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Thursday was another busy day.  In the morning, we went to the Byzantine Museum and the Archeological Museum of Thessaloniki.  It was a long morning of walking around museums.  They had interesting gold jewelry from the Byzantine period, among many other artifacts.  After the museums, we went to see the Arch of Galerius and the Rotunda.  The Rotunda was closed, however, so we only saw the outside.  

The next stop was the Palace of Galerius which is right in the middle of a square, so there is a clash of old and new.  There were also cool floor mosaics that had been restored.  Mosaics are one of my favorite things to see here.  After seeing the palace, we walked back to the hotel, and I went back to the market.  I found a whole other section I had not seen on Wednesday, with clothes shops.  After the market, I found Trigones Elenidis, a pastry shop specializing in trigones (triangular pastries with cream in them).  I walked past the bakery twice before I finally found it.  It was a pretty small place and not exactly on the corner as I had been expecting, so it was harder to find than I had expected, but in the end, I found it!  The trigona I got was very good.  I ate it while sitting by the sea and the White Tower.  

In the evening, we went to the Acheiropoieitos and Agia Sophia churches.  They were each unique and from the early years of Christianity, with beautiful mosaics and icons.  For dinner, I went to the Zithos beerhouse and had mavti, a homemade pasta with meat inside served on a bed of yogurt.  It was good to try something new, and I really liked it.  After dinner, we went to another bakery for some yummy dessert.

Yesterday we drove a lot.  We made one stop at Dion, a big archeological park that was the site of a main sanctuary and city in ancient Macedonia. 

Other than that, we drove 6 hours to get back to Athens.  It’s was really warm evening, so we went to go see Sex and the City 2 at an open air movie theater.  Today is supposed to be a beautiful day, so I’m going to the beach.  J

On Tuesday, we made our way to Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece.  Most of the day was spent driving, since it is about a 7-8 hour drive.  On the way, we stopped at Thermopylae, the site of the famous battle of the Spartans and the Persians which the graphic novel and movie 300 is based on.  There is a monument next to the highway and a plaque at the top of a small hill.  It’s not as awe-inspiring as you might expect.  Once we got to Thessaloniki, we went to dinner at a taverna where I had soutzukakia (like meatballs, but in a log shape) with yogurt sauce.  Delicious!!

This morning, we went to Vergina, the site of a tumulus covering three royal tombs.  The tombs are incorporated into the museum, which is very cool.  There is controversy over who is buried in which graves, so it is interesting to see how the museum has chosen to label and present this information.  After returning to Thessaloniki, we had some free time, so I walked around and explored the city.  I like this city better than Athens.  It may be that I’m just sick of Athens, but Thessaloniki seems more alive, whereas Athens is grungier and more depressing.  I walked by the Rotunda, the Arch of Galerius, the Agia Sophia church (which was closed), the Agiou Ioannou church and catacombs, Bey Hamam (Turkish baths), which now hosts art exhibits, and finally ended up at Modiano Market, where they sell fresh fish and meat as well as all sorts of sweets.  I love markets!!  Thessaloniki has my two favorite things about Greece in one place: open air markets and the sea.  Before going back to the hotel, I got some tsoureki bread covered in chocolate from a famous bakery- yum!! I sat by the sea eating my treat, then went back to the hotel, where we were meeting. 

We went to Osios David, one of the oldest Christian churches with a pre-Iconoclast image and then to Aghios Dimitrios, the church of the patron saint of Thessaloniki.  We went down into the crypt, the site of the Roman baths where St. Demitrios was killed.  For dinner, we went to a fish tavern for some fresh seafood.  We had four different kinds of fish and mussels!  They also had a guitar there, so we had a really great time singing songs.  It was a lot of fun.  Tomorrow is another full day of sightseeing.