Dinner at Thessaloniki

We arrived around 6:00 pm on Sunday, May 08, 2016. Given it was Sunday, there were hardly any stores opened (we learned this later)!! We were anxious to try the authentic Greek cuisines but unfortunately, the restaurants selections were extremely limited. Most of the ones opened were coffee shops or baked goods like wraps or sandwiches. We walked around the areas in our hotel but could not find a decent one. It was later that we found a restaurant that was located in the downtown area, mostly catered for tourists but the menu looked reasonable. Before we arrived at the restaurant, we came across a big protest and the entire downtown area was closed for pedestrians only. Huge police presence with guns, gas masks, and motor bikes followed the protest behind and around the streets corners. We walked past them and even waved to them, taking pictures. It was intense but did not feel dangerous or threatened at that time. However, as we just started to eat, we heard a few very loud exposions, people shouting loud and footsteps running from different directions. We were quite startled by the explosions which were not too far from where we were sitting. Some people ran toward our area and police were chasing them with sirens and lights flashing. We didn't know what to do - should we leave the restaurant quickly in case the situation got out of control or just play it by ear as our food just arrived?  Some people stayed while the other customers continued their meal. The waiter assured us that it was due to the protests and not terrorists. We put away the cameras and personal belongs, just in case we had to dash at the first sight of danger!  Luckily, the noises and explosions stopped shortly and things got back to normal. 

The dinner was pretty good, low on presentation but the flavours were quite authentic, except the lamb chops were like bones and skins rather than chops.   

After such a long journey, we have arrived in Greece (took us 23 hours) and tomorrow morning we will begin exploration of this old city. From what we saw, buildings in Thessaloniki are rather old and much of the up keep have been neglected due to lack of funding. People seemed friendly and only limited English in their fluency to  communicate. I'm sure we will manage - with a bit of miscommunication and much laughter!