One Year Away

Joseph

Leaving behind the nightmare of dealing with AlItalia to get Penny’s lost bag returned, we caught a bus to Kilkis; me with my full backpack and Penny with the clothes on her back and one extra T-shirt she bought.  Whenever Penny thought about her bag of clothes lost somewhere in Italy she sent me a resentful glower, then went back to watching the hilly, dry landscape that characterizes this part of Greece.  Other than that the 7 hour ride was uneventful.

We were greeted in Kilkis by Penny’s cousins, Maki and Dimitri.  Although I’d never met them before, they greeted me so warmly I felt like a long lost brother.  Their equally warm parents, Penny’s Thea and Theo (aunt and uncle) were waiting for us at the small family-owned apartment building where the whole clan lives. 

I was then introduced to a Greek national pastime; sitting on a balcony or terrace while drinking frappee (a delicious whipped cold coffee).  We talked while drinking and I got to know the family.  Penny provided live two-way translation the whole time and was talking so much she hardly had time to sip her coffee.  Maki spoke english very well from having spent some of his childhood in Canada and then working on a resort in Crete, so we were able to talk without a translator, which was great. 

Kilkis is a town of about 30,000 people that is 1 hour north of Thessaloniki, near the Serbian and Bulgarian borders.  It is surrounded by rolling hills, industrial parks and agricultural villages.  While it’s no metropolis, it has a surprisingly good night life.  The main strip in Kilkis has cool restaurants, bars and cafes that rival those in Athens; in quality if not quantity.  For those familiar with Montreal, it’s like a mini-version of St. Laurent Blvd.  Not exactly what I’d expected coming to a small town in northern Greece.  We went out for dinner to a taverna (traditional Greek restaurant) and had an excellent meal of all the Greek foods I love plus one new dish for me, soutsoukakia, a tender minced meat kebab with delicious seasonings. 

We only had a couple of days in Kilkis so the next day Penny’s Theo went into  tour guide mode and took us to see all the required sites; the Kilkis archeaological museum, the famous caves (where they want to start "cave-therapy" for kids with asthma) and the lake on the border with Serbia.  We were also introduced to the schedule we would keep for the rest of our time in Greece; wake up at 8 or 9 AM and have frappee but no food for breakfast, siteseeing or other activity until 2 PM then eat a massive meal (the word lunch doesn’t do it justice), sleep from 3 PM to 6 PM, wake up and have another coffee and talk till 10 or 11 PM then have a light dinner (the word "light" is relative, remember this is Greece).  Get to sleep around 2 AM.

We both had a great time in Kilkis, getting to know Penny’s family and seeing a beautiful part of the country that is off the usual tourist path.