The roller coaster of my January 2014 trip away moved on to a new day and new country.  Michael Palin once said that to travel by land is the best there is, only in that way you can get to know a country.  I have to say I have got to know Bulgaria fairly well having traveled north-east, north-west and now south off to explore countries beyond Bulgarian borders.

My favourite trip out was without question the one today.  Venturing out from Sofia it’s approximately 200 km to the Greek border, but Avison as always makes a simple Tuesday jaunt not so simple.  I’ve found my bearings in Sofia, but still could not bloody well find my way out in the way that I wanted to go.  The most annoying thing was I was never lost ~ I just couldn’t find where I actually wanted to go !!!  It was frustrating start to the day, but not a problem (much).

This trip down to Thessaloniki in Greece passed through some great places on the way ..

And though the E79 road all the way down to Greece is a long way down it’s a enjoyable trip as you try and figure out where and when the Greek money ran out as they were trying to re-build the E79.

Border crossings have become the norm in the last few days, and I completed by 6th crossing without event and drove on down to Thessaloniki which is the second biggest city in Greece.  There are so many nooks and crannies to this place that I can’t think I will be able to explore it all in the short time I have, but I am looking forward to it tomorrow.  From what I have seen so far it looks a truly fabulous place.

That’s nine Balkan countries for me now .. yep, Greece is in the Balkans as well, allegedly.

Finding the city of Thessaloniki was relatively straight forward if a little long of a journey, but the place itself is a hidden cave of streets that lead in lots of different directions.  The instructions to find my hotel were non nonsensical.  So I pulled into a parking lot, and here is where the goodness of people take over, not for the first time.
The owner of the parking lot said not to pay for a ticket, and he would find me directions to my hotel.  I was 3 miles away.  So I headed off with new directions.

Having got myself within smelling distance of my hotel I still could not quite find the street.  So I pulled into a different parking lot.  Despite being within spitting distance the parking guy had never heard of my Zaliki Boutique Hotel.  So he called them, and we nailed it.  Three traffic lights, a left and a right and all was good with the world. I would never have found it till May bank holiday without their help, and for that I am very grateful.  Parking lot attendants of the world unite.

A few photo’s to see a little of the place..

And this is a picture of a restaurant in the Ladadika district .. pretty cool me thinks..

.. and then I headed out to check a little of a restaurant I found in Ladadika, a wonderful little corner of fantabulism. First with a few beers at a bar called “Beer O’Clock” and the most wonderful evening meal at Basilikos.  When I say wonderful I cannot truly express how great dinner was at Basilikos, it is the best meal out I have had in years, literally years.  I feel bad for all the other restaurants cause I cannot
think about going anywhere else tomorrow.

Wednesday I am looking forward to exploring Thessaloniki a little more, and a day without driving I am very thankful for.  This I know if gonna be a fun place !