Free Hugs - Christmas in Alexandroupoli
- Written by Portal Editor
After our stopover in Vienna for further preparation of our project "A journey of Intimacy and Culture along Roman Roads" we had travelled along the former Autoput passing Croatia to Morovic (shortly before Belgrade), where we had stayed in a lovely private room rented out via the internet.
Very courteous innkeepers had asked us, if it will be possible to send an SMS one hour before the arrival, so the room and bathroom were already preheated. Due to that it was quite warm on our arrival, even the shower water was preheated. Perfect service in Serbia.
Driving route from Vienna to Alexandroupolis
Surprisingly, the rooms just before the Turkish border in Greece were cheaper than shortly after the border in Turkey. The same applies to the diesel prices! So we spend the coming night in Alexandroupoli, a distinguished Greek harbour city in Western Thrace next to the Evros river.
Alexandroupolis - near the border at Kosan
The city of Alexandroupoli was founded in 1871 under the name Dedeağaç as part of the Ottoman Vilâyet Edirne. The name of the city was correspondingly combind from the Turkish words, Dede - an honorary title - and Ağaç - for tree - together. In 1870, they started with the construction of the Rumelian railway along the route Edirne - Selanik (Thessalonica) - Istanbul (Constantinople), which initiated the development of the city Dedeağaç. The main reason of the rapid development of the city can undoubtedly be seen as the completion of the section of the railway line in the year 1872. The trade in the city prospered, so Dedeağaç already displaced Dimetokas importance as a centre of the Sandzak of Adrianople Vilayet in 1883.
So much for the history of our host location
Faced with the imminent connection to Bulgaria, resistance was formed in the Muslim-Turkish population, which ended in the Provisional Government of Western Thrace. Greece supported the establishment of such a Republic with the aim to influence running negotiations between the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria at the same time, that there should be no peace between these two countries.
"Free Hugs Xmas, Christmas time is coming"!
We were on the walk to the stage when unexpectedly three young ladies rushed at us, which carried some signs in front of them. Before we even could deciphered, what was now marked on the signs, they repeated the textual messages verbally: "Free Hugs Xmas, Christmas time is coming"! And already there were intimate embraces with the young ladies. A nice, if somewhat surprising gesture. As we were able to observe later, the surprise was, however, similar in size with the locals. Unfortunately we did not have our photo equipment with us, so we could only make a few shots with the phone camera. Throughout the festival there was a lively atmosphere which remarked us how different the Christmas period is lived. A completely new aspect to us.
Shimon Moore, the singer of the band Sick Puppies, produced a video on the campaign for him, in which he addressed the origins, spread and also the prohibitions including the corresponding signature collection. This video was later put on YouTube in the internet by Shimon Moore. The video was very well received among the users of the portal (over 74 million hits, as of May 2013), whereby the idea of Juan Mann became a global movement.
After this, for us unexpected new idea, we completed a few purchases and then made our way to the hotel. After a comfortable night we went across the border to Turkey in the morning, where we used the ferry from Gelibolu to the Anatolian mainland towards Bursa, Kühtaya and Antalya back home.
Please read as well:
Trip to the Cave of Petralona - By car or is the bike an option?