From the Presidency in Sofia to Makedonia Palace in Thessaloniki is 340km.
We took the long way, and went from Sofia to the Greek border at Svilengrad, via the E80. Once across, a procedure much facilitated given Bulgaria's European Union membership (five minutes, max?), our bus of Bulgarian media representatives and others was greeted by Evros region vice prefect Eleni Tsiaousi-Boulieri, general manager of the hotel Egnatia Grand (Alexandroupolis) Dimitris Karavassilis and general manager of the hotel Makedonia Palace Kyriazis Asimoglou.
And what was this experience? A four-day getting-to-know-you voyage around northern Greece, organised by the Bulgarian National Tourism Board and the Greek brand Classical Hotels, a division of the N Daskalantonakis Group.
Our first stop in Greece is at some private game reserve in the middle of nowhere, or, more specifically, in the area of Soufli, and more specifically still, at an establishment called Eurothirama. Country-quaint delights. For, up the winding road, through the rolling verdant Mediterranean hills, there is a settlement, of stone buildings, tiled roofs, verandahs – like coming home. And then there are people, in the lookout tower taking in the distant game animals grazing, seated around picnic-like tables and partaking in family-style meals, running through the grass and enjoying the sun and fresh air.
We, too, sit down to eat a late lunch, our group of 20 or so, which includes, in addition to those who met us at the border, Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan executive assistant manager Vassil Iliev and sales manager Slava Tomova; former Thessaloniki consul Ilko Shivachev; Anina Rangelova, group management division manager at AIG Life (Bulgaria), who acted as sometimes-translator and cultural enlightener; and Sonia Koltouklieva, PR and media advisor and member of the executive board of the National Tourism Board.
Salads, some type of baked cheese dish and delicate french-fried potatoes are followed by various types of game dishes, all savoury and complex in taste, yet simple in preparation. Pitchers of house wine were supplemented by bottles brought by Karavassilis, grown on his family's estate in Cyprus.
We're sitting at the table, and I ask Karavassilis about his wine. At this point, I don't yet know who he is, and, he's wearing jeans and a T-shirt: what would I think? So, he's talking about how his family makes the wine, and I exclaim that I want to come work at the vineyard and be a vintner. He smiles. Later, seeing him in a suit, being introduced to him in an official setting, I feel kind of foolish for my enthusiasm. Anyways.
Though we have already been on the go for five hours, we still have more distance to cover, and leave the haven for the almost three more hours to Alexandroupolis.
Respite comes at the end of the road: Egnatia Grand, and its idyllic setting, in the corner of the municipal Egnatia Park, on the seacoast. Let's just say it's a good sign when, upon entering your room, your first words are: "Feck, why can't I live here?" Terra cotta pavers, a balcony overlooking the Thracian Sea, earth-toned decor, a small table set with fruit and wine, a bathrobe. I would love to stay, but the few minutes of free time before the evening's presentations, which some use for a catnap or time in the hotel's Elixir Fitness Club, call me to stretch my legs and explore the town.
Or maybe it's a city, as about 45 000 people live in its area. Whatever it is, why ever it is, Alexandroupolis claims me, and still remains my favourite city on the trip. I can imagine the modestly prosperous peacefulness of it being only a memory come tourists.
It's all about the oil
Later that evening, at a news conference held at the adjoining facility – another hotel, dating to the 1920s, that Egnatia Grand's owners have recently purchased and will soon renovate – the mayor of Alexandroupolis Giorgos Alexandris tells us that in 2006, revenue from Russian tourists amounted to five million euro – from only about 2000 visitors.
"Mostly we're happy with the Russian tourists," Alexandris says. "Three Germans or three English spend as much as one Russian – (that is why) they are our most important market."
There are no statistics available for the number of Bulgarian tourists.
Besides Evros prefecture's sea, the Evros Delta, the nearby island of Samothrace (also called Samothraki) and the local history – this is where that famous Ancient Greek statue of the headless winged women (now at the Louvre) called Winged Victory of Samothrace, or Nike of Samothrace, was found, this land was the haunts of Orpheus and Dionysus – tourists are drawn by traditional craft: silk and embroidery.
More specifically, the town of Soufli's silk, those 65km north and a bit east of Alexandroupolis. Sericulture and related textile fabrication became the main occupation for area residents near the end of the 19th century, on a local scale, with, by the mid-20th century, its exported goods being famed for their quality and artistry.
And, though not of much interest to Russian tourists, but perhaps to the Russian government, Alexandroupolis is the Alexandroupolis of the 280km Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, which will transport Russian oil through Bulgaria's port of Bourgas to the Alexandroupolis, bypassing the Bosphorus Strait.
Alexandris visited Bourgas in the beginning of 2007, to talk about the pipeline and friendly relationships. "We want to be united not only because of the oil pipeline, but in other ways, too," he says.
On its own, Alexandroupolis has been developing well in the past few years, with top-rated a medical institute, academy and hospital (the largest in Greece, designed to serve the entire Balkan region), making it one of the 10-most advanced cities in the country. The city also has better water than many others, and an historical marker in its 27m lighthouse. Since February, the price of land in the Evros region has increased exorbitantly, to levels no one had imagined.
As a side note, Evros prefecture is so named for the Evros river that forms the border with Bulgaria and Turkey. In Bulgaria, this river is known as the Maritsa.
Also at the meeting is the governor of the Evros prefect, Nikos Zambounidis, who expounds on the oil pipeline theme. One of the points he emphasises is the region's concern in preserving the health of the natural environment.
In fact, when Russian president Vladimir Putin, Greek prime minister Kostas Karamanlis and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev signed the contract regarding the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline in Athens in March 2007, the Greek side made sure to include wording to this effect. An organisation has been created to supervise that the environment is being respected, and part of the pipeline's budget goes to this area.
Still, obstacles remain – private interests, Russian interests. Something that has not been problematic is overall energy supply, as was thought would happen with the closure of units 3 and 4 at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant.
On the other hand, there has not been significant Bulgarian investment in the Alexandroupolis area, though it is rumoured that a Bulgarian businessman bought the nicest hotel on Samothraki Island.
Zambounidis specifically calls for a (good) road leading from Svilengrad to Bourgas. "This road, for us, is very important," he says. "When this road is built, in five hours, at most, people can get to the Black Sea, and in 15 hours, to the Red Square – instead of the 10 to 15 days it takes now." With the EU, he says, such joint projects can be reality.
"We want, from Bulgaria, to have an outlet to the Black Sea, but of course not only that," he also says. "In my region, we would not tolerate such horrid roads" as the one from Bourgas to Rousse. With the Bulgarian economy growing, such roads are a must.
Late by the time the conference finishes, we head over to the restaurant Aesop's Myths at our hotel, with most heading off to bed soon after.
Making the unknown familiar
Awakening early the next morning, I am delighted to find that I have enough time to go wander before the start of the day's schedule. Nothing much is open – it is before 9am, the time at which many stores roll up their shades – so I stroll the boardwalk, admiring the sea, watching the people, and being amused by the insignia of the military building – two roosters, which remind me of France.
Back at the hotel, just in time to grab something from the scrumptious breakfast buffet, I join the others in the lobby for a tour of Egnatia Grand's grounds. Each of the 95 rooms and 10 suites overlooks the Thracian Sea, and all have private verandahs large enough for a small party to dine, all decorated in a luxuriously clean style. An outdoor swimming pool is coupled with the nearby shore, there is wifi and laptops available to borrow, and childcare.
A visit to the Ethnological Museum of Thrace follows, where the museum's founder and curator Ageliki Giannakidou introduces us to the collections. Strange it is, in some senses, seeing what one would think of as Bulgarian, more so, Rhodope region, costume and wares in a city on the north-east sea coast of Greece: for the whole region was once united, until recently, actually, in a common culture and history: the Thracian area of the Balkans.
The museum itself is housed in an historic structure, dating to 1899. Unfortunately, says Egnatia Grand general manager Karavassilis, a native of the city, with the fast development of Alexandroupolis in the past 20 years, most historic buildings have been destroyed.
Walking into the Church of Agios Nikolaos, we happen upon a baptism, and fall captive to the chanting of the priest, the young mother holding her round little daughter, somehow knowing when to switch positions, the crowd of friends and family all dressed in their Sunday best.
On the road again
Soon enough, it is time to set off for Thessaloniki. Some seven hours later, after a coffee break in Kavala, we arrive at the second-largest city in Greece, only to be confronted with bumper-to-bumper traffic. At 10pm. On a Sunday.
Not able to withstand being in an enclosed space, seated, anymore, I take advantage of the constant stop-and-go and flee the bus. Slava Tomova, bless her, decides to join me for the 15-minute walk it takes to cover the rest of the distance to Makedonia Palace. Slava and I have discovered that we both speak French, and gladly chat at any given moment in this beloved language.
Being directed to the patio of the hotel, where the others had already arrived, we are greeted by the gracious team that general manager Kyriazis Asimoglou leads. Handed our room keys, we head up to refresh before dinner at 5 The Restaurant. I somehow get back down stairs very quickly, and spend the time talking with Eleni Velissaridou, Makedonia Palace sales manager.
At the table, I end up sitting in between Athanassios Pantazis, banquet manager, and Konstantinos Daskalantonakis, assistant general manager and food and beverage director, much to my delight, as they are kind enough to teach me some phrases in Greek: anthrakouho nero (carbonated water), horis pago (without ice), krinos (day lily) and more.
I am happy to report that the restaurant does not live up to the standard of hotel food. It was excellent – beautiful presentation, delicious flavours, and – as one chef so truthfully put it – Greeks know fish.
I am also happy to report that this is the type of hotel where, your preference for local carbonated mineral water being observed, the next morning, you find a large bottle of such product sitting on the table in your room, instead of the traditional flat water provided by the hotel.
Prefect perspectives
Though very tired from all the bus travelling, late nights and late dinners (nor have I ever felt so constantly full!), I again wake up early – partially because I set my internal clock, anticipating a morning-time discovery of the city.
I liked it, the city, though Sofia is prettier.
Actually, what I really want to do is buy up sweets from the pastry shops that are scattered around the city. Everything looks so good, and I know that the candied fruits in syrup are excellent… but how to transport them? So I don't.
I've missed breakfast, but don't mind. It is time to go to the prefect of Thessaloniki, to meet with mister prefect himself, Psomiadis Panagiotis. A personable man, he tells us that he is very happy to see Bulgaria as a member of the European Union.
Information the prefecture will later provide us specific figures: in 1995, Bulgarians made up 12 256, or 2.08 per cent, of the 587 933 total guests who stayed at hotels in Thessaloniki prefecture. In 2000, this number fell to 9895 out of 753 506, or 1.31 per cent. In 2001, this number was 14 410 Bulgarians out of 731 144 total guests, or 1.97 per cent. In 2004, this number fell to 11 638 Bulgarians out of 653 656 total guests, or 1.78 per cent.
For comparison, in 1995, there were 17 813 visitors from Russia (3.02 per cent), 8745 from the UK (1.48 per cent) and 13 186 from the US (2.24 per cent). In 2004, from Russia came 5910 visitors (0.90 per cent), 9404 from the UK (1.44 per cent) and 13 822 from the US (2.11 per cent). Most guests come from Greece.
More specifically, at Makedonia Palace, Bulgarians made up 0.69 per cent of the room nights in 2006 (500 room nights) and 0.55 per cent in 2005 (380 room nights).
By the sea
And then we tour the city a bit, visiting a church, the archaeological museum. Being a lover of history and graveyards and very interested in the Jewish experience in World War 2, I want to see some of the gravestones used as pavers around the city from the Jewish cemetery that was destroyed in WW2 by the Nazis, but do not see any. What I do see is a lot of new pavements. Maybe that explains something.
That afternoon, we meet up with Kyriazis again, who was general manager of the Sheraton in Sofia for a short period, before being called back to Greece to direct Makedonia Palace.
Proceeding to the restaurant Meat Me together, we are lead through a traditional, old-school city market, with butchers, stalls selling spices and sweets, green grocers. I would have liked to look around, but by the time we arrive – almost 3pm – they are already packing up for the day. It seems that in Greece, many places open early (9am-ish) and close in mid-afternoon for a spell, then reopen later on. On Mondays, we are told, shops, traditionally, on Mondays, do not reopen again in the late afternoon.
And on Sundays, contrary to Bulgaria, everything is closed, save some cafes or restaurants. A tradition of family and religion play a large role in the culture. I can appreciate this, coming from a culture where, if something is closed on a Sunday, it is an anomaly. To have value placed on relationships as opposed to material consumption is refreshing.
But Meat Me – this is cool. In an upper area of the market, which is located in a warehouse, the restaurant has been designed in a sort of industrial-chic style. And the food is good, too – salads, baked cheese, chips and platters of meats to share. Seated next to Angeliki Karampourouni, the marketing or PR manager of Meat Me, I forget exactly, I soon come to find that she has recently returned from a 12-year period in New York. We share perspectives on South Eastern Europe, over our meal, commenting on how challenging it can be to live in a place like where we now live, after having known the States as home.
But I love Bulgaria, and don't want to live in the States: that's why I'm here.
Afternoon free time allowa me the chance to explore the city again. I'm not sure exactly where I end up, but it is up on a hill, with windy little cobbled roads, and cute historic houses. If I'm correct in looking at the map, I think the area is called either Saranta Ekklisies or Tsaldari. Anyway, I like it.
Back at the hotel with an hour or so before the evening news conference, I decide to order a Greek coffee (aka, Turkish coffee) with no sugar from room service. And it arrives, with three little cookies on the tray, and it is sugared. And I call and explain to the lady, who, in fact, did register my order correctly, and within five minutes, I have a new, sugarless coffee. This is nice.
I must say that I am impressed, more so, greatly appreciative, of the graciousness of the staff at Makedonia Palace. And they're just cool people with whom to talk, too.
Greek people, in general, I have found to be a bit more optimistic and considerate, but not as sincere, than Bulgarians. But that's for another time.
Here you have...
Receiving a tour of Makedonia Palace later that evening, we are shown the sushi bar – surprisingly, when it opened in early 2007, it was the first sushi restaurant in Thessaloniki.
Following that, we have our final official session – a panel discussion of regional tourism with Thessaloniki vice mayor of culture and youth Vasilios Gakis, second vice president of Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yannis Gerginis, trade fair and congress Helexpo managing director Themis Kartsiotis and Bulgarian consul general in Thessaloniki Plamen Ivanov.
It turns that our trip is the first time that Bulgarian journalists have ever been invited to Thessaloniki. Participants tell us that there is large interest by the Bulgarian side in investing in the northern part of Greece, and in Bulgarian-Greek partnerships, particularly in the tourism sector.
The night concludes with a beautiful dinner at the hotel's restaurant-bar 9 The Cloud Level.
Up close with the boss
Before departing the next day, Kyriazis finds the time to talk with me about his experiences at the Sheraton, at Makedonia Palace and how much dedication his job requires.
"It was a great experience for me to work for the Sheraton for seven months," he says. "I brought a different mentality, style, organisation, higher standards, to deal with a higher level of clientele." (More politicians, foreign government officials, investors now stay at the hotel.)
A focal point of his leadership there was to bring speed to the scene at the Sheraton by being more effective and having higher standards of service, not only with guests, but also in areas like personnel, cleanliness and food quality. Results are seen in higher profit intake.
The general situation in Greece, now, provides him some challenges, particularly in improving the level of human service. In addition, he personally works long, hard hours and demands the same commitment from his staff.
Bulgaria has things that it could learn from Greece, namely, the "mistakes" that Greece made when it came to developing its tourism, with overbuilt areas and destruction of natural environments and local traditions.
And though he was only in Bulgaria a short time, he says that there are a number of things that he learned. Internal business communication is a large one, as well as what he says are higher standards than the Greek norm in punctuality, a business-ready attitude and meeting attendance.
Kyriazis also greatly values the relationships developed with other hotel managers in Sofia – relationships that are still maintained: the week before our trip, Hilton Hotel general manager Jacques Brune and family and Radisson Hotel general manager Ferdinand Grunberg-Stern came to Makedonia Palace on invitation of Kyriazis, spending a few days visiting among themselves.
"I am so happy to feel all of this," Kyriazis says. "I felt at home in Sofia."
By early afternoon, our group is off, up the road to the border at Kulata. Some 340km, one shopping mall, one duty-free shop and 10 hours later, we've made it, we're back in Sofia. And it is good to be home.
http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/to-greece-and-back/id_22420/catid_30
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