On Wednesday we move into our new apartment. This will be the easiest move we've ever had. We'll grab a cab and take our 2 suitcases and backpacks up the road a couple miles and settle into the new, furnished place. If only all moves could be so simple.
While waiting for legal paperwork and to move, we had some successes! Sam saw the doctor, got all the necessary paperwork and has permission to swim at two pools. She's already enjoyed one swim in the outdoor National pool which stays open year round. And it was nice to have a non-emergency doctor's visit to get a sense of what those are like. In short--good! The doctor spoke great English, asked really good health-related questions, and even gave Sam reviews of all the pools in the area. Thirty euros for a 45 minute visit where he did an EKG and thorough health assessment and she got all the paperwork needed for the pools.
We also had a mostly pleasant time on the Feast Day of Agios Dimitrios and on Ohi Day. I say mostly pleasant time because of the deafening, terrifying sounds of fighter jets flying right over our roof on Ohi Day---that was the not so pleasant part. Our landlord sent us a text message warning us that we'd see tanks outside but not to worry because they're just for the parade. We knew this already having been here two years ago. But what we didn't know was that the place we're in right now is the flight path of incredibly low flying fighter jets doing macho things. They did this for what seemed like hours.
On the plus side, we had fun meals with our friends Haris and Gianni on both holidays (two official holidays in one week, but who's counting?). Gianni speaks more English than we speak Greek but not by much. He serenaded us with some of his favorite songs, crooning "Sweet dreams ah marilees, who am I to dessahree..."(by the Eurythmics of course). He's a hoot.
We're starting to seriously question whether we even need a kitchen at our apartment. The restaurants are incredible here and these people are passionate about eating. There are too many examples to illustrate this, but...the other day we went to a seafood restaurant and the waiter told us we'd have to wait 5 minutes for the fish to be delivered by the fisherman (who arrived in a taxi cab). That's fresh fish!
We've also experienced more of that Greek generosity to strangers (philoxenia). We've lost count of how many times we've been given something from a cheerful shop owner just for having a brief chat in our tortured Greek. The other day we had a wicked craving for a famous dessert here called trigona ('triangles' literally) which is a phyllo wedge stuffed with vanilla cream with a velvety texture. It's rightfully famous. We went into a branch of the most famous trigona shop and ordered a couple of the small triangles. We chatted briefly with the shop staff and when we asked to pay, they wouldn't let us, despite our insistence on doing so. And so it goes in cheerful Thessaloniki.
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| Some of the less terrifying military aircraft on Ohi Day |
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| Sailors waiting for the parade to begin |
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| Bakery breaks are important for military dudes, too. |
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| Sam glowing from her first swim at the pool |
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| The delicious trigona |