Rick Stein's series of long weekends across Europe continues - his guide to wonderful city breaks for lovers of food and travel, culture, history and scenery with some fabulous dishes to cook at home. This week, Rick is off to the north eastern Greek city of Thessaloniki, which nestles on the northern shores of the Aegean Sea. The city is revered as the gourmet capital of Greece and birthplace to possibly the greatest warrior general that ever lived - Alexander. Rick explores a city of many identities, a time warp of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman structures surprisingly teeming with a very young student population hungry for dishes that reflect the freshest of seafood, vibrant mezzes flavoured with cinnamon, paprika and saffron and sweet syrupy pastries - a true blend of west meeting east. Rick arrives just in time for harvesting peaches on land mussels out at sea. At home, he cooks veal and aubergine stew after meeting the doyenne of Greek cooking Vafa Alexiadou.