Day 03 - Thessaloniki & Pella

Day 03 - 12 September 2016.

Pella

What a long day today turned out to be. Woke up at 6 and out by 7. I took the number 31 bus to the inter-city bus terminal (€1.10) and from there the bus to Palia Pella (€4.10), a 40 minute ride. It's a stop in the middle of nowhere. Very North by Northwest.

From there it was a 30 minute walk to the town and through the town to Pella Museum (€8.00 includes archaeological site).

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Statue of Alexander the Great in Pella

The town is small and agricultural and could have been anywhere in the world. Very, very clean! the museum itself is not very big, but it is new and very modern. it kind of nestles into the hill. As I said, it's not very big, but full of the most amazing finds. The gold jewelry and diadems that they have found are astounding. I didn't take photos because everything is housed in reflective glass cases. They don't photograph well. Had a coffee (€2.00) and off to the site. In Pella, I bought a cap (€1.50 and water €0.50). Walked through the site which is vast. There was myself, a Russian couple and the staff. Once I was done, I took the long walk to the bus stop.

 As I was walking back, I saw a bus coming. I would never have made it. The next bus was at 14:00 which was fine. There was a kiosk with tables and chairs.

I ordered a hot dog and coke (€3.50), sat back and relaxed. Took the bus back into Thessaloniki
(€4.10 and exact change please!) and the number 31 into town.
It was now 15:00 so I decided to hit the museums. Did the Archaeological Museum, Byzantine Museum and the White Tower (Combo ticket €15.00). Three exceptional museums tracing the history of Thessaloniki from prehistory to the present. The Byzantine museum was great. A lot more than just the icons that I expected. After Byzantine (then Constantinople and now Istanbul) Thessaloniki was the most important Byzantine city. It also has an Aya Sofia which is the sister church to the one in Istanbul. I'm going to it tomorrow afternoon. I also visited the Rotunda - pagan, Christian, Muslin
then Christian again.

I went straight to dinner last night. Dirty, hot and sweaty. Kits is the name of the restaurant.

Had Kavourmas with egg (€5.50) for a starter. Kavourmas is a cured meat that tastes slightly of anchovies. Had 3 eggs on the plate. They didn't touch sides. Hell it was good. Used my bread to clean up the juices. For my main I had spicy sausage in a green and red pepper and tomato sauce and feta (€6.00).

It was so spicy and the feta melted into the sauce. OMW it was so tasty. The feta cheese here is not that hard rubbery stuff that we get. It's soft and melts in your mouth. Once I was done, went back to the hotel to shower and off to bed.

The crows are going to get you!