A train ride into the past

I went out ‘early’ to eat breakfast at the place recommended by my host: Engron Agora. It is a very impressive place, which reminded me very strongly of Jones the Grocer, in Woolhara, NSW. Really nice. I got there at 8:45 am and it didn’t open officially until 9:00 am. A further indication that Europeans don’t do breakfast. Most businesses seem to open for trade about 10:00 am. They often stay open well into the night (10:00 pm is not uncommon). I had Strapatsada, which was scrambled eggs with spicy sausage served in a folded pita, with a large serve of greek yoghurt. Very nice!

After breakfast, I finished the long post for the day before. Eventually, I decided to set off on my Metro experience. The plan was to ride the new Thessaloniki Metro from end to end, getting off at each station and inspecting the archaeology that had been discovered during the metro’s construction. As I entered the metro at Agia Sophia station, I saw the stratification layers that they’d preserved on wall of the escalator, and then a couple of displays of artifacts that had been uncovered. The station itself was very modern and ‘comfortable’. (I’d seen the agora display above the station the other day.)

Stratification indicator – there has been habitation here for a VERY long time

(mostly) Pottery finds, presented in the stratification layers

The gleaming new Metro station – all of them look the same, and they are all below the lowest levels of habitation

Agia Sophia station is the second station along the line from ‘New Railway’ station. I chose to ride on Track 1, which went away from that towards the outskirts (heading East). The next station was Sintrivani. I got off there and rode up the escalators. I discovered a very small display of marble sarcophagi/burial chests, and some mosaics, discovered on the site, which had once been a cemetery. Even after walking around and leaving the station, there were no other displays.

I admit to being a little underwhelmed by the display at Sintrivani. I’d seen some stuff on the TV which showed really wild displays of ancient ruins and this was just a bit disappointing. However, as I went back down to Track 1 and headed to the next station, my disappointment was to build. The next three stations had no archaeological displays at all. I started to do some thinking (unusual for me, I know) and came to the conclusion that as we moved away from the centre of Thessaloniki, we were very likely to move away from the historic habitation zone. I decided to ask Google which stations on the metro had archaeological displays. Google said: Agia Sophia and Venizelo. Venizelo is the station between Agia Sophia and the other end of the line. Having discovered that, I abandoned Track 1, got onto Track 2 and rode back directly to Venizelo station. I got on right at the front of the fully-automated metro train and had the childish delight of riding along the tunnel with an unobstructed view.

The first level up from the platforms at Venizelo revealed some more archaeological displays.

However, the real treat was to come next. As I was heading for the escalators, I noticed that there was a staircase that led up to a viewing platform, and I could see archaeology over there. I went up the staircase and walked out to the viewing platform and it revealed a wonderland (if you are archaeologically-minded). There was a huge display of Roman street scape that had been revealed as the station was excavated. It was 9 metres below the existing street surface, but otherwise the intersection revealed was still operating above the metro station. The display is just breath-taking in itself. However, there’s a 10 minute video showing on a loop that recounts the excavation and reveals that the display is the Roman street, but they preserved (digitally) at least four other streets that had been operating above that one over time. (I’m hunting around for a link to the video that I saw. If I can find it [or a near approximate], I will link it here. Absolutely must see if you’re at all interested in how the ages unfolded in this excavation.)

The street-scape revealed	Shop(?) floor detail	Looking along the main East-West road The intersection is immediately past the first large block on the right
Roman shop fronts on the south of the main road	Bathouse floor detail	Explanatory matter

Visiting Venizelo had definitely been worth it. Absolutely worth the price of admission (€2.50 for a 24-hour ticket)! I would love to be on a project that did that sort of work – revealing centuries of history slowly and methodically and preserving it as best as possible, while also bringing modernity into the area.

While riding on the metro I noticed a few things that I find amusing/interesting enough to document here. First, the huge majority of the passengers on the metro were young people (university student aged). There were a few older folks riding, but really not that many. There is an irrefutable trend for young (Greek) men to wear cotton or fleece tracksuits as street wear. It’s almost a uniform. Mostly black, but if not, grey. Always accompanied by (Adidas) sneakers (of course). The razor-fade haircut is also the dominant male look. The other thing I noticed was that metro riders would abandon their ticket at the foot of the escalator as they left the station. And as people entered the station, they’d pick one up and use it to ride the metro. At one station, I saw folks who were leaving, offering their ticket to people who were entering. A daily ticket costs €2.50 for 24 hours of metro riding. Evidently, Thessaloniki’s youth had decided that they would share that economic burden amongst themselves. Good for them. I found it a fascinating example of society building its own systems to make life a little bit easier, if it can.

I stopped at a different restaurant/bar in Ladadika on the walk home from the station. Today’s late lunch was Gyros! Not served quite like I had come to love it 40+ years ago in the Acropolis Cafe in East Row, Canberra, but a very pleasant meal.

I spent a few hours in the AirBNB – which is unbelievably well-located now that I have a proper sense of where things are in Thessaloniki – before heading out again at dusk to get some dinner. I was determined to get a “mezze experience” recommended by my AirBNB host. I found a restaurant on the waterfront on the far edge of Ladadika called ‘Mezze Experience’ and had to go there. It was a cool evening, but the main waterfront and the bottom of Aristotle Square was humming with people. The sun was going down. It was quite lovely.