Relaxed afternoon shopping in Thessalonica
- Written by Portal Editor
What at first moment seems to be a canyon of concrete with astonishing hot air in the streets and couple of hectically people, predominantly and surprisingly shows itself as green, airy and relaxing streets.
In almost every street we met with healthy, vibrant green trees, sidewalk cafes and friendly people, far from what is reported in the news.
And despite the narrowness of the streets with lots of cars and motorcycles, as well as numerous bicycles (there are really well-developed bike trails in Thessalonica), there are green and blooming parts everywhere, even on the busy Via Egnatia.
A bakery caught our eye due to the abundance of different kinds of bread and bread shapes, one of the exhibited bread almost reaching the size of a surfboard.
Parked motorcycles and scooters, right next to another sidewalk cafe under shady trees and manicured flower beds.
Then in a shop we met what was hard to beat in the number and variety of its products. In a small space, a huge range of products from various regions, lot of the articles moreover aligned predominantly ecological, here in the picture lot of very special olive oils.
Then stalls with fresh fish, well chilled, most of them offered from local regions.
Around the corner, a fruit stand with seasonal fruits, mainly from local gardening and organic too. What is really truth in the sayings of the western media, who often accuse the Greeks "certain" inertia? Another prejudice, often used by the policies for own reasons.
The stands and areas were extremely clean and well maintained, which is certainly not always easy to ensure. And despite little revenue all meetings with the "sellers" went in friendly relaxed atmosphere, even when we were not buying anything.
An interesting possibility for a souvenir: The customer collects his ouzo samples by himself and gets the right gift packaging on top.
A little later we came upon this gardening shop, presenting a collection of its plants on the pavement. Almost all balconies showed lush greenery, the inhabitants of Thessalonica seem to have something like a green thumb.
And right next to it, a sidewalk cafe with a medieval church in the background in brick construction, the paving of cobblestones in the street fit to it.
In another eco-shop we found this drink, little ecologically in a tin can, which contains mastic as one ingredient, a tree resin, however very healthy for the stomach, rarely found in nature. Delicious, not too sweet and very refreshing.
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