Day 5 - Monday, May 6
Soon after breakfast, we packed and left Serres where we really had a great Easter holiday. We spent the last three days of our holiday in beautiful Thessaloniki where we had the chance to meet Alkis' cousin Antonis and his wife as well as two great friends, Stelios and Irini. What I love most about Thessaloniki is the hospitality of the people and their willingness to welcome visitors to their city and make them feel at home!
We arrived in Thessaloniki soon after midday and checked in at Macedonia Palace Hotel - probably the oldest and most traditional hotel in Northern Greece. We were told upon booking that the hotel had recently been renovated. We discovered that it was only partly renovated. Our room with seaview wasn't small but it was literally packed with old, non-functional furniture which limited the space to the minimum. But since every cloud has a silver lining, I must admit that the bed was very comfortable and the public premises were great.
After all the food and drink we had had in Serres over the Easter weekend, we thought we'd take a break. We had a very light and healthy lunch at the hotel - grilled chicken and salad served with tomato jam, which wasn't bad. However, in the evening, all the healthy eating went out of the window! We walked to Aristotelous Square, about 2km from the hotel, though. We endend up at a very cute Taverna called Roumeli where we enjoyed great food in the open air and great live music! At about 2:00 am, we walked back to the hotel and went straight to bed!
Day 6 - Tuesday , May 7
We were invited to lunch at Stelios and Irini's beautiful home at Scholari in the outskirts of Thessaloniki. Both Stelios and Irini are great, close friends and their invitation was an honour. They had invited some other friends of theirs but , very soon , we all chatted to each other like good, old friends. Irini is an excellent cook and a great hostess. I really loved all the food she had prepared, in particular the pasta with spinach and cheeses. Asterios prepared the baby goat on the spit which turned out to be delicious. We started out with aperitifs and finger food at 12 and finished lunch at about 6:00 pm !
Back to the hotel, we had a nap and then met Alkis' cousin Antonis and his wife Irini who had invited us to dinner. I loved the taverna at Perea, Thessaloniki! We dined in the open air, under the stars, enjoying great food and great company. We had such a great night out that we didn't want to end it too soon, so we had a last drink at the hotel. We arranged to meet again the following day.
Day 7 - Wednesday, May 8
Shopping in Thessaloniki was a pleasure. We walked to Tsimiski Street and spent all morning shopping for clothes, shoes, cosmetics, accessories and gifts for our friends in Cyprus. Having enjoyed a great lunch at "Ouzeri Aristotelous", we walked back to the hotel, had a nap and then went out for dinner with Antonis and Irini. We even enjoyeed the rain - oh yes, rain at last after an unsually hot week for Northern Greece.
Day 8 - Thursday, May 9
We spent our last morning in Thessaloniki relaxing at Macedonia Palace Hotel. At 12:00 a taxi drove us to the airport as we had a flight to catch at 2:00 pm. Cyprus Airways safely flew us back home and landed at Larnaca International Airport at 3:30 pm.
We had a ..ham and cheese toast for dinner. Since we came back from our Easter holiday in Greece, we've been living on grilled chicken or grilled fish and salad or grilled vegetables.
Until the travel bug strikes again!