Essential Greek phrases

Good morning, used warmly until about noon. 'Kalispéra' takes over in the afternoon. A little Greek goes a very long way in a city with far fewer tourists than Athens.

Your tax number and your social security number. Between them they gate the lease, the bank account, the phone contract, the job and healthcare. Nothing works until you have both.

The Upper Town — the Ottoman-era quarter above the Byzantine walls that survived the 1917 fire. Everything below it was rebuilt on a grid, which is why the centre looks nothing like Athens.

The cold northerly wind that funnels down the Axios valley into the city in winter. It is the reason Thessaloniki is genuinely colder than the Greek stereotype and why heating matters here.

The shared building charges — cleaning, lift, common power and often the central heating. Billed monthly on top of rent and capable of being a genuinely unpleasant surprise in a northern winter.

Shared central heating, usually oil. The building decides the hours and you split the bill. In Athens this is an annoyance; in Thessaloniki's winter it is the single most important question about a flat.

The redesigned waterfront promenade running several kilometres from the White Tower along the gulf — a sequence of themed gardens and the city's outdoor living room.

Filo pastry filled with semolina custard, cheese or mince, cut up with a scraper and eaten standing. Thessaloniki's own breakfast and the city's most defended local claim.

Iced espresso or cappuccino. Thessaloniki has more cafés per head than almost anywhere in Europe and nursing one for two hours is a recognised local activity, not loitering.

Slowly, slowly. Half a phrase and half a philosophy, and the correct mindset for Greek public administration.

Help! 112 is the pan-European emergency number with English-speaking operators; 166 is the EKAB ambulance, 100 the police, 199 the fire service.