Athens City Break

With an unexpected visit to Thessaloniki

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	3
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

Well we decided (or I decided if we are honest!) to take an Athens city break to get the last of the sunshine. It is somewhere I have always wanted to go as there is just so much history there.

Athens was the birthplace of democracy (as long as you were male. And a citizen. And a property owner. Oh, and over 30. But other than that, everyone had the vote) and the foundation of our language, science and artistic traditions. Not bad for a tiny city in a fragmented country.

Greek air traffic controllers decided to go on strike while we were there so we ended up taking the train to Thessaloniki for a couple of days and then on to Sofia in Bulgaria, where we then flew home. This was intended as a budget holiday where we used our Hilton points for the hotel stay but ended up costing rather more than we expected!

Our Accomodation

After a stupidly early flight we took the metro to the hotel – the metro was clean, on time and modern, obviously financed with EU money. We were lucky enough to get upgraded to an Executive room with views of the Parthenon so that was great. We dumped our stuff and headed out to explore, again using the metro. First stop was the classical Keramikos burial ground just for the fun factor.

Athens: Keramikos

It wasn’t easy to find the entrance and it was a bit of a walk from the metro station but Deb was thrilled at the chance to wander round the tombs and see part of the city wall. There were also lots of tortoises on the site and a nice little onsite museum.

Athens: Temple of Hephaestus

From there we trekked to the Temple of Hephaestus, through a park used as a dog and human toilet, delightful! I’m not sure I’d have liked to visit in the evening as there lots of rough sleepers in the area and I’m paranoid after getting mugged in Barcelona.

Athens: Acropolis

We had the evening in the hotel and watched the sunset from our balcony before continuing to watch the lightning and thunderstorm that followed! Next day Deb insisted on setting the alarm for 6.30 so we could head straight to the Parthenon after breakfast. Things didn’t go quite to plan as we stopped at a couple of other places first but we started climbing the Acropolis hill around 9.30.

It was a long climb but the views were damned impressive and there was plenty to see on the way. We then joined the main entrance, along with half of the world and shuffled through the gateway.

It was pointless trying to take photos as it was too crowded so you’ll have to take my word that it was breathtaking! The temple with the caryatids, the Parthenon and the two theatres were really just superb. A definite ‘must see’ place.

Athens: Temple of the Olympian Zeus

We slowly made our way down the hill and towards the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, a huge structure that the Greeks never finished and left for Hadrian to complete. From there it was back to the hotel.

Sadly, the air traffic controller strike put a bit of a downer on things. I spent about 4 hours in the afternoon sorting out transport and accommodation as there are no flights until Thursday and those are fully booked so we have to get the train to Thessaloniki, wait there two days and then head to Sofia in Bulgaria for 3 days before flying home Friday. What was going to be a cheap weekend away has now turned into a stressful and expensive holiday.

Well our unintentional tour of Greece involved a lovely 6 hour train journey to the north of the country. The trains themselves are great, modern and clean with good air conditioning. The ticket system would not be out of place in Ottoman times.

To book tickets you had to go to the station in person, although not before 1 o’clock and pay in cash as they don’t take cards. They then write out a receipt for each seat. By hand. With carbon copies. Each seat ticket is then written out. By hand. With carbon copies. The two seats you have are then crossed off the little train picture that has been printed that day. By hand. The process took about 20 minutes. The people were lovely but it’s no wonder nothing gets done!!

Thessaloniki

We arrived in Thessaloniki mid evening and then had a short walk to the hotel along crumbling and pot holed pavements. Next morning we woke to the sound of rain. Heavy rain. Checking the weather forecast, it was due to rain until tomorrow, when we leave. Joy of joys.

We walked up to the station to buy tickets for the onward journey to Sofia (you couldn’t buy Athens to Thessaloniki and then Thessaloniki to Sofia at the same time, that would of course be silly!!) We managed to buy an umbrella when we got there and were then told they didn’t sell tickets for tomorrow’s train until 1PM today. Oh excuse me while I do a little dance of happiness. In a rain puddle.

We trudged back to the hotel and waited. Debbie decided that she was too sensible to go out in a rainstorm but I was bored so just before 1 I borrowed her yellow and pink umbrella and headed back to the train station. Much, much later, I had 2 tickets in my hands!

It would be silly to have made all this effort to get here without seeing the sites so, with my unerring sense of navigation, I headed towards the promenade…. Much later I was actually on the damned thing after avoiding red light jumping drivers, falling down pot holes, being almost drowned by spray from buses and reminding myself that packing a coat for October would really be quite sensible!

Thessaloniki: White Tower

It was a lovely, if wet, walk along the prom towards the White Tower, a vestige of Turkish rule and past some of the older Byzantine fortifications. There is also a modern statue of Alexander and a very welcome Starbucks for a proper sized coffee!

Thessaloniki: Roman/Byzantine Remains

There is an excavated section of the city that runs from the coast and covers the Palace of Galerius, Arch of Galerius and the Rotunda. The palace and arch are not really looked after and pretty lost in the bustle of a modern city.

Thessaloniki: Rotunda

The Rotunda looked pretty forlorn from the outside but inside, just wow! Although the Turks had done a lot of damage to the Byzantine mosaics there was enough left to give you an idea of the splendor of the building.

I should have gone into the two nearby museums but I was just pissed off with the weather and the general decrepitude of the place so walked back via the Roman Agora (closed), several Byzantine churches (closed or falling down) and got to the hotel for a very welcome bath.

Sofia, Bulgaria

The next morning we continued on to Sofia by train. This was a very interesting experience, looking back on it anyway. We were wearing shorts and tshirt type clothes, having packed for Athens. The train traveled across the mountains and then dropped us at a station somewhere in Bulgaria. I use station in the loosest sense of the word, it was maybe two walls of an abandoned building that was near a rail line.

Everyone seemed to think that was normal, no one spoke English and I don’t know a single word of Bulgarian. Unless Bulgar is actually in their language. It was raining now and we were pretty chilly but eventually a coach turned up to take us to another station and we followed everyone else, got on a train and arrived in Sofia.

After much hassle we arrived at our hotel and had a most welcome shower before our flight home the next day. We’d already been to Sofia as part of a Bulgarian road trip so luckily didn’t feel the need to venture out in the October rain in tshirt and shorts!

The Athens city break was fantastic, so much so that I revisited it a couple of years later with my daughters. There is so much to see in the city and it is easy to get to and good value.

It was lovely to see Thessaloniki and I’d like to revisit (in better weather) so I can explore the Byzantine area of the city. What I saw looked incredibly run down and uncared for though which is a shame as some of the buildings were spectacular. Next time I’d hire a car too rather than using the ridiculous Greek train system!

2016