Thessaloniki

Wow, where do I start! I have so much to say!  This past week my entire school took a 5 day trip up north to Thessaloniki, it was about a 9 hour bus ride from Athens.  We literally traveled the whole length of Greece to get there, but it was totally worth it!  Our first day in Thessaloniki was Οχι day. This day marks the anniversary of when the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, said Οχι, or no, to the Italian dictator, Mussolini when he demanded that Greece allowed axis forces to enter Greek territory back on October 28, 1940.  Because Greece responded with a Οχι, they now faced war.  On the same day in 1940, Italian troops marched into Greece from Albania where Greece was ready to fight back, and thus marked the beginning of Greece's participation in WWII.  Because of Thessaloniki's location, being very northern Greece, it was one of the first cities within Greece to respond to the attacks of the Italians, therefore m

aking this holiday very important to the Thessalonians.  In celebratory response to Οχι day, the city of Thessaloniki has a parade to remember the day Greece stood up against the enemy.  The parade started off with people marching in different costumes that represents the different phases in Greek history, but then it quickly turned into a military march.  Soldiers, in complete uniform, started marching down the street.  And soon following were, what seemed like, the entire Greek army and their tanks.  At first I thought it was pretty cool, to see a Greek tank so close, but then tank after tank after tank started to drive by and then a strange feeling overcame me.  It was eerie, watching so many tanks drive by with Greek army men riding inthem, and most of them were standing like they were ready to fire their guns, even some soldiers where in gas mask and chemical suits as they stood on

 top of one of the tanks.  It was a really dark and eerie feeling.  I mean a sight like this really happened, only it wasn't a celebratory response, it was response to war.  It was weird thinking

that during WWII tanks like these, except occupied by German soldiers and probably 10 times as many tanks, drove in from Northern Greece, ready to conquer the country.  I couldn't imagine being a citizen of Thessaloniki during this time and seeing this for real, how terrifying would that have been?!? 

Thessaloniki holds a lot of history regarding WWII times and we visited many museums that showed it.  The National Jewish Museum, which was heart breaking, reflected how the Jewish Community in Thessaloniki was affected during WWII.  Some 96% of the Jews in Thessaloniki were exported by train and taken to Auschwitz, were they were either forced into labor or taken straight to the gas chambers.  It was so sad to think about the horrible events that took place during this time and how so many people lost their lives and to know that so much of it took place on the ground I was standing on was very overwhelming.

That night we were all craving a little taste of America, so we decided that after 2 months of being abroad we would reward ourselves and we went to TGI Friday's for dinner.  It was incredible!  I had a chicken sandwich and fries.  It was DELICIOUS!  They even had ketchup AND free refills, both are non existent in this country, it was absolutely incredible!  YUM!

The next day we ventured west from Thessaloniki and went to the institute where Aristotle taught, and

 by institute I mean the rock and the cave of where he taught. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!  I 

could totally have been one of Aristotle's students if it meant that I could look at that view the entire time!  It was up in the mountains, with a creek running through it and the leaves where changing colors, a 

true autumn day.  We went and explored 

the country side, found some awesome caves and went in them as far as we 

could before we chickened out due to it being pitch black.  We even climbed

 in a tree, literally

 in the trunk of the tree!  It was beautiful!  It was so cool to  not only see the Greek countryside, but to also see where so much of what we use today in Philosophy was originated. And it was just nice to see some beautiful fall colors and be able to just be o

utside in the gorgeous mountains!  I could have literally sat there for hours!

But I couldn't sit there for hours because we were off to our next stop, a museum in Vergina that preserved the Tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander.  This museum was amazing! First of all it was underground, since that is where the tomb was, and I was blown away by the architecture and how they managed to created a museum

 around the tomb, it was incredible!  I was blown away!  And the tomb was absolutely insane!  The way that it was displayed was so cool, you entered a dark room, where two lights illuminated the tomb which you had to walk down stairs to get to, it was amazing!  And it was so well preserved!  I couldn't believe that right behind the doors was where the bones of Philip II laid for so long.  I was literally speechless standing there.

The last day of our trip we went way up north, practically to Bulgaria to see Bunkers where the Greek Army hid during WWII when the Germans came to invade.  In fact we were so far north could see Bulgaria, I guess we were like 4 km from the boarder, it was crazy!  I mean Bulgaria was like right there!  The Bunkers were really cool too, the Army guys gave us a tour and lead us to the underground fort.  It went on forever!  it was amazing that they created something so large underground.  It was a full functioning fort, with restrooms, a kitchen, bedrooms, and even a hospital, all underground and all used in the efforts to save Greece from the German attack.  It was incredible!

Thessaloniki was an awesome trip!  I was so glad to get away from Athens for a little bit, see where so much history took place and be able to see the colors of fall set in!  It was beautiful, but I do have to say I am glad to be back in Athens in my bed my own shower, weird how this place has become home... at least for now.