A Drama-tic Trip

Well, the title is quite wrong, but what can I do? I love word play!

Last week, my friend Mitsos had the wonderful idea to take a trip together in the city of Drama, where our friend Natalie resides. Although I was quite feverish the night before, on this Sunday I was OK and ready to go. Thinking back a bit, this was the first time I did something like this: Drive with a friend or friends to a city of Greece, visiting it for the first time.

Mitsos was waiting for me in his Renault Clio, equipped with all the things a driver and his companion could need for a long distance trip: Chocolate milk, croissants and CDs of Paschalis Terzis.

The first pleasant surprise came after about 1 hour of driving away from Thessaloniki: The sight of Asprovalta, a town near the sea, left me speechless and breathless, but not brainless. The town looked empty, like a town in western movies, but also gave an aura of piece and quiet. I don't know how else to express it. After the first impression, my second thought was that I would be cool if I went there and worked as a school teacher... I am sure that I will visit Asprovalta to draw better conclusions and impressions.


As black clouds gathered in the horizon, we met the dread of everyone who drives without a map: We kinda got confused. At least 3 signs pointed to Drama, all of them froom different exits. Mitsos remembered otherwise and so he followed his gut instinct. He was right: We could still make it to Drama, but before that, we needed to cross over Mount Doom:


It was an amazing sight and the picture doesn't do it justice. As this wasn't enough, various signs pointed out that Nigrita was near! For those who don't follow my blog regulary, Nigrita was the place where I was trained as a soldier, almost one year ago. But Mitsos drove forth steadily and without fear and soon, we arrived at Drama.

Natalia welcomed us and, first things first, we went to honour the customs and traditions of Northern Greece, namely we went for a coffee. And what a coffee it was... We went to one of "the coolest places", according to Natalia, "although not as cool as 'Remvi' ". We nodded in approval, even if we didn't had a clue what or who 'Remvi' was. It is probably some kind of biological watch, that makes the residents wake up at 13:00, only to go there again until late night. Still, I can't remember the name of the actual cafe we went on and that's the waitress' fault. The name was probably "19OO" and you probably know where I am heading: Huge. Boundless. Barely hidden. Boobs.

I used to know an Irene from Drama who was anatomically equall as this waitress, but my friends restrained me from asking her is they were related. I also thought to ask Natalia what was Drama's famous export but the sight of the waitress answered all my questions. The day was starting good... Read the comment of a guy who posted it on his blog, concerning the situation in "1900". It can only be written in Greek, there is no other way!

"Tελικά θα μου πείτε και σε μένα τι έχουν τα σκαμπό στο 1900 και τσακώνονται οι κοπελιές να παρκάρουν τα κωλαράκια τους?
Το Σάββατο είχαμε ένα ακόμη κρούσμα καβγά για μια θέση στο bar με θεϊκή ατάκα της βραδιάς "μάζεψε την κωλάρα σου μωρή απο το σκαμπό μου". Αμα βάλει και ρινγκ με λάσπη το μαγαζί θα είμαι κάθε μέρα εκεί να παρακολουθώ"

We then went for the usual sight seeing, although, from my point of view this was completely pointless, after visiting "1900"... After finding a rather strange company...


... we drove up to a mountain, where we could enjoy the view. Mitsos got pissed off with a bus that was in front of us and once he passed it, he transformed into the late Collin McRae. Thankfuly, this didn't last long and we took a good look at Drama.




We went to some sort of central park, which was very peaceful, with trees and ducks and rivers. We also went for dinner and it was a bit too much. Delicious as it may was, the food was more than we needed and soon I found myself drifting away. So, what better way to fight sleepiness, than a cup of coffee...again?

Unfortunately, "Remvi was closed" as Natalia reminded us, so we went for a drink somewhere else. Meeting two friends of Natalia, who were also sorry because "Remvi was closed", we drunk a cup of coffee, when suddenly both me and Mitsos felt our footballsense tingling: The hour (19:00) drew near and Super League, the world's most exciting championship was about to begin. So, we hastily said goodbye and left, promising to return for a cup of coffee in "Remvi" next time.