Holiday: Day 1 – Thessaloniki, Greece (2023)

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Friday, 22nd – Day 1 (of 8)

We’re off to Thessaloniki, Greece for a week, incorporating my Birthday celebrations too! 👍

The location is also known as Thessalonica and is the second-largest city in Greece, with just over one million inhabitants. It is also Greece’s second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre together with being the country’s major transportation hub for Greece and southeastern Europe, mostly through the Port of Thessaloniki. It looks and sounds a buzzy sort of place! 👍

And the weather forecast is looking good too!

With our ‘tourist heads on’ There’s plenty to do, and we plan to make the most of our short time here, soaking up the culture, and with ‘soaking up’ in mind, maybe a Mythos (or five!) 😉

At this stage, I’m not sure whether we’ll do some (or any) of these, but culturally, we’re spoilt for choice – and for us, that’s just PERFECT! 👍

12.59pm: And so, it was off to Birmingham Airport for Jet2’s Flight LS1205 leaving at 4pm. This will get us to our destination by 9.35pm (local time).

Birmingham Airport was absolutely manic! Wetherspoon‘s was rammed and where impatient travellers were even queuing for the queues! We picked somewhere less busy – nearby Pret a Manger for a cheeky Danish and coffee, whilst we waited for our flight to be called. Contrast that with getting through Security – a textbook-perfect experience where we were ‘through’ in no time (although they did decide to completely empty my laptop bag!) 🫢

Another lightning-fast experience through Boarding, where we were soon seated and enjoying the fact that the place was only about two-thirds full!

Landed!

We’re now two hours
ahead of Kettering

9.25pm: Here we are in Thessaloniki, after a hassle-free flight. Jet2 certainly know how to run an efficient service – we landed ahead of schedule! 👍

Heading for the Hotel

We’re staying at the Electra Palace Hotel, apparently the ‘go-to accommodation for celebrities and A-Listers‘ (but somehow, they still agreed to let us stay! 😉). It was only a twenty-five-minute drive, and Jet2 had laid on a taxi for just us two (all part of the package!) Perfect!! 😀😉

Their official photo gallery is HERE.

9.55pm: We were soon checked-in, and so before we trashed the room, here are a few photographs of our home for the next week… ⬇️

It’s not the largest room we’ve ever stayed in, but they’ve packed a lot in with everything we need for our week here.

11.15pm: Well, that’s it from us for today. See you for breakfast tomorrow! 💤💤😴😴

Tomorrow?

We’ve booked the obligatory red bus tour to help us get a feel for the area!