I thought I would add a few more photos of Greece to the ones that Frank posted last week.  The above photo is Agios Dimitrios Basilica.  The basement used to be a crypt that became a Roman prixon.  It is where St. Demetrious was matyred by the Romans.  He became the Holy Patron of the city of Thessaloniki.  Some of the parts of the original church that date back to the 5th century (frescoes, pillars, etc.) still exist, but much of the church was rebuilt after a fire in 1917.  The remains of St. Demetrius, once stolen by the Normans in 1185, were returned by the Italian government to the city in 1978 and have a place of honor in the church.

A pedestrian mall near our hotel in Thessaloniki.  The path leads to the Aegean Sea. Thessaloniki was founded in 315 B.C. and named after after Alexander the Great's half-sister.

Another view of the parade held on October 28 to celebrate Thessaloniki's liberation from the Ottomans 100 years ago.

A photo of me in front of The Church of Holy Wisdom - Agia Sophia.  The original church was built in the 4th century immediately after the triumph and establishment of Christianity by the Decree of Mediolanan in 313 and the 1st Ecumenical Synod in 325.  There are mosaics and frescoes dating from the 8th-12th centuries.  Frank and I attended part of a service on the Sunday that we were leaving but couldn't stay for the whole thing since it lasted 2 1/2 hours.

Side view of Agia Sophia

Here are some photos of our second day in Thessaloniki, Greece -

 

These are the ruins of the palace of Roman Emperor Galerius from the 3rd century AD, which were apparently discovered when digging the foundations of these new apartment buildings.  I can imagine the parents in these apartments telling their kids to go out back and play in the Roman ruins.

This is the White Tower on the waterfront, now the iconic symbol of Thessaloniki.  It was part of the Byzantine wall and fortification around the old city, much of which has now been removed.

A view of the Aegean Sea waterfront, with the White Tower and the city extending off to the east.

 Our first sighting of a Starbucks in Europe.  Annette just had to try it!

A nice view of the Aegean while sipping our venti lattes, which were about 18 ounces larger than the cups of coffee we have gotten used to here in Kosovo.

 

We watched most of the Sunday parade celebrating the 100th anniversary of the surrender of the Turks to the Greek army.  The parade included military units in period uniforms, nurses, mountain rescue teams, firemen and many other service providers.  There were also some Greek Air Force jets buzzing the parade route at very high speeds and very low altitudes.

We were finally able to take the #50 tour bus route after the parade ended.  The bus loops through many of the historic sights and museums in the city.  This photo is from the upper part of the old city and shows a portion of the old protective wall, which is 30' to 40' tall in some places.

One final meal - a mixed grill plate, including the last pork we will see until we leave Kosovo again.

The visit to Thessaloniki was over, time to climb back into the UN bus for the ride back to Prishtina.

Finally have the chance to post a bunch of photos from our Thessaloniki, Greece trip, so here goes -

Annette is happy to start the day - no rain yet but it is coming soon

Our hotel was very close to the old market place, and the seafood looked great.

This is the back side of the Hagia Sofia, an active Greek Orthodox church dating back to the 5th century AD.  The paintings on the inside of the dome are from the 9th century.  We dropped in for a bit of a Sunday service but didn't stay long since it usually lasts 2 1/2 hours.

After skipping out of church we had to eat, so here it is.  Fried calamari for me, eggplant stuffed with feta for Annette, some fries and Greek beer.  Also the menu board where Annette really did say "It's all Greek to me"

Excavation of the Roman Agora ruins started in 1962.  It was built in the 2nd century AD and was the center of the Roman administration of the the region until the 5th century.

 Church of St. Demetrius, originally built in the 4th century AD.  The church was open 24/7 while we were there because they had a priceless painting on display, and so many people were always lined up that we didn't get to see it.

The Rotunda built by Roman Emperor Galerius in the 4th century AD.  Originally built as his mausoleum or a temple.  All of these sites were closed while we were there due to the parades and celebrations going on.  This was the end of our Saturday in Greece.  More to come on the next blog posting.

It was off to Greece for the two of us last weekend.  We went on a UN-sponsored bus trip to Thessaloniki, Greece for a two night stay and had a great time in spite of the constant rain.  We left Prishtina Friday afternoon and the trip took nearly 6 hours, including the time for border crossings into Macedonia and Greece.  After finding our hotel we were hungry, but at nearly midnight we were concerned that we might have trouble finding a place to eat.  However, Thessaloniki lived up to it's reputation as one of the world's top party towns and we had no trouble at all finding a good meal.

The next morning we heard marching band music and saw a parade passing by a couple blocks away from our hotel, and it turns out we were there for a very special weekend.  They were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire's surrender of Thessaloniki to the Greek Army, which was just one of the more recent historic events in the history of the town.  Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece and was founded in 315 BC and was then the major city in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.  After the fall of the Romans it became the second most important city in the Byzantine Empire, then the Ottomans captured it in 1430.  Needless to say, lots of history and too many interesting sites to see on a weekend trip.  But, we did our best in spite of the fact that some city buses were shut down due to the parades and many historic sites were also closed all weekend.  Our trip back on the UN bus went a little faster since the border crossings went a lot faster and we got back to Prishtina by 7:30 PM.  That would normally be early enough to catch a 4 euro bus back to Prizren, but since Kosovo was still celebrating the Muslim Eid holiday the buses weren't running, so we did a 50 euro taxi ride back home instead. 

We were tired after the trip so this blog posting had to be delayed a bit. Annette's teaching load keeps getting harder as more and more students come to her classes.  She now has over 40 in each class and more seem to come every day even though it is the 5th week of the semester.  We also had a lot of planning and running around to get ready for the Halloween party at the American Corner.  As the resident Americans we were getting the candy and other stuff for the party, so it was a very busy and tiring week.  But, it was fun and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun.  I even enjoyed it, and I don't even like Halloween!  We are off to dinner and a play in a few minutes.  We will post lots of photos of Thessaloniki soon.

In this group of photos, you will see lots of sheep.  On Monday, October 22, Frank went to Pristina on business.  In the outskirts of town, he saw hundreds of sheep in stalls which he had never seen before.  There was a lot of activity with people around the sheep.  That same day, when I went to the university I found that there were small sheep stalls constructed all over the place where I usually catch the bus after my classes.  There must have been close to 1,000 sheep in small pens with different men tending to the sheep.   That day, I asked students at the American Corner about the sheep and found out that for Bajran (sp?) , the Eid Muslin holiday, the sheep would be sacrificed.  Each family is expected to buy a sheep or other animal.  The animal is sacrificed on Friday, the Eid holiday.  If you have an animal sacrificed, then you are cleansed from your sins.  The animal is sacrificed in a field and there is usually a butcher on hand.  The individual who bought the animal can keep 1/3 of the animal to eat but has to give the other 2/3 to the poor to eat.  Depending on a person's wealth, they might have to buy a lot of animals to be cleansed.  A person can also give money to the mosque for the sacrificed animal to be bought and distributed to the poor. 

This is normally my bus stop in Prizren.

Activity around selling the sheep.

Sheep ready for the Eid sacrifice.

My bus stop where there are usually no sheep or shepherds.

It was sad to see the sheep, especially when they were tied inside of a wheelbarrow like this.

Eid is a big holiday.  We have plans to leave for Greece today for a UN-sponsored weekend trip.  We are going to Thessaloniki.  We had planned to travel to Pristina on Friday to catch the UN bus but then found out that there would be no buses operating on Eid (Friday), so we had to scramble and pack and get to the bus on Thursday evening.  We are staying at our favorite hotel in Pristina.  Will post photos of that later.  Getting back to Eid, last week, I was told that I would not have classes on Thursday because of the holiday.  Frank and I even considered going to Greece on our own so that we could take advantage of the extra day off.  On Monday, I was informed that I would have classes.  I guess some guys in Saudi Arabia look at moon patterns and decide when Eid will be and it was decided on Monday that it would be on Friday, not Thursday.  I had my classes on Thursday, but many students did not attend.  In fact, I didn't see many profs......I guess I won't be getting an academic calendar showing all of the holidays since the religious ones are always scheduled like this. 

More wood on a Prizren street.  Frank and I are beginning to wonder how cold our apartment will be in the winter. We only have an electric heater in the dining room.  The owners of the apartments have left a lot of blankets and comforters. Unfortunately, we have no place to burn wood even if we bought some.

This is a photo taken from Hotel Begolli in Pristina. As you can see, the house across the street has piled up quite a pile of wood.  When we ride in taxis and buses, sometimes they have the heat on now, and the windows are rarely open.  We get hot!  We're thinking that maybe people get so cold in the winter that they overdo the heat when they have the opportunity.  I hope this winter is not too cold, but we'll see.