Day 6: Cortona to Thessaloniki

The main objective of the day was to get to Thessaloniki, Greece. Our flight was out of Rome at 4:15pm, so we did not need to rush out of the door. After packing up and getting ready, Matt and Jo ventured back out into the town for cappuccinos and to buy our traditional fridge magnets (including a wild hog on a scooter, obviously). We ate as much of the leftovers in the fridge as we could, took some as car snacks and got rid of the rest.

Morning view from Cortona house front window

Step up your espresso game, Rick

Last night, Kiara recommended stopping in Orvieto on the way to Rome. We took the advice and parked at the bottom of the hill town. From there, we hopped on the funicular to get up to the actual town where there are more shops and a duomo from around the year 1300. Opting to walk the half mile instead of take the bus, we followed a residential path up to the church.

Fun with Funiculars

Welcome to Orvieto

Views from the top of Orvieto

More views from the top of Orvieto

We took some time to view the facade of the church from the outside. It’s quite detailed and there was a lot to see.

Side view of the Orvieto Duomo facade

Duomo di Orvieto

Since we had the time, we decided to pay the five euro to enter the church to see the statues and frescoes that were still pretty well preserved. We took our time to walk around and admire the art, but almost all descriptions were in Italian, so we didn’t always know exactly what we were looking at.

Inside the Duomo

Tile floor with eastern Byzantine influences

Quicksand zombie frescoes

Laser-beams-shooting-from-faces frescoes

When we had our fill of church art, it was about time to meander our way back to the funicular. We took the more central route and window shopped on our way. We finally passed a gelato shop that met two criteria… (1) It was open, and (2) It had gelato available (harder to find than you’d think in late November). Since it was basically our last chance, we all got our own.

Finally found gelato

Worth the wait

We made it back to the funicular for the ride back down and back to the car. From there, we went straight to the airport (well, with a stop to fill the rental back up with gas and to drop the car off). Security was quick and easy. When we made it through, we checked the departure board to find our gate. The gate number was not available yet, but it did tell us to ‘relax.’ So that’s exactly what we did.

Thanks, trusty rental car

Fiumicino Terminal 1 in Rome

Priority Pass actually came through this time and we found a lounge for lunch (dinner?), dessert, and of course more cappuccinos. When our gate number was available, we discovered it was pretty close by, so we continued to do as we were told and relax until a few minutes before boarding. We got to the gate, got in the boarding line, and settled in as best we could on a pretty small plane.

Successful lounging

The flight was pretty short at an hour and a half and went smoothly. Once we landed, we took the tarmac bus to baggage claim. Cordwood and Belinda’s bag came out really early and we were off to meet our hotel shuttle.

Welcome to Thessaloniki

The shuttle turned out to be a taxi, so a but squished for the four of us, but nice and easy. The hotel was only 30 minutes away and when we arrived, Lily was there! We checked in and settled quickly before meeting up again to go to dinner.

At the hotel

Lily led us to the main town square with tons of restaurants. For a Tuesday at 8:30pm, it was pretty crowded and lively. We found a place that turned out to be a little more touristy than intended. The menu was in English and the gyros were in a tortilla (surprising good).

We hung out for a while, catching up with Lily. She has been here for two months studying abroad at a university nearby (as part of her first semester at Northeastern in Boston). When we were done, Lily went back to her hotel/dorm and we walked back to our hotel.