(diaryland) December 19, 2009 - 1:42 p.m.

I appear to be in Greece right now.

Apart from the fact that I keep waking up at 3:15AM every morning and that we don't understand how to buy meat, everything's cool.

We're in Thessaloniki, Greece's second biggest city. It's pretty wild here, architecturally speaking. If somebody sees some space that's not being used, they'll put up a very thin, concrete high-rise building and hope for the best. And then, when you're walking down the street in between all these tall freestyle buildings, suddenly you'll be presented with a seventh-century cross-in-square Byzantine church. Or a Roman ruin. The fact that these things are all in between the high-rise apartment buildings make them seem less amazing than they are in some ways.

There are cars EVERYWHERE. They're double parked on the roads and on the paths. I am so, so glad that I don't have to drive around here because I would die.

Roland forgot to bring pyjama pants so I bought him a pair in some discount shop. I had to ask how much they were in Greek, and the lady said, "five," in Greek and I understood that. So I felt a bit victorious. And pants for five euro is pretty good. Everything else is really expensive.

Anyway, I have to go now because my internets time is running out. I'll be back soon, though. Fingers crossed I'll be going to Athens or Mount Olympos soon.