiences. It was early evening, the streets were not that busy and the shops were closing for the day. I walked passed the Roman Agora and carried on until I got to the sea, I was getting hungry so I decided to look for something quick to eat. I backtracked a little until I found a little shop selling pasta and ordered some. I then went to sit at the docks with my legs hanging over the edge. It was almost totally dark by this point and the waves of the sea in the twilight remained me of something alien from the War of The Worlds.
After I ate the pasta I carried on until I got to the Alexander the Great statue. I celebrated a little knowing I had reached my goal of travelling all the way to Greece. I walked a little further, this area of the city was busy with people drinking and eating. I thought about getting a beer myself but after Sofia I thought better of it and walked back to the hostel. When I got back the common room was closed, some people were sitting outside and I set up my laptop and watched Netflix. The area had no lighting and it was so dark I could not even look into my backpack without having to use my phone as a torch. I was annoyed that the common room closed so early I went to bed. I went to the building next door, entered my room and a few people were asleep so I was quiet. I placed my backpack with my laptop in it under my bed and went to sleep myself.
The next day I knew I wanted to go and see some museums. Thessaloniki has a long history, from Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Turks. I just knew they would have some good museums. The weather in Greece was similar to Sofia, hot and sunny. But for some reason here I had hayfever, I get pretty bad pollen allergies and I was not prepared for them so early in the year. I made sure to carry tons of tissues before leaving the hostel and I made a stop at a pharmacy. They recommended some medication that appeared to be for colds, not hayfever but I gave it a try.
I walked back down to the city centre and back to the Statue of Alexander the Great. I then spent the morning and early afternoon visiting the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and The Museum of Byzantine Culture. The museums were almost empty, I was alone in most of the rooms and corridors. The whole time walking around the two museums I was sneezing, just trying to manage my allergy took away my focus. I then headed back up to the centre, stopping by at the Arch of Galerius and the Rotunda. My hayfever was so bad I decided to go back to the pharmacy, on some free WiFi I found my normal medication and they gave me an alternative, which worked better. I then went back to the hostel to have a shower and put on new clothes.
When it got dark I walked back down to the coast, the city was so busy and the bars looked fun. I had not met anyone in Greece yet and was a little annoyed I could not explore the city with someone. It was late by the time I got back to the hostel and went to bed.
The next day I had planned to do a long walk on the hills around the old town. It was hot and despite my hayfever I set off on a really long walk. All day I was walking in convenience stores to buy a drink. I started making my way to Vlatadon Monastery, I was told by the hostel that it had good views of the city. I then walked up to the Alysseos Tower and Acropolis of Thessaloniki but it was far busier than I expected with the small roads giving the tourist buses a hard time. I found a place where the walls were falling down and you could just climb ontop of them, not something that would be allowed in the UK.
I then carried on walking along the hills until houses turned into trees. I was unsure if I would be able to walk back down to the city from here as I was walking along side a motorway. But I found a dirt road running next to the motorway that looked promising. I followed it down and I was glad I did, the views of the city were very clear, I could see all the way to the coast. I followed the winding paths all the way back down to civilisation and then went to get food. I found it was so hot the back of my neck was burning, the hat I purchased in Frankfurt was not working well enough. I needed something bigger, something floppier. I found a large discount sport clothing shop and purchased a light weight beige coloured floppy hat, the kind I imagined explorers would wear. It would serve me well, but everyone else I would meet hated it (I still love it).
Just at the entrance to the old town I came across a large dog covered in blood, I looked around and found that it had just killed a cat, it's lifeless body a few meters away. The dog still panting and excited with drops of blood all over the floor. I walked around the wild looking dog and made my way up to the hostel and sat in the common room eating more of those chocolate wafers. In the evening it started raining really heavily, but it was still warm outside. I watched as the rain rushed down the steep cobblestone road outside the hostel. I decided it would be an interesting time to explore the old town, it was dark outside and the area had limited street lighting. I put my floppy hat on to protect me from the rain and spent a few hours walking up and down the hilly roads of old town. I found a few bars and eventually got the courage to sit down and order a beer at one.
Once I got back to the hostel I met two American women in our room. I was shocked at how both were travelling around Europe long term while only being 18 years old, I thought they looked even younger than that. I congratulated them for being so brave and went to bed. I woke up in the morning and packed my bags as I was leaving the city today. I had been particularly messy in this hostel and my belongings were strewn all over the floor.
YOU ARE READING
My Backpacking Memoirs
Non-FictionIn 2017 I embarked on a three month backpacking trip around Europe. Motivated by the many accounts of travel from within religion, I went to learn. But what I experienced was not what I was expecting. This was my first time leaving the UK since I wa...
