I'm sad to leave Thessaloniki because we never got to see the Mustafa Kemel museum. Also, there are some fabulous little restaurants. We had a lovely meal at the little wine bar we found in the back street down from the apartment. The bar had a distrinctly French feel, but we will be back in a few days as its the gateway to getting into Bulgaria.
So taxi to the bus station. Big, fairly modern on the outskirts of the city. You can get to it by public bus, but its only €6 in a taxi. The bus journey is about 4 hours with a change at Trikala. The bus is not as luxurious as we are used to, and no trolley service (shocking!) And quite expensive in comparison to Turkey. (get over it and stop moaning Truran!) The bus from Trikala to Kalambaka is more like a public service, stopping at bus stops on the way. There is even a conductor to sell tickets. She is very sweet and gives us a timetable of buses heading back to Trikala.
The landscape is very flat, like a floodplain. More about this when we get to Kalambaka.