We are in our first full day in Thessaloniki.  I have yet to take good pictures, but the source of all knowledge has a pretty good article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thessaloniki.  We will be here for three more days and then head to Ouranoupoli, where we will stay for one night before getting the ferry to Mt. Athos.  Here are some sundry bits from our trip thus far.

Coming into Heathrow, I got a clear view of suburban housing that seemed to go on forever.

Heathrow itself has to be one of the worst airports I have dealt with: so big and complicated that it is hard to imagine how so many people find their way through it.

We arrived safe in Thessaloniki on schedule despite leaving Heathrow over an hour late.  I was sure we would never make our connection in Athens, but the great people at Aegean Airlines sent a man with a wheelchair for Frank.  He moved so fast that I practically had to run to keep up with him.  We were thoroughly impressed in every way by Aegean.

We are staying at the Metropolitan Hotel, where Frank has stayed for many, many years.  The moment we arrived, he was greeted with great enthusiasm and warmth.  This sort of welcome was repeated today when we went to see his travel agent and his barber.

A must for Frank on every trip to Thessaloniki is a visit to "the best barber in the world" (by Frank's reckonin  Actually, when Frank first started going to this shop it was this man's father who held the title.

I am, of course, always on the lookout for birds to photograph and was happy to see an odd-looking crow on a nearby building....at least until I realized it was an imitation one.  Why, you might ask, would anyone want a crow figurine on his or her roof?  Perhaps it is a scarecrow, as in a crow that scares away pigeons.  If that is true, it doesn't seem to work very well.  I am hoping for better bird pictures in the future.






Thessaloniki is rich in Byzantine churches, and here is one from the eighth or ninth century, which is not too heavily remodeled.  It is called by the same name as the great church in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, Hagia Sophia, which means "Holy Wisdom."







One of the nicest parts of the church is its dome with beautiful mosaics
















This chandelier is not that old I imagine, but I love that it is made up of the forms of eagles that seem to be playing cymbals.