Thessaloniki and Halkidiki, Greece

August 2019 – 3 nights in Thessaloniki and 3 nights in Halkidiki with Lynn’s parents

Overview

In the summer of 2019, we organized our own month-long trip to Greece and called it the “Heritage Tour of Greece” because we wanted the children to explore where Lynn’s dad (Steve Aridgides) grew up. After a couple of weeks on Crete with our friends, grandpa got his chance to be the tour guide. We met up with Lynn’s parents in Steve’s hometown of Thessaloniki (the second-largest city in Greece). He was really excited to share stories from his childhood and take the kids around. After a few days of hearing all about the trouble he used to get into and that he graduated first in his high school class, we then drove just over an hour to spend some time by the sea in Halkidiki. From there the trip continued on to Meteora and Skopelos.

Since he knows far more about Greece than we ever will, we asked him to be a guest writer for the site and share his experiences of Thessaloniki and Halkidiki.

In Steve’s Own Words:

Long on my bucket list was a visit to my hometown of Thessaloniki. I left there when I was 19 fresh out of high school and took a long plane ride to New York.

My children had been there a couple of times already, but walking and talking to my grandchildren in the place I grew up in, the school I went to, and the streets I played in was a great experience.

Thessaloniki is a big city with a large university and an amazing waterfront promenade (paralia in Greek). I grew up in the middle of the city and went to an elementary school on the same block as the apartment that my parents rented from one of the monasteries that are on Mount Athos.

My kids told me that they loved “food tours” and since there weren’t many formal options for one in Thessaloniki, I reached out to some tour guides and asked if they could make one. I found a willing graduate student, who also took on the challenge of it being a Sunday when the open-air markets are mostly closed. We started with a visit to an old type grocery store (bakaliko) where we sampled local cheeses, salamis, canned fish, and of course ouzo. 

We then continued to an olives/legume health store called The Gold where the owner, a delightful young lady named Alexandra had prepared several dishes based on beans and lentils the way her family and grandparents did when they came to Thessaloniki from Constantinople in the 1920s [Editor’s Note: Istanbul didn’t officially changed its name in 1930, so we’ll let it slide that the Greek is still calling it Constantinople.]. They were the best-tasting beans I have tasted, certainly much better than “the way my mom used to do them.” This is a joke between me and my children because I am ALWAYS comparing everything to the way my mom used to make it! Bean soup was one of the staples of family dinners when I was growing up: simple, nutritious, and, most importantly, inexpensive. We could only afford meat once per week. The Lewins bought some beans and raki of course to take back to Torino.

The food tour continued to a small taverna where we had soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs), a Thessaloniki specialty, among other delicacies. After walking for a while to make room for more food, we finished with trigona (triangles of thin pastry filled with cream) at Ellenidis (see below). 

Other Favorite Experiences

• Take a walk along the beautiful waterfront – it’s full of people, cafes, and bars. I loved stopping for drinks at one of the bars with my grandchildren. 

• Visiting the White Tower – This is the only part left from the walls that protected Thessaloniki along the waterfront. There is a small museum inside and it offers good views from the top.

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• Agia Sophia – The yard in front was my playground when growing up. This is a big church built in 700 AD with a long and storied history. My mom would go there every Sunday. I would go long enough for my mom to notice that I was there and then I would split. You can’t expect an eight-year-old to sit for a three-hour service!!!

And one last Thessaloniki memory for a lifetime

My cousin Fotis racing down Tsimiski Street (main shopping street in the city) in his super small two-seater “Smart” car with my three grandchildren in the front passenger seat and with half of Joy screaming and waving out the window!!

Where to eat

• Trigona Ellenidis – Be sure to try this unique desert found only in Thessaloniki. It’s triangles of crispy phyllo and vanilla custard.
• Bougatsa Giannis – (Food of the Gods) – Bougatsa deserves a special mention and this place serves up some of the best. It is a very thin homemade phyllo filled with cream and sprinkled with powdered sugar, or you can get savory options, filled with cheese, spinach, or minced meat. It is typically eaten for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. They run out by the early afternoon. Here is a link to a short video on how it is made https://youtu.be/2NYEMB8urig
• Tsarouchas Restaurant – We ate at this casual restaurant that is mostly known for their tripe soup, but also offers a variety of pre-cooked meals. For the non-stomach lining lovers, try the stuffed tomatoes and peppers, moussaka, string beans, and oven-roasted potatoes.
• Chryso Pagoni – This is a modest place with real home cooking and reasonable prices. You pick from what you see in front of you and then find a place to sit. They bring out the food. They have a good selection of meatless dishes (ladera in Greek). 
• Terkenlis – There is excellent spanakopita (spinach pie) and tsoureki (sweet Easter bread) at this small chain of patisseries. There is one right in the center near everything. 

Where To Stay

• Electra Palace (Aristotelous Square) – Simply the best location in Thessaloniki, people watching from the balcony or from one of the benches on Aristotelous Square. Walk to everywhere: Shopping, restaurants, cafes. Taxi stand in front of the hotel, also public buses. They have a pastry and coffee shop attached to the front lobby.
• Colors Urban Hotel – a more budget-friendly choice with funky, colorful rooms and a really good breakfast. The kids loved sleeping in bunk beds.

Things to do next time

• Take a bike ride, run, walk along the waterfront. Goes on for about 4 miles. Cafes, bars, parks, basketball, and tennis courts.
• Visit the Ano Poli (upper city). It has narrow streets and is hilly. Sometimes you think you are in a small village, not in a metro area of almost one million people. Stop at Tsinari, a taverna/ouzeri that has been around forever.
• Go see a PAOK soccer game against Olympiacos (their biggest rivals) at Toumba Stadium.
• Spend time at Kapani, the open-air market, and Athonos Square where my mom used to do her daily shopping.

Halkidiki

Within a short drive from Thessaloniki, you can reach the beaches of Halkidiki. It’s a series of peninsulas (or fingers) that provide protected sandy beaches. There are dozens of beaches in this area, with even more places to stay. You can find budget motels from 50 Euro per night or a super luxury resort for 1000 Euro per night. Because it is so close to the city, it can become quite crowded and I would not recommend driving there on Friday afternoons or trying to come back to Thessaloniki on Sunday evening.

We stayed on the first “finger” in a town called Chaniotis at the Grecotel Pella Beach. It was a nice place to just relax at the pool and beach for a few days after being in the city. I had my memory of a lifetime there: Grandpa and Joy dancing to rembetiko music at the hotel.

Anthoulas Restaurant (in the town of Kriopigi) – I wish we had a better picture of this meal. We were looking for a restaurant that has “cooked food” as the Greeks call it, not the standard taverna fare with only appetizers and grilled meats. I had one of the best moussaka dishes EVER..and I have been eating moussaka for more than 70 years. They served individual portions in clay pot!! We had a table for 11 of us under a giant tree in the middle of some small square. It was the perfect meal with my greek cousins and my grandchildren. I can go on and on, but you have to go there yourself!