By Evan Alexiou

As the resident Greek person of the Demon Media society, I get asked a lot how Christmas and, to some extent, New Years is in my country. I usually answer with a few sentences as it is an in-person conversation. This time, however, I decided to go more in depth and write it down in an article. So here is how Christmas and New Years are in the sunny mediterranean country or Hellas.

O CHRISTMAS SHIP

Yes, you did read that right. In Greece the tradition for many centuries was to decorate a ship. Because Saint Nick is the protector of the seas, the sailors and ships people chose to honour him by decorating ship replicas. The replica could be as big as anyone would want and yes, the traditional decorations like string lights etc would be placed around the sails. This is still alive today. A lot of public places in Greece like towns, villages and city halls still decorate large ships. Of course, this is still alive with lots of hipsters who want to make a difference. That includes me. I’ve done it multiple times in the past and I will keep on doing it to honour my roots.

SUGAR AND HONEY

Let’s talk food. Like every proud Mediterranean country we take food seriously. Christmas is the holiday of desserts. More specifically Sugar and Honey. Both those ingredients take centre stage in all three holiday themed desserts: Kourampiedes, Melomakarona and Diples. Kourampiedes is biscuits doused in coarse sugar. Melomakarona are soft honey syrup dipped biscuits. Diples are like our version of crunchy flapjacks. It is customary to give them in gatherings and whenever someone visits your house over the holidays. Yes, we don’t only overfeed our family but also anyone who visits us over December.

KINGS AND COINS

Vasilopita is the King’s Cake. Although the direct translation will mean “Bill’s Pie”, that makes no sense in English! This is a New Year’s Tradition. After the clock hits midnight and the fireworks stop lighting up the sky, it is time for some cake. So, this cake is cut into multiple pieces. The first few are for Jesus and other saints of the holidays. After that each family or friend member get a piece of that cake. In this cake there is a coin. Whoever gets the coin in their piece will have good luck and usually wins a prize. If it falls in any of the saints’ slices, I believe people do give to charity. It’s a fun tradition and yours truly won the coin last year!

KIDS CAROLS

Carol singing in Greece is something kids do mainly. It happens on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. When kids come carolling, they use the triangle as the main music instrument. There are two different carols, one for each date – although people sometimes come up with their own. This works like trick or treating. With kids going from house to house knocking on doors and asking to sing. Once they are done with singing, it is customary to give them money and sweet treats. For a kid, Carols is not only the joyest of times but it’s also an allowance for that present they want to buy!

Christmas and New Year’s in Greece are quite special. These are but a few of the traditions taking place during the holidays in the land of the sun. People usually think of Greece when it comes to summertime travel. As they should! But when it comes to winter holidays the country is not that bad. I would argue that it is quite the underrated destination!

Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric from Pexels.com