Leaving Thessaloniki and My Final Carnival Destination – Sochos
I had dropped a small clue on where I would be spending the tail end of Carnival and Clean Monday in my video of the Thessaloniki parade – though ever so subtle. It was a pure coincidence that I was in Thessaloniki at the time of the parade. As magnificent as it was, this fairly big (and contemporary) affair, was just an added bonus to my Carnival themed itinerary. Thessaloniki was the jumping off point for my final Carnival destination – the village of Sochos, 65 kilometres northeast of the city. After witnessing an incredible carnival on Skyros 2 years ago, I knew that whatever came next, had big boots to fill. Even if it didn’t, I knew that it would be interesting and that I’d pushed myself into new territory.
So how did I stumble across this lesser known festival? This was all down to renowned and award-winning photographer George Tatakis. As well as being an incredible photographer, (see his project Caryatis – a black and white study of local women’s dress) he also writes very eloquently about many interesting villages, whilst also documenting their unique customs. As soon as I read his article on the Koudounophoroi (bell bearers) of Sochos, the seed was well and truly planted and I was compelled to visit.
For the last year or so, the idea of Sochos combined with other destinations in Northern Greece shape-shifted around in my head. Once I got a sense of what I wanted this trip to be like, I converted those thoughts into an ‘almost’ fully sketched out itinerary with Sochos front and centre of the plan. This is quite unusual for me as I prefer to make things up as I go along. But as I was limited to a window of 1 month, due to work commitments, this trip needed to be tight in terms of planning – of course always with a little bit of flexibility.
Another reason for getting the bones of an itinerary down on paper (or rather on a spreadsheet) is that it was a challenge to find accommodation in Sochos, which was fairly limited. Because the Sochos Carnival is well known amongst domestic travellers, I needed to find somewhere to stay as a priority. As soon as I returned from my autumn trip, I began to make plans and I started by reaching out to the Sochos Facebook groups. Sochos Traditional Homes was recommended to me. I was able to find contact details for the accommodation online and I asked about a room for the 5 days leading up to and including Clean Monday.
I received a message asking to contact them again in the new year, so not being one to hang about, on January 1st I sent another message asking if they would be able to accommodate me. I received a positive reply with the price of the stay and once I’d made the payment online, I booked the flights. I didn’t book any other accommodations until closer to my time of arrival in Greece, and in some cases I booked them whilst there.
After a couple of challenging days in Thessaloniki, I got my act together and made the arrangements to move on. My original plan was to travel to Sochos by bus in an endeavour to prove to myself more than anything that you really can see Greece without the need to car hire. With more information from the very helpful Sochos Facebook group, I was told to get the number 83 bus from Thessaloniki to the town of Lagkadas, and from there a connecting bus to Sochos. The bus stop was just a 10 minute walk from Maroon Bottle Luxury Suites. I’d purchased a ticket to Lagkadas from a mini market for around 1.20€. For the life of me, I couldn’t find any reference to a timetable for the second leg of the journey, but had decided if the worst came to the worst I’d catch a taxi for the remainder. The bus option would have cost around 5€.
Anyway, that was the plan before I started feeling S**t with a capital S! I really didn’t have the energy to heave luggage on and off buses so I decided to take the easy option and go the whole distance by taxi. I booked it via the app Freenow (a bit like Uber) with a suggested cost of 60-75€. At this stage I didn’t care about the cost, though a part of me did feel like I was cheating!
The taxi wrestled its way out of the city centre traffic and then we were on an open toll road passing the lakes north of Halkidiki. Eventually the roads began to climb and soon we passed through Sochos’s neighbour, the villages of Askos. Here they also seemed to be gearing up for the celebrations with banners and bunting a-plenty. I sent a message to my host Vicky to let her know I was on the approach.
After an hour’s drive from Thessaloniki, I arrived in Sochos village which sits 650 metres above sea level in the foothills of Vertiskos Mountain. The cost of the taxi was 88€ after adding in the toll fees. In hindsight, I should have used Welcome Pickups, which would have been the same price but the drivers and cars are of a higher calibre. Vicky was waiting for me outside the apartment, just one of the Sochos Traditional Houses that she manages. She explained to me that there are several properties in and around the village, but she has given me an apartment in the house closest to the main square where I would have easy access to everything.
After showing me around the apartment, Vicky told me if I needed anything to send her a WhatsApp message. “Don’t worry”, I told her. “I’m a very low maintenance visitor!” I may have regretted saying that! Anyway, she told me that if I needed clothes washed, she would do that for me. The towel rail in the bathroom was permanently hot so it was a good place to dry clothes.
I’m thrilled to be staying in a traditional house with my favourite Balkan style architecture. It overlooks the Church of St George which is adjacent to the main square. The apartment is spacious, light and bright, newly refurbished and immaculately clean. Vicky told me that from here I will get the best view of the parade of the Koudounophoroi on Clean Monday. The parade will start at the top of the hill and make its way past the apartment around 3 pm.
Just a year ago, being in Sochos for Carnival was just a thought. Although there was a point when I nearly gave up on this trip, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction that I’d finally made it despite my rather fragile disposition.
As I’m here for 5 nights I did a full unpack, which is always cathartic. Over the last few weeks cramming everything into my case has become challenging even though I haven’t added anything extra. Maybe my sweaters have expanded in the humidity.
My first mission was to carry out an initial recce of the village and then find somewhere to eat. Less than 20 yards from my doorstep I heard the clanging of bells. Seconds later from around the corner of the church, I spotted a lone Koudounophoroi. I could tell she was a female by her dainty hands, one of which was clutching the obligatory bottle of tsipourou. Although the whole costume is interesting, the eye is automatically drawn up to the all-in-one face and headwear. A knitted face covering with intricate and brightly coloured patterns attached to a tall, beehived shaped crown stuffed with straw to maintain its height. Tumbling down from the crown is a cascade of multi-coloured ribbons and what looks like a fox’s tail. Below the nose is a magnificent faux-moustache made from horse’s tail. Her pants are made from black fur – real or fake, I don’t know, but I believe they aim to represent goat skin. The bells are attached to her body through a series of straps that help to balance the weight of the bells, and these are covered by a red knitted shawl or scarf. She kindly paused for a photo opportunity for me.
In the grounds of the Church of St George was a small marquee filled with electronic games for the kids of the neighbourhood. The cobbled streets surrounding the square have a mixture of traditional buildings combined with some rather trendy looking bars, which are also preparing for the celebrations. Braziers were being lit, chairs were being hauled out – something is afoot though I know not what. I was surprised by the number of modern style bars here – I didn’t expect it but they blend well into the traditional fabric of the village. Interestingly, I was looking at the population statistics for Sochos and it has seen a gradual increase in population since 1975. The median age of the population is just less than 44, which paints a different picture to many of the mountain villages in Northern Greece with declining and aging populations. This eclectic mix of the traditional and the contemporary, seems to make Sochos an attractive place to live and also to visit.
If you want chicken souvlaki or fast food, Sochos has plenty of options in and around the square. Sochos’s primary industry is livestock farming due to the abundance of natural pastures in the area. This is supported by the many butchers shops that seem to appear on every street corner and hence the number of establishments offering meat based fast food.
For my first night here I didn’t have souvlaki on my mind. I found a lovely restaurant called Archontiko a short distance from the square. The restaurant was fantastic. Its traditional features and the log fire created a warm and welcoming environment. I asked the owner what the building used to be and he told me, it was built as a cinema. However, they had been running it as a restaurant for several years. Here too they had prepared for carnival with every nook and cranny adorned with paper streamers and carnival-related accoutrement.
I ordered Florina peppers stuffed with Sochos Feta to start, followed by local sausage (I love a bit of local sausage!) washed down with a glass of red.
For most people this would be a good start to a night out but I was pooped. I headed back to the apartment to finish writing up the latest blog post and to get an early night.
Later that evening I could hear the residual sound of music and laughter coming from the square. The bedroom was at the back of the apartment and I could have easily shut it out if I wanted to but I didn’t. I was happy to feel remotely connected to whatever was taking place a short distance away. Vicky told me later that they’d been enjoying the festivities until 3am. Sochos sure knows how to have a good time and I can’t wait to dip my toe into whatever will come over the coming days.
