Thessaloniki station - a bust of Alexander the Great (left) and the main concourse (right)
My day started at 5.45 and as I was washing I was surprised by a knock at the door and who should be standing on the other side, but Wayne with the offer of a cuppa before my taxi arrived. Amazing couple. The taxi drove me through the dark taking some strange route which slightly worried me until I realised we were doing another pick-up - a man and boy going somewhere they declined to reveal to me. Despite my mild panic as the time for my bus drew ever closer, they deposited me at Argostoli for my 7.30 bus. I should have learnt by now, Greeks are inevitably late but always get to the ultimate destination on time. I promptly forgot this lesson on the bus journey to Sami, which took a stupidly long time, which may have had something to do with the fact that the coach was being driven at about 5mph. The first Greek driver to actually display caution! Although I don't think I was alone in starting to fret we would miss our 8.30 ferry, it was interesting to note that even after being away for a week and travelling half across Europe, the anxious part of my nature is still in residence. We made the ferry though.
Perfect timing saw me arrive in Patras at 11.30, to pick up a bus to Thessaloniki at 12.15 for €39. Note I paid €45 to get from one side of Kefalonia to the other (45 minutes) and this 7.5 hour bus journey from one side of Greece to another cost me less! I then embark on the most wonderful journey, which is good because I had thought that by choosing the bus over the train (on Stephanos' advice and to avoid the floods in Athens) I would be sacrificing scenery. But it's okay as the bus follows the train track most of the way. We drove through the upper Peloponnese to Athens, through Delphi, Lamia, Larissa and onto Thessaloniki. Mountain passes give way to coastal roads, thousands of scrubby trees reveal patches of turquoise sea and not a person in sight. The mountain ranges in northern Greece were spectacular, I would have loved to spend some time here, if I only had it. Mt Olympus was incredible, the scenery aptly dominating and it seemed the train track actually passed through the mountain, which was a blow.
I took about 50 photos, although due to the reflection on the window, I took most on my mobile. I paid for this with poor quality and an almost overcast afternoon, the complete opposite to the actual reality of a very hot day. Due to the fact that I had no idea if and when we would stop, I drank frugally (beloved Nestea) and developed quite a headache. It was curious being on the bus, I felt like an everyday commuter rather than a tourist, a nice feeling. We passed through lots of urban streets and small communities with passengers diminishing all the time. Strange, that sense of people passing by so briefly like fireflies.
The bus stops at a bus station 3km outside of the city centre, so I took a bus to the train station, to await the next stage of the journey - the train to Bucharest. I am really excited about this, and even a strange toilet experience at Thessaloniki bus station cannot dampen my enthusiasm - as much as the circumstances try (the toilets were being cleaned when I entered, and the way this was happening was via cleaners spraying every surface down with hoses. I don't know if disinfectant was used but everything, even the toilet paper, was sopping wet. It also made it somewhat challenging to a traveller with 3 bags and not a dry surface to put them on). The capacity when travelling to deal with the bizarre seems to increase immensely.
Peloponnese (right and left)
Northern Greece
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