Finally, some pictures...

Well I've been here about 5 days now and it really keeps on getting better. I'm starting to feel oriented in the city and I feel like I kind of know my way around now. We finished off orientation and the school took us out to dinner on Thursday night at a really good Greek restaurant. There were musicians playing while we were eating and some of the people from the school showed us Greek dancing. After, we went to a bar with a big group of students and it was really fun. The schedule here is so different from the US. People eat lunch at about 3 and dinner at 11, and people stay out until about 4 or 5 when they go to the bars. They also take a 2 hour siesta after lunch, which is definitely needed. It's so different from Oxford but I'm slowly getting used to it.

On Friday we toured Vergina, the burial mound where Alexander the Great's father, King Phillip of Macedonia, is buried. It was so interesting to see, and the area was gorgeous. We ate a really delicious lunch there and then headed back into the city where we took a bus tour of Thessaloniki. I actually took some pictures for once, and here are a few:

The city walls

 Sunset over the water

The White Tower and the waterfront


Today was very relaxing; a few of us walked around, ate lunch, saw some parts of the city that we hadn't seen, and bought groceries. I've fallen in love with the pastries here, which could potentially be a bad thing. We also saw our first strike! It was very organized and small so it wasn't scary at all, and it was in the middle of the afternoon. Unfortunately, since we don't speak Greek, we weren't sure what it was about. It was so sunny and a little warm, which was really nice for a change. The city is very beautiful, especially by the water. I'm really looking forward to when the weather warms up a little so we can go to the beach thats about an hour away. Classes start on Monday though, so it will start feeling a little less like a vacation. I think we're all looking forward to falling into a routine though. I'll probably post another blog in a few days with more updates!