{"id":40556,"date":"2026-05-01T21:51:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/?p=40556"},"modified":"2026-06-22T22:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T03:10:29","slug":"thessaloniki-family-friends-and-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/01\/thessaloniki-family-friends-and-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Thessaloniki – Family Friends and Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Already, I have embraced the freedom. What began as a trip to see cousin Sandy became a declaration of the next phase. And more than anything it was a wonderful experience because Stephanie came with me. \u00a0These are my friends in Greece. They were Sandy’s boys first – they call her their “\"\"<\/a>second mom” and she loves them like her own children. And they love her too. This is the real Greece – the people who have all the world’s history on their shoulders and who will give you everything they have if you need it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This year I decided to go back in spring and see Thessaloniki – where Sandy spends her winters. Lemnos will still come this summer but it was time to see everyday life. Stephanie and I made it a true trip – we stopped in Germany on the way there and Belgium on the way home. We spent a week enjoying northern Greece – the museums, the Byzantine history, family and friends. We stayed in the old city and walked the cobblestone streets.<\/p>\n

In Germany we toured a bit of Jewish history – there was an amazing time before the holocaust for Jewish people in Frankfurt. We saw a wonderful museum that celebrated \u00a0that life before. We took a train down to Heidelberg and saw the romantic period in full – the castle, the architecture, the gardens and the people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In Belgium we stayed in Brussels and the food was amazing. So was the architecture. From old world renaissance paintings to new modern trains. We took one down to Bruges and spent the day seeing all the sights from “that movie” and it was really nice.<\/p>\n

More than anything I realize that this is a key part of what I want to make of the last act. Travel, family, friends and spending all the time I can with my love, Stephanie. These hav been an amazing 60 years but I’m not done yet. Here we go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Already, I have embraced the freedom. What began as a trip to see cousin Sandy became a declaration of the next phase. And more than anything it was a wonderful experience because Stephanie came with me. \u00a0These are my friends… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,101,111,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-greece","category-photography","category-thoughts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/belgim-1-1.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3mX8K-ay8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30946,"url":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/29\/running-in-greece\/","url_meta":{"origin":40556,"position":0},"title":"Running in Greece","author":"Jimmyc","date":"July 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"6 miles on Lemnos - from the resort to Kalliopi. Kept it at a 9 min pace and it was nice and flat. The feeling of running these past few days in Greece has been amazing. I can\u2019t lie that it makes me feel like the Greeks of old. Here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Greece"","block_context":{"text":"Greece","link":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/category\/greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/img_2288.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/img_2288.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/img_2288.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/img_2288.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36508,"url":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/21\/travel-and-focus\/","url_meta":{"origin":40556,"position":1},"title":"Travel and Focus","author":"Jimmyc","date":"June 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many times I\u2019ve heard people talk about how they want to see the world and Travel, and then I\u2019ve heard other people talk about how they just want to see the USA. Here\u2019s the thing, I agree. I\u2019ve gotten obsessed with Travel as I head towards retirement, and I keep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Greece"","block_context":{"text":"Greece","link":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/category\/greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/img_5444.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/img_5444.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/img_5444.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/img_5444.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30973,"url":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/09\/rome-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":40556,"position":2},"title":"Rome 2021","author":"Jimmyc","date":"August 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"After a bit of a start stop in 2020 we had to change our trip from Jim\u2019s DNA trip of Sicily and Greece to Rome and Greece for flexibility. 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After decades in digital banking and financial technology, I\u2019m now focused on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Banking Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Banking Tech","link":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/category\/banking-tech\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/allazo-photo-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C812&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/allazo-photo-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C812&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/allazo-photo-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C812&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/allazo-photo-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C812&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/allazo-photo-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C812&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36636,"url":"https:\/\/www.charanis.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/14\/photography-whats-next\/","url_meta":{"origin":40556,"position":5},"title":"Photography-what\u2019s next","author":"Jimmyc","date":"July 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Bootcamp- with Jared Polen was fantastic. 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