Thessaloniki: Beach Day

Today was such a great day!

I'm sure I don't have to convince you that waking up this morning was nearly impossible. Only three hours after going to sleep, it was 7:30 AM and already time to get up. Our third roommate had to physically wake me, and I had to yell at Sarah to get her out of bed. I think half of the battle was that Sarah and I are both partially deaf from the club.

Breakfast was kind of funny because everyone slowly drifted in and our professor was just laughing at all of us. The boys apparently woke up 30 minutes late and had to run down -- they forgot most everything they had planned to bring to the beach. We were a rough looking bunch. Everyone slept the entire 90 minute bus ride. It’s never been so quiet!

We finally reached Sithonia, ranked one of the world’s best beaches according to Katula, at 10 AM. It was unbelievably beautiful and as we drove through town, Katula took on the role of tour guide and pointed out sites such as “pizza” and “hamburger.”

We found a public beach and all sprawled out, most of us sleeping. When I eventually felt as if I was in a frying pan, I made my way to the water. This water was without a doubt the best I’ve ever experienced. It’s hard to really put it into words, but I’ll try … So when I wrote about the other beaches having clear water, I must have lied, because this was so clear that I could see my shadow on the sand below me. It was literally crystal clear, you could even see all of the fish and rocks swimming below. The temperature was perfect; so refreshing. And this is the part that’s hard to describe – the water just felt different, like the way your body moved. It felt fresh and pure, and took no effort at all to swim. Because of so much salt, your body just floats.

Four of us walked right across the street to a taverna for lunch. I had Greek salad and tzatziki with bread. It was really nice, but the flies here are crazy! They’re all over the food and I’m pretty sure they bite because I kept feeling little nips on my feet. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon in the water because it was so amazing. I swam out to the buoy a few times, floated, chatted, exfoliated myself with the grainy sand, and at the end of it all, had a thick layer of salt on my dried skin.

We all got some gelato before getting on the bus to head back to Thessaloniki. The gelato was awesome – definitely the creamiest we’ve had. At the gelateria, there was a little baby bird on the ground that had fallen out of its nest up above. It was so sad! We tried to give it some water but it was too afraid of us.

Once we got back, I showered and then set out walking through the city on my own. It was very liberating to be by myself – I think for the first time since we arrived – just doing everything on my terms. I went in a couple of shops – bought a scarf –, walked along the water front, and picked up some pastries from the most famous bakery in Thessaloniki. I was so sweaty when I got back I could have showered again!

Everyone was so exhausted from last night, we decided just to run to Goody’s (that fast food place) across the street for dinner. Then I packed up and have been hanging out since. We have a 4:45 AM wake up call tomorrow to catch our flight down to Crete … and then a full day of sightseeing before we check into the hotel at 3 PM. But the good news is that we are off on Saturday so have the entire day to ourselves. I can tell you what that will certainly include. Sleeping in!