In following my intentions of being more open and less controlling, I had committed myself to uncertain plans a friend tentatively informed me of, involving some documentary effort looking at the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece and at the border of Macedonia. Plans fell through- which is totally fine when you don’t have anything else going on. So I ended up having 5 days to hang out in Thessaloniki with no set plans.
The featured image is of a sunset on a boat in the Thermaic Gulf.
It’s hard to describe my experience there. There are beautiful historic ruins and artifacts all over the place, which is great to see. It’s a little strange, but at this point I’m getting sort of accustomed to all the museums and ancient cathedrals, etc.
I think the most memorable part of the trip was meeting the owner/chef and bartender of a random restaurant I stumbled onto my first night there. Soul Kitchen Square, about 500 meters away from the apartment I was staying in.
Incredible hospitality and kindness, and great food. Elias is the owner and chef, Xenthapi is the night bartender. They got me tipsy on tsipouros, courtesy of Elias. Grilled mushrooms with garlic oil and balsamic, huge greek salad, skillet full of chicken, bacon and potatoes seasoned with dill, parsley and lemon. Also Elias wanted my judgment on his version of chicken fried rice, which as actually totally legit.
Elias had been a chef at various restaurants all over the world for 20 years, but decided to finally open his own place. It was 1 year and 3 days old as of the day of my visit. Everyday except for Tuesday, he’s working 12-13 hour days. He also got married 2 years ago and has a 9 month old. He’s trying to make it work, but it’s not easy- he doesn’t get to see his family much. For most of the night, I was the only customer there, which is why we could just hang out and talk.
Xenthapi works the bar evenings, but her day job is as voiceover talent, and occasionally as a newscaster. But it’s not what she went to school for- she’s also has a master’s degree in history. She was kind enough to give me a full page of things to see and do, with an emphasis on the little local things that might get unnoticed.
We talked about a lot of things- relationships, jobs, racism and race relations, the Greek economy and politics, Greek history… The thing that left an impression on me was Elias’ way of describing the conversation we shared, and life generally- “… through tears and laughter.” It’s another way of describing empathy I think. I really don’t like to admit it because in my experience it’s trite, but it also reminds me of a Bible verse- Romans 9:15. “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
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