Travelling, Trekking and Tasting in Thrace

I was dead tired, but I didn't hesitate a moment to wake up at 6 in the morning to catch an early flight to Istanbul to go to the Thrace region. We were about to explore a tourism route on gastronomic, historical and natural assets created by the triple effort of Edirne, Tekirdağ and Kırklareli provinces. I was in Süleymanpaşa, Tekirdağ just two months ago for the Thrace Wine Competition, and then went all the way to Şarköy and Gallipoli, making me realize that every time I travel to this less explored part of Turkey, I regret not coming here more often. 

The Thrace Tourism Route is a newly launched project initiated by the Thrace Development Agency with the collaboration of Thrace University, local Tourism and Culture Directorates, local governments, Thrace Tourism Association and the three major municipalities of Edirne, Kırklareli and Süleymanpaşa of Tekirdağ. Led by an academic team under the supervision of Nilüfer Vatansever Toylan from Kırklareli University, together with Trakya and Namık Kemal Universities, the project aims at starting off many sub-projects to attract visitors to this much neglected yet interesting part of Turkey, the tiny European bit of the country. 

Thrace has the unique setting of having shores on three different seas, making it ideal for picking the ideal beach within a couple of hours, according to one's taste. Lonely beaches lined on the shores of the North Aegean, Marmara and Black seas offer unlimited choice in summer. Both the landscapes and the tables of Thrace have this unlimited choice of diversity. The gentle slopes of Thrace are covered with a striking yellow blanket in spring when the rapeseed fields blossom. Rapeseed is a rather new crop cultivated for canola oil; another oil source is the delightful...