Balkans day 15: Into Greece

From North to South Macedonia today. Another early start to get onto a gloriously dilapidated train, two graffiti-covered, comfortable compartment carriages hauled by a grimy loco.

The train

In another Balkan missed opportunity, the track runs all the way to my destination in Greece, but the train only goes as far as the sleepy North Macedonian border town of Gevgelija, so that’s where I’m headed. It’s still a three-hour journey, or three and a half as it turns out, along the Vardar river valley, which rushes past behind murky windows. The terrain feels like it’s getting more Mediterranean as we go, leaving the karst outcrops behind, but maybe that’s my imagination.

Last gasp of the karst

In Gevgelija I have time for a coffee (or at least I think I do). I use Google Maps to find a nice place near the station, where the owners react with incredulity to my presence but the coffee is good. Making my way to the bus station, I have to run to stop the bus I’m supposed to be catching from departing 15 minutes early. The nearby border crossing is slow and impersonal, and once we’re past that the bus books it along the highway to Thessaloniki, where I’m going.

I’ve been to Greece before, but never overland, and not to this area (a week on Lesbos and a change of planes at Athens airport). Thessaloniki is a different kettle of fish. Greek’s second city, it’s big, bustling, and Balkan. Right now it’s also a very angry city. At the end of February, two trains collided head-on outside the nearby town of Larissa, killing 57 and injuring dozens of others. Since then there have been vociferous protests, especially here. One such protest march was snaking its way past the bus station as I arrived. The whole rail system has ground to a halt, with 24-hour rolling strikes – which will be a problem for my onward journey, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I check in to my hotel. When I reemerge, the rain that has followed me from Belgrade and Skopje has found me again. I make my way between blocks in the sodden darkness to the Mediterranean, and thence to a restaurant, where I order a range of meze and start writing this blog post. In the present tense.

Aristotle Square

Mediterranean with the White Tower in the distance