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.