Thessalonika to Istanbul: Day 6

View from the Golden Star, Thessalonika

It was great to be able to sleep in and enjoy the Golden Star Hotel in Thessalonika.


Most of us took the opportunity to walk around the little seaside village of Perea, some had a swim in the Aegean Sea or an early lunch. Panos, our driver got us to the airport a short distance away and we thanked him for his care and said goodbye.

Hume, Peter and Judy were destined to be leaving us in Istanbul, so we said a farewell in advance, we will meet up with them again in five days after they tour Cappadocia and the rest of us tour Istanbul and the west coast of Turkey.

The big moment of the day was the reunion of Ron and Gay with their daughter Penny, we had heard speeches all week about how anyone standing in the way at the airport would be bowled over in the the crush. It was a moving moment, floods of tears and that was dad!!!

Hume, Peter and Judy were still with us so we said our goodbyes, again.

We met our local guide, Omer, and our driver Ayhan, the traffic was crazy as we negotiated our way in our Mercedes coach to the Hotel President, just around the corner from the Grand Bazaar.

Before we left the airport, Hume, Peter and Judy met our guide and he called his colleague ... eventually they were on their way to Adana ... we said our goodbyes ... again!!

Our prayer and reflection time was a bit later than normal then we sat down to a set menu, not everyone enjoyed the meal, but, we can't complain about the food, there's been plenty of it and to spare.

It has been a relaxing day and perhaps we will need our strength for our busy program tomorrow.