Auld Lang Syne in Ancient Greece

It was almost omen-esque of me to mention ‘togas’ in the last post, because we rang in the New Year’s with Armando’s version. Before I get into that, I’ll get you caught up on Thessaloniki, in the heart of the ancient Greece.

We arrived Christmas day, leaving the camper’s nightmare behind with relief. Like two fugitives, really. When we arrived, we stopped next to the vast boardwalk that lines the city and relaxed.

We decided the best option would be to find a Starbucks, ask locals for help with suggestions for where to stay and hopefully find a place before it grew dark. As always seems to happen with us, we were more than in luck.

The Starbucks we happened upon also happened to be literally across the street from Hotel Kastonia, where the meeting point was for Winter Camp Thessaloniki 2012. We got parking right out in front of the doors, got electricity and had soul-cleansing showers.

So…the toga party. Armando bought two garment bags, a red shiny-sash thingamajobby and a pine-wreath looking thing. Photos are included here: grin.

The only other complaint we might have is that for some god-awful reason, our parking space is right next to where the local ladies of the night wait for their evening, erm, ‘shifts.’ It’s amazing how loud those girls get, swapping stories at 11pm.

Pluses: uncanny timing with the yearly Winter Camp, Armando can finally (legally) do his street art again and we’ve had a blast getting out. Dancing our hineys off, and then some.

We’ll be here a few more days before we start making our way to Athens. It’s been a perfect way to spend our holidays, even without the snow. Or is that especially without it? Ha.