Alexandroupoli, Greece

Alexandroupoli (the link will take you to the accommodation website if you are looking for the place to stay in Alexandroupoli) is an important port and commercial center of northeastern Greece.

The most famous city’s landmark is definitely the lighthouse.

Around the lighthouse by the sea there are a lot of cafeterias, bars and restaurants.

The city port is just a few steps away. The port of Alexandroupoli is the one of the most important ports in Greece.

There are daily ferries to the island of Samothrace, but also to the Northeast Aegean islands during summer. This port welcomes passenger, merchant, fishing and tourist ships.

The city’s train station is in the close vicinity of the port.

It is located about 500 meters further toward the west side of the coast.

I visited this city recently, together with my mom. We did not went as tourists there, we went for some heart exams, that my mom’s cardiologist suggested her to do as soon as possible. My mom had an infarct just two weeks ago. She was hospitalized in our city hospital for five days.  When her health problem was stabilized they released her from the hospital. But doctor suggested that she has to make some more exams, and the nearest hospital where they do this kind of exams was in Alexandroupoli.

We arrived early in the morning, and just then we found out that doctor is available for appointments only after one o’clock. We waited in the hospital almost half of the day. Doctor finally arrived at around two o’clock, saying that it was a busy day for him.

He made an appointment for my mom exams for 19 of September, almost two month later. We were so disappointed, we thought we could finish all for one day. While we were waiting for the doctor to show up we met one lady who was waiting for her husband who had similar heart problems as my mom. The lady we met was a doctor herself, so she gave a call to the hospital and they gave her appointment for her husband the very next day after she called.

Unfortunately this is how things in Greece are, even if you are sick if you don’t have any connections you might left to die, nobody cares. It was a big disappointment in the hospital, and we got tired of waiting. I did not want to go straight back home overwhelmed with all these negative feelings and disappointment.

I suggested to my mom that since we were there and we don’t know much about this city we should stay for a few hours, for lunch, coffee and some relaxation before we hit 124 kilometers back home and she luckily agreed.

I wanted to make this Alexandrupoli experience less painful and disappointing for both of us, and to create some pleasant experience and memories from that city to remember and to overcome the negative ones.

We walked around the city center for a while and then we went towards the sea side and the port.

There were a lot of charming little restaurants and cafe around.

Since we walked through the small street called Kountouriotou street, we passed by a small restaurant. The smell of grilled meat from this place was very promising. It opened our appetite immediately.

We went a little bit further to look for other restaurants by the sea, but this delicious smell of grilled meat was still following us since we were walking away.

Even though we passed by many sea food charming and promising restaurants, this delicious smell of grilled meat made a great impression on us, as I earlier mentioned.

So we decided to turn back to Kountouriotou street later on.

We stopped in front of the city’s lighthouse, we took some photos around and later on we went back to the same restaurant at Kountouriotou street that we liked at the first glance.

In general there are a lot of kind of ”Ladokola” style restaurants at this street but we choose the best one.

O Boreios was the best choice ever.

We ordered some grilled meat, Greek salad and some eggplant spread.

They brought us homemade Arabic grilled pies as well.

Everything was super delicious, the one I liked the most was the pork chops.

They were so soft, perfectly marinaded and delicious, I can say the best and most tasty I have ever tasted in my life.

The restaurant was called ” O Boreios”, it means ,,a man from the north” in Greek language. We also met the owner Mr. Giorgos and his grill master Mr. Alexandros.

I asked if I can take some photos of the restaurant, and Mr. Giorgos said yes of course, so I did.

I liked very much the way they serve grilled meat, without plates, just directly from the grill they put the meat on the piece of baking paper. This way of serving is called ”ladokola” in Greece and it is quite popular especially between the youth.

The prices were great, the food delicious, and the service excellent. If you ever visit Alexandroupoli I would recommend this place for a great meal, hospitality and atmosphere.

The portions were big so we couldn’t eat everything.

Thank God one furry friend passed by so we shared the left overs with him.

Later on we walked around the city center to check out some shops, we did some small shopping and strolling around.

The city center is vibrant and charming with a lot of cafe and bars under the tree shadows.

There are a lot of old and well preserved buildings too, colored with nice pastel shades.

There were many stray dogs around the city, so we met some more furry friends on the way.

All dogs were very friendly and they are not aggressive at all, so you don’t have to worry.

Fellows from the city shops and restaurants are providing them with fresh water and some food.They are calm dogs that needs love and care. It is really sad how many we saw around.

We ended up at the very charming cafe-bar located right across the street from the Alexandroupoli main bus station.

The place’s name is Elemento 41 cafe bistro.

This cafeteria had the most charming decoration I have ever seen.

Inside and outside in the garden it is designed to look like home.

We sat at the backyard garden under the tend.

Just a few minutes later as soon the waitress brought our coffee a big rain started.

It was so amazing to sit there enjoying our coffee and listening to the rain in this green colorful garden.

The detail I liked the most in this cafe garden was definitely the wall mural with the female face surrounded with ivy leaves as a girl’s hair. It was really amazing piece of art.

I will heartily recommend this place for coffee while in Alexandroupoli. It is a small green oasis in the center of town where you can find shadow especially in the warm summer days.

In the evening we went back home. It was kind of a difficult day for us, but it ended up very nicely after all. I will always remember this small day trip to Alexandroupoli. I dedicate this blog post to my mom, I’m looking forward for more of those happy moments together. Since I live in The Netherlands, I miss my mom very much.