Motourama Part 28: Greece – More Than Just Feta And Olive Oil

The route out of Macedonia did not let us down. Fantastic scenery all the way.

But as soon as we crossed the border to Greece, the landscape and nature changed from lush greens to low growing bushes and grasslands. We were driving into the sky! Weeeeee!

We had a late breakfast/early lunch just after the border crossing.

Where we were joined by a herd of sheep and goats, appearing seemingly out of nowhere through the small wood.

Watching them wander across the fields was quite calming.

Setting off again, we went back to exploring the plain, but soothing Greek nature.

The roads snaked through the landscape, making for a flowing ride.

Sheep and a donkey!

Again perfect riding conditions, no rain, not hot, neither cold. What a landscape!

Smoothly snaking road, getting us into a nice flow. Motorcycle heaven!

Even though the nature wasn’t as lush as in Macedonia, the views were still stunning.

What it this?! Lush again? This can’t be Greece! But it is, with the Adriatic Sea in the distance.

Driving along the Greek coast, we came through a few cities, where one in particular, Kavala, had an interesting piece of architecture.

We have arrived in Thessaloniki! The grey building is a hotel under construction, where we could get a cheap room, due to the unfinished state of the building. The room was brand new, clean, and with aircon. Uhhh!

The view from our room. It’s always good to be able to see if the bikes are alright.

We had arrived with daylight to spare, so we went into town for dinner. Ending up in Ladadika, a very cosy area and one of the hotspots for bars and restaurants in the city.

The next day we set out to explore the city and its sights. We watched pigeons!

We looked at ruins…

…that were very old, build by the Romans.

Here’s proof, that Denise looked at it, too.

We witnessed a woman in the park with her dogs, talking to them and occasionally hugging and massaging them. What a life for a dog!

We saw an old, marvellous church, named Ekklisia Panakia Ton Chalkeon.

And admired the frescoes, just as old as the church…

…as well as the exquisite decor.

Denise wanting to take pictures of Esben all day… due to the fantastic reflections.

We spotted orthodox priests strolling along the sea.

And candied hibiscus flowers looking like baby squids. We had to try them. They were as sweet as you would expect candied fruit to be, and delicious.

We gazed at the White Tower of Thessaloniki at the water front.

We admired the bust of admiral Nicholas Votsi.

We spotted a lady selling balloons.

We discovered a genuine, true to life pirate.

And his pirate ship.

Which turned out to be a free cruise, on the condition you would purchase a drink on board. The slew pirate had it figured out, but with 5 euro per drink, it was in actuality a reasonable cruise.

The cruise offered a great view of the city – the White Tower with the old city wall leading up to Trigoniou Tower and Eptapyrgio Fortress in the background.

The pirate put on a show…

…and tried his best to look menacing, in a charming way.

We regarded some street art.

Denise was still fascinated by Esben’s sunglasses. Totally a 70’s vibe.

We saw the Roman Rotònta from above the city.

We visited Trigoniou Tower and enjoyed the view from there.

And still, Denise was fascinated by Esben’s sunglasses.

We looked at some more street art in Ano Poli “Upper Town” – the old town of Thessaloniki.

We saw street art next to crumbled, derelict houses…

and just plain wrecks of homes.

We detected hidden, forgotten doors.

We regarded a grand church, towering above the poor building complexes of the surrounding area.

We found even more street art, overlooking the city.

We saw a small door in the old city wall, carved out as an afterthought.

We glimpsed at the road side assistance of Thessaloniki.

We spotted the contents of a living room under a tree.

We saw a yellow car, next to a yellow flowering tree, next to a yellow traffic light.

And finally, we spotted another orthodox priest carrying shopping bags, which concluded our tour of the city.