Two days in thessaloniki

I might have skipped a lot of stages of the walk, but i did walk for two kilometres down odos egnatia, still the main street of central thessaloniki. Layers of its history passed me by. Here a mosque and ottoman hamam, both bring renovated, all over the place, Byzantine churches, there, the Roman forum/agora and still, around a lot of it, the enormous 4th century walls.
I had only a vague notion of how much there was to see here, before i arrived. Thessaloniki has the most Byzantine churches of any greek city, due to its place as the second city of the eastern roman empire. I lost count of how many i visited, ranging in age from 1500 to 500 years old. Many had subsequent lives as mosques, so most of the frescoes remained covered up for 500 years, lying beneath layers of white plaster. In one church in particular, you could see how the frescoes had been gouged, to allow the plaster to grip better. After 1912, all of them became Churches again, and the artwork resurfaced after centuries in hiding. In some instances you could see how just the eyes had been damaged. Apparently a form of magic potion was created using the paint.
In all of them, the strong religious beliefs of the Greeks was on display. Kissing of saint's paintings, much genuflecting, incense filling the air, flickering candles in their 100s , and lots of little boxes with little piles of paper to write prayers for people. In one place, there were two boxes, one for the living and one for the dead. Religious belief still seems to be a powerful part of greek life. The hagia sophia was full of school kids visiting and they were as keen to kiss the saint's  pictures as everyone else.
The most enormous church from Byzantine times is now just a monument, the rotunda. It was originally built as a temple by the emperor Galerius, then became a church, and then a mosque. It still has its minaret attached. It really is an enormous, impressive building. Galerius really wanted to put his stamp on the city, also erecting a triumphal arch across the eastern end of the via egnatia and building an enormous palace for himself.
The archaological museum was full of some interesting finds. As always, i was moved by the many funerary monuments, one for a gladiator, dead in his first fight, another for a young actor, one for a son outlived by his father. There were offerings to gods. One, an ear, apparently encouraging whichever god it was, to listen to their prayers. And a crudely scratched bit of graffiti, of a persian soldier, created by one, part of the invading army in the early fifth century bce. And there wad a milestone from the via egnatia, still clearly showing its name and location.
Unfortunately, the city is plagued by graffiti, of the crudest type. Tags everywhere, on everything. People's  front doors, walls, even the archeaological sites. Many of the information boards for sites have been defaced.  And for the first time i came across young men in the streets that made me feel vaguely uneasy. And the greeks continue to have only the vaguest notion of obeying traffic rules, with most bus stops filled with parked cars, no stopping for pedestrian crossings and a love of the horn. Still, it's  a step up from Cairo.
Despite its many attractions, i am happy to be heading back into the countryside. Not least because i decided to save a bit of money and stay at a backpackers' hostel. Not something i have ever been a big fan of, but thought I'd  give it a go. When there are 8 men in a room, there's  a good chance there'll  be at least one snorer, and i wasn't disappointed. I was disappointed by the general lack of sociability, with barely a word uttered between us. I did have a brief conversation with a nice guy from madrid, but mostly, the others never opened their mouths even when i said hello to them.  There were two middle aged greek guys staying, who didn't  move from their beds the whole time i was there.  Played on their phones or slept. Weird.  But once again, I chose a taverna with a talkative host and had a good time with him. Even told me a joke about Australians.
Now, to see how far i can hike up mount Olympus. ..
Photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/AMJXd8o9LCY5kr6N6