This was a very strange kind of disturbance as just behind the lines of tooled up riot police (the MAT as they're known here) the outdoor cafes on Melinikou St were full of guys watching a football match on wide screen TVs while sipping on their frappe, oblivious to the fact that just a couple of hundred meters away trouble was brewing.
On the southern perimeter of the Aristoteleion university campus a vicious game of cat and mouse was being played out between molotov wielding anarchists and the MAT who in turn lobbed cannister after cannister of tear gas into the campus grounds, which by law they are not allowed to enter.
It is a very ritualised form of conflict which takes place two, three times a year here in Thessaloniki. Both sides have their roles and stick strictly to the script which was established years ago. Despite the sense of deja vu, the rocks and petrol bombs are still frighteningly real as I saw for myself when I foolishly decided to follow the local film crews and photographers in order to take a closer look. There is nothing like having a petrol bomb thrown at you to reawaken those long dormant survival instincts. Not to mention the awful burning sensation of tear gas in your eyes, nose and throat.
On the other hand the vast majority of protestors who marched by the trade fair were peaceful, even if the long lines of flag waving marchers (each group carefully colour coded) reminded of Kurosawa's Ran. The martial feel of the event was heightened by the drums playing out miltary style tattoos and the presence of quasi - miltary, shield-bearing riot police dressed in helmets and gas masks massing and dispersing according to some mysterious plan or else suddenly marching off single file.
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