Culture, History, and Food in Thessaloniki, Greece

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After a prosperous land in Athens international airport, Thessaloniki was a -three hours” flight- away after my 4 hours” layover in Athens. I was hopelessly waiting for time to pass with no successful plans to visit the city center! If you think about it; after clearing customs, picking up your luggage, getting a chance to look at that Athens colorful metro map, and figuring it out, an hour to two would’ve passed, with a 54 minutes” train ride not including the waiting time for it to arrive, getting off, walking around a bit and calculating the time for the ride back; I would’ve missed my flight to Thessaloniki.

Of course, Snapchat was active for me 😛 so make sure you look out for those snap stories.

Like you already know, I would be looking for a way to explore Athens even for that short time that I had. I went to find a cafe nearby to sit around and collect myself.

I don’t know if it was coincident or I have a specific taste in cafes, but the restaurant that I ended up sitting at was almost the same one as the cafe I sat in when I went to Moscow! Maybe airports have the same sense of cafe styles, or perhaps it’s a European thing, and perhaps even it was just me who gets attracted to cafes with the same atmosphere/ style.

But I sat there for hours staring at Athens’s colorful transit map and city’s guide; if I was going to be in Athens for a short time, I should make it count. I don’t want to waste my time on something stupid, you know!

Guess what? After staring for hours at the map with a sort of plan to where I would go, I heard my name on the airport speakers for my flight’s final boarding! Ha! talking about not wasting time! But also guess who was running from one gate to another, dropping her phone a million times and going back to pick it up another million times? But you know what? At least I made those airport workers laugh their ass off! I guess that’s all that matters… and catching that flight as well! LOL

Thessaloniki, the second biggest city in Greece

So my taxi driver was so generous that he decided to offer me a tour around the city before reaching my hotel.

Anyways, I didn’t know if I should’ve tip or to not tip my taxi driver for offering that mini-tour. My friends confused the hell out of me about listing around the world, some countries consider it rude to tip them, and other states consider it rude not to! The USA is on the top of the list of “it’s rude if not to!”

For Greece, god knows! Because that taxi driver looked like he wanted a tip, but restaurant waiters didn’t seem like they wanted a tip at all!

The Mediterranean palace of Thessaloniki is where I stayed during my lovely trip.

And guess what it was like a real freaking palace, especially with my Mediterranean Sea suite view <3 <3 <3 (this deserves a million hearts and kisses)

The Mediterranean palace offered us a tour of the presidential suite (guess whose suite was right next to it! MINE!)

Have you ever seen Thessaloniki from the rooftop of the Mediterranean palace?

Go ahead a stare your eyes away at the most picturesque scene of all scenes!!

The Mediterranean Sea <3

or had you ever walked in the streets of downtown Thessaloniki at night!

I think I left my heart in the streets of Thessaloniki, it’s fresh air and breathtaking atmosphere and culture!

After a bunch of street walking and Snapchat updating, we went back to the hotel for some late dinner…

Even though I was jetlagged as hell! I still made it explore the nightlife of Thessaloniki and have the best moments of my life (Amazing dinner, cultural drinks, good company, live music, and great laughs; that is for sure!)

This is us (with new friends) trying to calm another person that was afraid of tiny elevators with a small elevator selfie! (it worked!)

With my hotel being a few feet away from the sea and downtown Thessaloniki, why not explore the city and its nightlife, baby!

We all know where this is going… either bar hopping, dancing, or walking around looking for more bar hopping and dancing in Thessaloniki’s lively PM streets.. with tons of laughs/giggles and new friends!

Something that happens no matter where you go; is when you wanna take a picture for that unforgettable night, but the “it’s a video!” trick takes place!

So, my cool tour started with a fantastic tour guide and transportation offered by Mouzenidis Travel!

“We’re going on a trip..” you’re damn right, we DID! Everywhere.. but not yet everywhere!! Thessaloniki is freaking huge but small! And there are tons to see and explore!

And when we all looked so impressed but confused at the same time from all the history shared with us!

I’m not a typical mall shopper or go-er in case of visiting malls too often (like all those middle and high schoolers tend to do after school!) I barely visit it once every six months; only if my grandmother or an aunt is visiting us in New York and want to get some shopping done, I would tag along for the company.

Other than that, you’ll never see my face is a shopping mall ever! But when I visited Thessaloniki, I went to the Cosmo Medietarian shopping mall, and I defiantly enjoyed my time there; it wasn’t like any other mall I ever been to.

Cosmos’s was sectioned into parts and organized by colors; for example, red lights are for women, pink for babies, and green for furniture (don’t take my word for the right colors, I just gave an example!), but it made it so much easier for the buyer or shopper to target their shopping needs quicker and more comfortable. ( I stayed in my section, 20’s’s fashionable women if there was one called that, but I found it and named it my self, I forgot what color it was tho!)

Not forgetting the cafes and chill or play fancy chairs they got all around the mall (they were probably some architecture designs, but people just sat on them or played with them lol)

Anyways, what kind of mall got so many services, including a daycare, playhouse, and a baby changing rooms? You see, I’m not a mommy yet. Still, what struck me the most is the sewing kits (if you need to sew a button back or you found a hole in your pockets out of nowhere, you can take out a sewing kit to fix it!! WTF). They got a movie theater, gaming section, cafes everywhere <3 (I love coffee!), and their food courts that humungous with a crazy selection of food brands from all over the world!

 And you go and shop around for the latest greek styles!

of course, those food courts leads to that ancient-looking greek theater that shows to even more cafes and restaurants, even to a freaking pool and a church!!! (Mindblown)

But that’s not the end of my Thessaloniki journey.. I’ll be back, Promise!