Almost a week ago I left Granada in the dead of the early morning. I love this city, but I needed some more contact with nature.
So to Greece I turned… However I flew through Dusseldorf – amazingly I was able to get into this bit of forest with the two and a half hours I had between flights.
Next to Thessaloniki. Turns out I booked an apartment right in the centre of the city, looking onto the Roman palace ruins. This town is lively beyond belief – it’s a festival atmosphere on the street ever evening of the week, with crowds of twenty somethings hanging out drinking, talking, walking, chatting, playing instruments. Graffiti more common than in Granada – and generally a slightly more grungy feeling. The language sounds less European than Spanish – definitely a Balkan feeling to the place. It was all burned down in 1917, and the city within the area of ancient Thessaloniki is mainly 1970s six story buildings, in an endless sea. With just a few exceptions. So not a beautiful city by any means. But what a lively atmosphere. And bookshops here and there, cheap food, and the sense of possibility and happiness that twenty-somethings can bring to a social scene.
