Thessaloniki is always a very good idea. This week we recommend a series of experiences that will surely cheer you up. It is, after all, a special week because of the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which brings together in the city creators, directors and screenwriters from all over the world.
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki
13th km Thessaloniki – Peraia highway, +30 2310 401234
A hotel is not just a place to stay for a while, but a vibrant entity that constantly crafts new experiences for its guests.
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki, which creates special experience packages for every important occasion, presents a complete wellness, yoga and meditation package for Friday and Saturday 1 and 2 April.
A unique package for a wellness weekend that includes one night in a double King room, breakfast and two meals at the award-winning Ambrosia restaurant, under the guidance of the biologist-nutritionist and wellness specialist, Irini Paschaleri – a new collaboration with the hotel – and under the supervision of executive chef Apostolos Altanis and his team.
Lunch, snacks and dinner from carefully selected ingredients, harmoniously tied together in a menu that is truly about connection with Nature, balance and well-being.
This is followed by yoga and meditation classes with Sheila Garvey of Yoga Loft, rejuvenating Zen massage treatments in the detoxifying atmosphere of Harmonia Spa & Wellness, as well as Red light & Spectrum therapy in the new OsteoStrong space operating within the hotel.
Enjoy a walk along the beautiful path through the lush gardens, accompanied by the sounds of the birds, as well as the indoor pool, giving you the opportunity to activate your metabolism and immerse yourself in your well-being.
Regency Casino Thessaloniki
12th km Thessaloniki – Airport highway, +30 2310 491234
Regency Casino Thessaloniki – one of the largest and safest casinos in Europe – apart from the state-of-the-art slots, live gaming and the rich draws that take place, gives you the opportunity to enjoy sophisticated cuisine in its restaurants, as well as signature cocktails in one of the most beautiful bars of the city, Ian’s Bar (+30 2310 491234).
Settle into the comfy sofas and let your laid-back mood take over as you choose from a list of top labels and signature cocktails named after the paintings that adorn the elegant bar.
This week we recommend the Horse the waiter, a cocktail with a strong character of aromatic herbs emerging from London dry gin, with a sharp tart flavour of granny smith apples, agave nectar and bergamot aromas.
In fact, Regency Casino Thessaloniki is a collage of surprises and lasting moments. The award-winning Alfredo’s Grand Dining (+30 2310 491199), combined with its renowned service, create an authentic gastronomic experience.
This term may sound like a cliché these days, but this is an iconic restaurant that holds the bar high and boasts a serious wine list.
Vergina Theatro
12th km Thessaloniki – Airport highway, +30 2310 491291
Starting last Friday and for the rest of March, the Vergina Theatro – located right next to the Regency Casino Thessaloniki – welcomes one of the greatest voices of Greece, the popular and unique in her genre Glykeria.
The popular singer will present a delightful musical show with hits from her long career and her collaborations with great artists. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Smyrna disaster, the show will have a strong emotional and national character that will stretch from Smyrna to Istanbul and the Bosphorus. It will be accompanied by the beloved Greek-Turkish singer Dilek Koc.
Performances every Friday and Saturday 04, 05, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 March & Thursday 24 March. Starting at 22:00
Mourga restaurant
12, Christopoulou street, +30 2310 268826
More than a restaurant, Mourga is now a school of thought. It is located in a small alley, near the Experimental School, in an area that is not at all touristy.
Mourga is one of the two restaurants of chef Yannis Loukakis (the other is +Trofi in Ladadika), who, to some extent, has influenced the creative gastronomy of Thessaloniki with his style. Mourga restaurant therefore makes one of the chef’s gastronomic proposals, that of exclusive fish eating.
From 2015 to 2017 it operated under the name “Pezodromos”, when it was renamed Mourga. It features wooden tables in the hall, old mosaic flooring, while the walls are adorned with eight impressive photographic portraits by the well-known photographer Nikos Vavdinoudis on the theme “Faces + Masks”.
The paintings have a double function; apart from being a decorative element, they also act as sound traps, absorbing the buzz of the crowd tasting Mr. Loukakis’ dishes. An open kitchen at the back, pans hanging and a special grill for grilling vegetables, fish, etc. Right next to it another room serves for kitchen preparation and from Friday to Sunday hosts more private experiences at the 18-seat monastic table. There are tables outside on the pavement and the cuisine is based on fresh fish, handmade pasta and certified organic vegetables. The same goes for the wines and raki, which come from Crete and northern Greece.
“The menu is handwritten because it changes daily, based on the market”, tells travel.gr Yannis Knis, manager of the restaurant before it was even renamed Mourga. 14-18 dishes are included every day and especially on weekends when fresh fish and vegetables come in, during the day they put out a second menu.
Fish raw, grilled or fried. Cod served in a pan, cabbage rolls with amberjack and bulgur, crayfish tartare with turnip cream and scalding bac thai tea, crayfish in a pan with garlic butter, grilled cuttlefish with fava beans are some of the dishes served, depending on the season or the day you visit the restaurant.
“There are no best seller dishes, depending on the season some may be on the menu for 2-3 weeks, with some variations (octopus, mussels, tuna, sea bream, cuttlefish, etc.) – basically it’s whatever the sea will yield, and the same goes for the vegetables”, explains Mr. Knis. Opening hours: daily from 14.00 to 23.00, on Sunday until 18.00.
Donkey Breakfast
3, Skra street, +30 2310 252614
Pink colour scheme with discreet partitions and iron chairs with black cushions opposite a marshmallow pink sofa, to suit the young audience and not only; instagramatic decoration on the wall with colourful -fake- flowers, two tables on the pavement with wide armchairs and a courtyard, right on the side, essentially a green space that has turned into an oasis in the centre of Thessaloniki, among colourless apartment buildings. And in this courtyard, in winter – or until the weather warms up – the Donkey has installed transparent igloos with tables and heating stoves inside.
Open from September 2020, it serves excellent coffee and beverages such as matcha lemonade (Japanese green tea leaves with caffeine and home-made lemonade) or beetroot latte (beetroot powder with fresh milk), energy boosting juices (apple, ginger, pineapple and mint or orange), breakfast/brunch dishes such as eggs Benedict with salmon or bacon, crepes, vegan avocado toast with whole wheat bread, healthy salmon and quinoa bowl salads, and Asian Shrimp Burger (brioche with tempura shrimp, avocado, tomato, spicy mayo and sweet potato chips) etc.
It stays open until 9pm and serves cocktails. How about a Donkey Martini Espresso with salted caramel and rum? Scan the menu and take your pick. They also have several sweet treats, including pancakes with chocolate praline, almond butter and handmade red fruit jam.
24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
10, Aristotelous square, +30 2310 378400
Two hundred and thirty-three (233) short and feature length documentaries are expected to be screened during the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which will run from Thursday 10 to Sunday 20 March, both at the venues of the historic headquarters of the institution (Olympion and Pavlos Zannas halls, as well as at the Port, Frida Liappa, Tonia Marketaki, John Cassavetes, Stavros Tornes halls) and online, through the Festival’s digital platform (filmfestival.gr).
The curtain of the 24th TDF opens on Thursday 10 March 2022, with the film “How to Survive a Pandemic” by David France, an HBO production that will have its world premiere in Thessaloniki.
The poster of the 24th TDF is designed by the comic book illustrator and creator Kanellos Cob, born in Athens in 1985. A human figure, wild nature and an exotic bird form the outline of the human condition, our life, the world around us. A symbiotic relationship in which we seek anew the harmonious coexistence that humans have disturbed. The Festival spots were created by director Angeliki Aristomenopoulou.
During the 24th TDF, 93 Greek feature and short films will be screened, three international competition sections (International Competition, Newcomers, >>Film Forward) will be hosted, top documentaries will be presented in the Top Docs section, emerging new talents will be highlighted through the NextGen section, the Agora (11 – 19/3) will host dynamic actions aiming at the enhancement of Greek film production and the wider geographical area, etc.
The central theme of the 24th TDF seeks the new form of meta-reality we are experiencing with ten documentaries that map a fluid world and open the door to a new reality that abolishes all old certainties. Tribute will be paid to the work of Latvian filmmaker Laila Pakalnina, with 19 of her short and feature films, while the Finnish filmmaker Virpi Suutari will take centre stage, screening six (6) of her short and feature films.
Of course, the Thessaloniki Film Festival could not remain indifferent to the events in Ukraine and joins the European Film Academy and its intention to actively support filmmakers in the country under siege. Three documentaries will be screened during the 24th edition of the Festival, reminding us that where the nightmare of war is raging now, people have been living in the trenches for years.
The curtain will fall on Sunday 20 March 2022, with the screening of the film “Blind Ambition” by Warrick Ross and Rob Coe. The Festival schedule, as well as more information about the films, is available at www.filmfestival.gr.
Myró Gallery
8, Nikiforou Foka street, +30 2310 269187
“Poseidonia” is the title of the opening solo exhibition of the new series of 22 works by the artist Chrysa Barzoka, which will be hosted in the Project Room of Myró Gallery in the centre of Thessaloniki, a stone’s throw from the White Tower.
“Poseidonia, for me, is a refuge in every difficult moment”, says Ms Barzoka to travel.gr, adding “it is a magical world, where through the meadows of the depths the relationship between the existent and the ideal is revealed”. A genus of flowering plants, Poseidonia includes nine species of marine plants found in the Mediterranean seas and around the southern coast of Australia. “It straddles the line between myth and reality, and when reality hurts, it becomes the hiding place of ‘Unrestrained Sensitivity’ where you can discover the truth. Where the sky embraces the sea the realm of idealism never ends. What we have loved becomes a meadow of flowers of our underbelly. In the sea, treasures become meaningful, since they are no longer a secret in a hidden shell. The journey has begun…” the artist adds.
The opening of the exhibition will take place on Thursday 10 March 2021 at 18:00 and the exhibition will run until Saturday 19 March.
