Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη) - sink or swim time at 28 Sachtouri

Nothing too exciting today - I took the OSE InterCity train from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city.  The train ride was slow, but the views were worth it.  Olive groves, vineyards, watermelon patches, and even small corn fields patch the valleys between the mountains the train snakes its route through for most of the trip.  I didn't take many photos, since the windows tend to spoil them, but I did snap one or two early in the trip before the really breathtaking views. 

I've been in my hostel most of the afternoon, relaxing and recovering from the hike up the hill with my luggage.  Being a smart guy (ehem..), I decided to walk the 3 km from the train station to my hostel in 85* weather.  Although it was a pain, I'm somewhat glad I did.  It gave me a bit of a feel for the location of my hostel, and it reminded me that I need to pack lighter next time. 

This city isn't nearly as touristy as Athens, and in fact I have had a hard time finding people who speak more than a few words of English.  This will definitely give me an opportunity to practice my Greek tomorrow, when I plan to wander farther from 'home'.  Tonight's dinner mission almost ended in complete failure, due to my very elementary Greek (and terrible pronunciation) and the lack of English speaking restaurant owners.  Although I'm certain I could get by at most of the places I skipped over, I'm too exhausted to try today.  I found a gyro shop and managed to get my point across the highly amused owner. 

I don't have any idea how I found my way home, I wandered probably 3-4 km toward downtown in search of food, nearly reaching the sea, before I turned around.  Although I wasn't making a conscious effort to remember, I managed to exactly follow my footsteps back to the hostel.

The gyro, for the record, was not very good.  It looked and tasted more like a bits of a roasted slab of bacon.  But it was cheap and I'm not hungry anymore, so its not a complete loss.  My first disappointing Greek dish!  I suppose it had to happen at some point.  I would have paid 10 Euro for a nice piece of spanakopita (which, also for the record, is about 5 times what it sells for at any one of a thousand small restaurants in Athens). 

My hostel is really interesting, it seems to be a converted house of some sort, with beds placed in every room.  It's a beautiful place, and the owners are very friendly.  I can see the sea from the entrance, and once in a while I can hear a ship blow its fog horn before it departs. 

Tomorrow I'm heading to the Thessaloniki Ano Poli (downtown) to see some of the ruins and hopefully find some better food!