Interview with Alex who was on Erasmus in Thessaloniki (Greece)

The context :

Alex and I met through another of our common passions which is video games !

 Regarding his travel experience, I wanted to give readers feedback from an experience abroad ! It might help you take the step !

 The interview is in 2 parts and the second one talks about his backpacker stay in London

Hello Alex !

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Could you introduce yourself ?

Hello everyone, my name is Alexandre, I am 24 years old and I hold a law degree !

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Tell me a bit about your travel background ?

I was lucky, thanks to my degree, to be part of the ERASMUS program (which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year !) that allows French students and any European student to go for a semester or even a year to a foreign university and continue their studies there.

I chose Thessaloniki, Greece because my coordinator gave me a very pleasant description of it and at the time, I had a not-so-great view of Athens !

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Ah, you lived in Greece, tell us a bit about your stay and the places you visited ?

Item	Detail
Erasmus grant	200-450€/month
Duration	3-12 months
Conditions	2nd year Bachelor+ or Master student
Housing	Erasmus Home + Facebook groups
Network	ESN (Erasmus Student Network)

Yes, so I lived in Greece for 5 months, and thanks to a fairly light schedule (I had spread my classes from Monday to Wednesday noon so as to have quite a bit of free time!) I was able to visit quite a few places in Greece and nearby!

Let’s talk about Thessaloniki first, it is the 2nd largest city in Greece, after Athens, with a little over one million inhabitants.

At first glance, the city is rather gray and not very inspiring! But you shouldn’t stop at your first impression, because with a little time and curiosity, this city is also full of charming places!

It is indeed a coastal city and I won’t hide from you that it is very, very pleasant to have a frappé (cold and sweet Greek coffee which is delicious) and admire the view of the port (it is even said that you can see the Turkish coast when the view is really clear!)

Moreover, if you go a little higher up in the city (the city is spread out lengthwise and in height) you then arrive in a somewhat more picturesque place, the old town!

With its small colorful houses and ancient remains, how can you not be won over… and what a view!

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Oh you were on Erasmus! You partied every night! How was it and what was your favorite place?

Yes, I was on Erasmus, and yes I partied every night (or almost!) but I still got up (most of the time I assure you) to go to class, and some Mondays it was hard to start at 8am!

No complaints about my stay, I took full advantage of the opportunity given to me. I came alone, I knew nothing about Greece before, I didn’t have friends already there, but by the end of my first week I had already met more nationalities than in my entire life, and I was already living in a shared apartment with a German and a Swedish girl (yes I am rather lucky by nature ;))

Me: It’s like me in Sydney where I partied, favorite place?

The place I appreciated the most remains without a doubt my adopted city, Thessaloniki, because it opened my eyes to quite a few things.

But if I had to recommend other interesting places, I would say without hesitation that you absolutely must visit the Meteora monasteries at least once in your life. There you will find Orthodox Christian monasteries built in the middle of nowhere, and especially on top of mountains that are quite difficult to access.

Having gone there by taxi and returned on foot, I was able to appreciate the view, and it was truly a magical moment I experienced with a French friend and a Finnish friend.

If I had to add another wonderful place I was able to visit, I would talk about Chalkidiki.

Chalkidiki is located just below the Thessaloniki region; its peculiarity lies in the fact that it ends in three peninsulas. The first, Kassandra, is surely the most developed touristically, but despite the presence of many small houses available to tourists, the charm endures, and the sea is always a bright azure blue.

The second peninsula, Sithonia, is much rougher, and that is what makes all its charm. Rent a car from Thessaloniki, and an hour and a half later you will be near Sarti, a small village on the coast, where magnificent little coves await you, with water worthy of the most beautiful Photoshop retouches (and yet I assure you it is not the case!)

What more could you ask for then? A small glass of ouzo at the local refreshment stand, feet in the water.

That’s Greek paradise 🙂

 Me: it reminds me of the beautiful landscapes of Australia &nbsp ;

Can you give readers the experience not to be missed in Greece?

 

In my opinion, the experience not to be missed in Greece, apart from Meteora, is simply finding a small “Taverna” (that’s the name given to Greek restaurants) that may not look like much, where you will find old Greeks gathered around a table, playing cards or Tavli (a kind of Greek Backgammon), but also young people in another corner, all in a noisy atmosphere (after all, we are by the Mediterranean) but jovial. You will then order a dish, and with a bit of luck your server will only speak Greek and you will have to make yourself understood by speaking half with your hands, half with the Greek dictionary words you brought with you.

Eventually you will be served a nice little dish of meat in sauce with potatoes; before that, you will have had as a starter a plate of tzatziki with bread and oil, all accompanied by a small glass of wine.

You will enjoy yourself, and the bill will not be steep, between 5 to 10 euros (the crisis not helping) per person, but your belly will be full 🙂

This unique atmosphere and this tasty meal will surely be one of the best experiences you bring back from Greece, at least, I hope so!

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 Let’s address a more serious topic: Money and travel

 

How do the Greeks experience austerity plans? Did you really feel it where you were?

I lived in Greece in 2010, right in the heart of the financial crisis, and even though the protests were not as violent as in Athens, there were also incidents during my stay.

However, in daily life, the crisis itself was not felt as much as one might have thought.

The Greeks, despite a difficult situation, did not seem resigned; shops continued to have customers, bars and clubs were still as full.

To delve deeper into the subject, the guide on Alex’s interview offers additional practical advice. You will also find interesting leads in our article on onedayonetravel’s interview, and if you are preparing the next part of your trip, the one on young and my fits perfectly.

So there is money in Greece. What changed, however, during my stay, is the laxity that had so far prevailed regarding taxes and duties in general.

Thus, as my stay progressed, invoices began to be issued with more rigor. The price of simple things like alcohol and tobacco increased by more than 30%.

The Greek people are therefore tightening their belts and paying for the mistakes of generations of politicians who managed the country solely for their own benefit without thinking about the mountain of debt they would leave behind.

Despite this, Greece remains surely the most beautiful country I have visited, and despite a difficult economic context, my Greek friends always welcomed me with generosity and kindness.

I therefore advise all my French and European friends to take a little trip to this beautiful country as soon as they have the chance to enjoy one of Europe’s last little paradises!

Find more articles about Europe at: travel tips Europe &nbsp ;

Thank you Alex