Day 11 - Thessaloniki Museums

Expo tower

The group were met in the morning by Lambro, president of Thessaloniki East Rotary club. The team enjoyed a pleasant walk along the sea front to arrive at the Archaeological museum of Thessaloniki. The museum was busy with groups of Greek school children on school trips to learn about their history. The collection of this museum is vast. The Museum holds 10,000 coins from the Macedonian period. The galleries are devoted to prehistoric Macedonia including bronze-age cemeteries; iron-age Macedonia including tools and weapons; the Macedonian’s kingdom’s with their golden treasures and Greek Gods.

Next was a visit to the Museum of Byzantine Culture. This museum is located in a modern building next the first museum. The early Christian relics here include sculptures, mosaics, painted tombs and wonderful collections of icons. The Byzantine period lasted from 4^th Century AD to 15^th Century AD. Constantinople became the centre of the Orthodox Church. The Byzantine period ended after the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

After, the team enjoyed a relaxing lunch with Maretis Lambros.

Day 10 - Rotaract Meeting

We were met this evening by Antonis who escorted us to a Rotaract meeting held in an apartment room downtown, which is also home to one of the Rotary Clubs of Thessaloniki. The arrival of over 40 young people meant that we were soon ready to begin. A bell was rung. A prayer was said and then coke and pizza were shared.

We were invited to make a short presentation outlining our GSE experience. The club president then inducted a new Rotaractor before introducing the main speaker.

Leonardis translated for us as the speaker addressed the issue of the role of TV in mass communication. The illustrated talk raised many interesting issues relating to how we gather and distribute information in the media.

We were impressed by the Rotaractors. They are engaged, well informed and open as a group. It is surprising that it has not caught on in UK. We can learn something more from the Greek Rotary family. We presented our Rotary Banner in exchange for one from the Rotary Club of Thessaloniki.

Day 10 - Katerini

We awoke today to a beautiful morning in the hill top Kalaitzis hotel. It is difficult to describe the peace and beauty of this place with mountains to the North where eagles soar and a view across the vineyards to Veria in the East. We said thank you to Assistant Governor Nikolaos and to Thomas for their kindness and hospitality. We will hold the memories of our time here for a long time in the future.

We continued our journey towards the South where we were to meet up with the Rotarians of Katerini. Transferring cars and drivers we met up on the roadside and were driven on towards the slopes of Mount Olympos. The Gods were hidden from our view by cloud but at the foot of Mount Olympos in the Pieria plain lies the sacred town of Ancient Macedon.

In Roman times the town numbered 15000 inhabitants but in antiquity Greeks and Romans built a network of streets with administrative buildings, houses baths, public toilets and sanctuaries. In the shade of the trees next to springs and running water we explored the Temple of Demeter which dates from the 6th century BC. We paused in the orchestra of the Hellenistic theatre and recalled the Greek theatrical tradition.

We visited the museum to view a piped musical insrument, statues and mosaics.

By mid afternoon we were ready to reach the beach of Olympus. It is too early in the season for many visitors They do not arrive here until the temperatures rise in late May. Our hosts from the RC of Katerini treated us to a magnificent meal of fresh sea foods and salads. We were presented with banners from Katerini and collections of photographs from the 1920's.

Assistant Governor George from the RC of Alexandria and his son Vasilis shared some time with us. Vasilis was great company for the team and explained many aspects of Greek life for young people. We share the same problems and uncertainties about future employment opportunities.

By late afternoon we said our goodbyes and Rtn Socrates drove us back to Thessaloniki. Our grateful thanks to the Rotarians of Katerini for a wonderful day together.
We have a date this evening with the Rotaractors in Thessaloniki, to talk about GSE.

Day 9 - Veria

This morning, we were picked up by Takis to travel to our next destination where we are guests of RC Alexandria and RC Veria. We were taken to the breathtaking Estate Kalaitzis in Vergina. Located above a hillside vineyard, this impressive hotel is owned by Rtn Nikolaos Kalaitzis.




We visited the Royal Tombs at Aegae where we were treated to a personal tour by Demitrios, an knowlegable and inspirational guide.
The dome shaped site is home to the tomb of Phillip II, the father of Alexander the Great - his grave was discovered untouched for 2400 years. The findings from the various tombs in the site gives archeologists an insight into early Macedonian rule; their religion and language; their mythologies and social structures and much more besides.

After the tour, the team went for lunch with members of the two Rotary clubs in the area. We discussed Rotary, cuisine and art ... using four languages to do so!

Day 7 Evening / Day 8 - Thessaloniki

Last night we were lucky to be taken out for a meal by four young people from Thessaloniki Rotaract Club. Panos, Antonis, Anastasia and Despoina met us for the evening and shared their experience of Rotary as Rotaractors. What impressive young people they are. Committed to a service organisation, sharing a wide range of activities and having a lot of fun. They are a good advert for Rotaract in Greece.

Today we have been treated to a guided tour of this city. Rtn Takis Mitsobonos acted as our guide. His quietly spoken words gave us real insight into the history of the events which have shaped the history of Thessaloniki over 2000 years. The ebb and flow of empires have left traces of different civilisations. Greeks, Romans, Turks and then Greeks once more have in turn constructed different buildings.

The excavated remains of palaces sit adjacent to Roman arches and Greek churches have been returned to Christian worship after 500 years of Moslem occupation. Our photographs tell their own story.

We were honoured to meet up with District Governor Panos for lunch. He told us about world Rotary and explained the background to the evolution of this District.

Day 7 – Thessaloniki

Today was our big day - our presentation to District Conference! We have been working together on the presentation for five months and so we hoped it would be well received. We waited patiently for our slot and listened to the discussion and debate of the conference delegates. District 2481 is poised to transform itself and new districts will be born from the old. We asked whether our presentation would be delayed; the answer was “This is the Balkans!” Our slot was advanced and we took to the stage in front of a huge screen. We were provided with remote control and a podium with a microphone; everyone there was able to see and hear us. Without a translator, we communicated our presentation. It was enthusiastically received by the multinational audience. The presentation flew by and we were congratulated by numerous Rotarians from Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Cyprus.

The messages to Rotary from D.K. Lee included the need for clubs to revitalise Rotary membership and to renew commitment to shared international projects. Rotary district boundaries transcend political ones.

The GSE team was approached by a range of people including Miljan Scekic and other old friends from the Rotary Club of Belgrade ; Dr. Vozikis a Food Biologist from Thessaloniki; Astrit Hasani from Prishtina, the founder of Rotaract in Kosovo; Ardian Hoxha from the American School of Kosovo who’s school will now make a link with All Saints Catholic Primary at which Becky is a teacher.
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Thank you Abraham!

We were sad to say goodbye to Abraham but he handed us over to the care of Takis Mitsobonos for the duration of our stay in Thessaloniki. He was a true friend to us all.
Tonight we will be meeting members of Rotaract in Thessaloniki.

Day 6 – Thessaloniki

Doros Jeropulos and Panagiotis Theodoropoulos

We transferred to Thessoloniki this morning and were taken to lunch and shown around a little by Vassilis and Abraham. The area we saw was Thessaloniki’s West End. In the evening we went to a gala dinner, part of the schedule of District 2481’s Annual Conference. The evening included live music (songs from around Europe) and dance performances by a Dance School based in the city. Other guests there included District Governor Panagiotis Theodoropoulos and his wife Nena, and Doros Jeropulos who is a representative of World President D. K. Lee.

Day 5 Kavala

Vocational visits: Our day started with us separating for the first time and going on our first vocational visit. Each team member has a different vocation: Richard visited a solicitor in private practice; Becky went to talk with Athanasia a primary school teacher at the Twelfth primary school of Kavala (in St John’s district) ; and Jon spoke to the Artistic Director Dimitrios Ioannou of the Municipal Regional Theatre of Kavala. This gave a unique insight into the Greek working practices of each career.

Mid-morning, the team visited Kavala Fortress. The 15^th century Fortress is perched way above the city and by climbing onto its’ walls, one is afforded spectacular views of the city.

In the after-noon the team drove about 20km to the village of Lydia home of St Lydia’s church. St Lydia is said to be the first woman to be baptised into Christianity in Europe by St Paul the Apostle on his second journey. The church is located on the site of her baptism.

The highlight of the day was our visit to the ancient city of Philippi. This city prospered greatly in the Hellenistic period, when it acquired its fortifications, theatre, public buildings and private residences. The fact that Via Egnatia passed through Philippi in the 1^st century BC made the city much more important and transformed it into a major centre of the region. Tonight is our last night in Kavala and tomorrow we will drive to Thessaloniki, to attend the conference of District 2481. The team wishes to thank, Vasilis, Abraham, Theo, Yannis and Maria for making our time in Kavala so special.