After a few weeks from my China trip, I had an occasion to see West Thrace for a couple of days. I love this part of Greece maybe because of my family roots. Before writing you what I saw there, I want to tell about my strange road adventure.
How many hours can you wait at the frontier of a country? 4 hours? 6 hours? When I left Turkey to cross the Turkish – Greek customs, I wasn’t having an idea about the limits of my patience to wait. Then I passed almost 15 hours waiting in the long queue of cars and buses. Yes, I waited for 15 hours to pass the frontier! That day was a special day because most of the Turkish families living in Germany and other European countries were heading to their homes after having finished their annual vacation in Turkey! Thus, I had an opportunity to observe sociologically the 3rd or 4th generations of Turkish on the roads! These are my observations:
– all Turkish families were having latest model cars full of fresh vegetables and fruits
– all of them are apparently used to pass lots of time on the roads, hence were very well organized: at the time of dinner the women prepared meals and shared these meals with others…
– new generations, ie, kids, don’t know very well Turkish, they were even pronouncing their Turkish names with a ‘German’ accent!
-all Turkish people are proud of themselves about how speed they will go to their homes in Germany. One man was saying to another: ‘after I pass the Greek frontier, I will go to Munich in 15 hours!’. After the Greek frontier, most had parked by the side roads to have a nap!
In sum, it was a different travel experience for me, when you spend almost one day on the road without moving, you have plenty of times to think about your life!
Shabby In My Bag 