After three days in Chios, our fourth day meant farewell to the island.. Our new stop would be Thessaloniki after a long journey.. After collecting all our belongings, we started walking towards the port with our suitcases in the narrow streets of the island in the middle of the heat.. The streets were empty from the heat. Thessaloniki, the largest city in the geographical region of “Macedonia”, which will be the second stop of my trip to Greece, had different meanings for me.. The fact that my mother immigrated to Turkey from Thessaloniki many years ago and that Atatürk’s birthplace and house in which he was born were in Thessaloniki.
We were sitting with the passengers waiting for the ship in the domestic part of Chios Port, trying to breathe in the heat.. It was possible to understand that there were Turks living in the Balkans among the passengers waiting with us.. It was obvious that they would return to the places they lived through Thessaloniki, both with their clothing and their speech.. Even hearing their strange Turkish was enough to explain the longing for one’s language abroad.
After half an hour of waiting, the ship approached the port with a loud noise, and the trucks, cars and people with their belongings landed on the island.. In the meantime, one of the young people wearing a sailor’s outfit went downstairs with a notebook in his hand and had the port authorities sign the notebook.
We were given a signal when the disembarkation was over.. This three-story and imposing ship had trucks and cars at the entrance, closed cabins on the second floor, and a cafe and free seating on the third floor.. After leaving the large suitcases in our hands in a closed area; Due to the ticket we bought with our limited money, we went to the top floor and chose one of the free seating areas.. Since the enclosed and private cabins are not very affordable for our budget, we would travel on seats on our journey to Thessaloniki, which will take about 17 hours.
The first long cruise of my life from Chios Port to Thessaloniki. had begun. While saying goodbye to Chios, I had the opportunity to take a long look at the island.. It was not possible to forget what we experienced on the island we left behind in 15 minutes.. I, who hate long trips, was brooding over how 17 hours would pass.. After leaving my friend on watch to look after our belongings, I set out to search for places on the ship that could be explored.. It was forbidden to go out into the open air while in motion due to the speed of the ship. Because it was possible to be thrown into the sea. After going as far as the cabins and visiting two different cafes, I was back to the beginning.. The only way to combat boredom was to watch the people in the crowd.. I also realized that when I feel hungry, I don’t have many options to fill my stomach.. Instead of sweet bakery products that are not suitable for my taste, I couldn’t help thinking about the crunchy and boyoz in İzmir.. When we ate the salami sandwich that Alex bought, we came to ourselves for a moment.. However, learning that the salami I ate was pork salami had a somewhat negative effect on my stomach.. When it comes to taste, it was one of the most delicious products I ate in my life.
Even though I started to fall asleep with the effect of the heat, I couldn’t get the sleep I missed because of the narrowness of my seat and the height of my height.. With unbearable tiredness, I finally fell asleep curled up.
After leaving 3 hours behind, I reached the port of Lesbos island. we came. Our young sailor rushed towards the harbor with his notebook.. Following the completion of the passengers to embark and disembark, the voyage in the Aegean Sea, tangential to the Turkish territorial waters and drawing an inverted arc, this time headed for Limnos under the dominance of Greek territorial waters.. In parallel with the increase in the number of passengers, the number of people with the potential for drowsiness and the degree of fatigue increased, while the number of seats decreased.. Slowly on the ship, blankets and piques were laid on the surface and sleeping families were visible.. When we arrived at Lemnos Island at around 23:00, the crowd had multiplied.. This ship, which is the only link between the Northern Aegean Greek islands and Thessaloniki, was turning all the journeys into a torture while visiting all the islands with the logic of the city bus.. The only thing I benefited from was that I would not have a chance to see these islands again in the near future.. For this reason, I was trying to rejoice by making a memory of everything I could see, no matter how painful it might be.
I shared it with Alex after trying to remember my history on Lemnos Island. There were 10 hours left to Thessaloniki, the last port on the sea.
From our book “Modern Turkish” I guess there could not be a more enjoyable environment where even doing grammar exercises can be so enjoyable.. Even though I had different attempts for the unbearable voyage, I finally fell into a deep sleep on the uncomfortable seat.
When I woke up from sleep, Alex took this photo to İzmir Harbor with his sleepy photos and seagull cries. I came across the port of Thessaloniki, which is as similar as. The clocks were showing 09.10.. My new stop in Greece was Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki).
