In the Spring of 2022, with less than 24-hours' notice, I packed a bag and jumped on a plane to Thessaloniki. As the second largest city in Greece, you would think the name would be recognizable to non-Greeks, but the city is far to the north of Athens and all of the beautiful Mediterranean islands.

The north has its own beauty, though. It is a place where ancient ruins are covered in barbed wire and graffiti, where nature is always creeping in at the edges of preservation. Below is a selection of photos taken in Thessaloniki, Edessa, and on Mt. Olympus.