Thessaloniki

October 14th
Thessaloniki, Greece

Today was a visit to one of the few ports during this contract I have not yet visited. Thessaloniki is a large Greek city on the mainland (I think) and is very cosmopolitan. The band – always looking for an adventure – thought they’d stretch themselves today and go to…TGIF…yeah. Although it is the first TGIF I’ve seen in Europe (or cared enough to pay attention to), I wasn’t about to waste an afternoon sitting at an American styled restaurant. So I went for a walk through some other parts of the city, not really with any destination in mind, but just to get a general vibe for the area.
I did have two objectives for my exploring though, find dental floss and soap, both of which I was desperately lacking in my cabin. I found floss at a local pharmacy without much difficulty – all it took was the word “floss” and a simple hand gesture and the lady knew exactly what I was after. The soap was slightly harder to find. I was hoping for a traditional Greek olive oil based soap, the kind I saw everywhere when I was walking in Greece on my last contract, but it appears you never can find what you want when you need it. I did eventually come across a grocery store that had toiletries downstairs, including a cheap Greek-made soap with some funny name and generic smell I just couldn’t pass up. I grabbed the single bar and a bottle of water on my way out, paid for the products, and left leaving people thinking I was going to take some sort of impromptu shower in the street with my odd purchase. I swear there must be dozens of weirded out store clerks throughout the world due to strange purchases I’ve made.
Anyways, with my floss, soap and water in hand, I continued walking through the city for about 90 minutes before I decided it’d be a good idea to get back to port before the ship sailed. Over all it was a nice city, surprisingly busier than I’d have imagined, but yet still very nice and welcoming. Maybe I’ll return someday when my soap runs out…but I doubt it. Thanks for reading!