Here's a map of the city, courtesy of greekads.com. The university is in the center of the map, near where it says "International Fair". My hotel was near Plateia Dimokratias (Democracy Square), which is near the left edge of the map, where Egnatia turns into Monastiriou and a bunch of streets come together at 45-degree angles.

I spent a lot of time walking around the city. During the conference, I would walk from my hotel to the university along the ancient Roman road/main modern boulevard Via Egnatia (about 25 minutes door to door).

Along Egnatia. Full of stores, and very busy, even late in the evening.

Thessaloniki has a reputation for high fashion, and there certainly were lots of boutiques along Egnatia. (Note the use of the Roman alphabet in store names and advertising. Shades of Japan.)

View from Dikastiriou Square, looking across the Via Egnatia toward Aristotelou Square and the waterfront. These big neo-classical buildings must be from after the 1917 fire; the city was replanned and modernized starting in the 1920s.

A 'periptera,' or kiosk. This word was in Lesson 1 of all the Greek language-study books I looked at, and now I see why. They were on practically every street corner. Most of them had little refrigerators with cold drinks, and they sold snacks, newspapers, cigarettes, postcards, and various other things.

A small part of the open-air market, seen from Egnatia.

Apartment blocks.

Icons, anyone?

Parking on the sidewalk? Absolutely no problem. And watch out for the sidewalk-cruising motorcycles! (If you're looking for something to do, try counting the motorcycles in the preceding photos.)

Part of the university (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, which has an English-language web site).

The northern part of the city is up on a hill, and it was less damaged by the 1917 fire. It still contains fortifications from the 15th century, and lots of old houses from the days when Thessaloniki was part of the Ottoman Empire. Not to mention great views of the modern part of the city and the gulf. I went up one afternoon, but my camera wasn't working at the time. Here are some pictures of the Old City: [1] | [2] (courtesy of www.saloniki.org).