Thessaloníki
This is the second city of modern Greece and capital of the region of Macedonía. It is situated at the top of the Thermaic Gulf and is an important commercial port.
It is a lively, vibrant city and a very proud one - there is long-standing rivalry with Athens; the Athenians thinking Thessaloniki is unsophisticated and provincial, (rather like London and Newcastle, maybe). The town is not as smart or clean as I'd hoped, the pavements are dirty and there are lots of horrid sixties flats, (a devastating fire in 1917 destroyed almost all buildings in the old city), but there are also some fine neo-classical buildings, lovely old French style buildings with balconies, a fine sea front and very few tourists. Its long and varied history has left many interesting things for us to see especially from the Roman, Byzantine and Turkish periods.