Kalo Pasca!

The Pedi valley yesterday.  There is a chilly north-westerly wind blowing which is only expected to drop some time tomorrow so it is unusually cold on Symi for the time of the year.  It is only about 14 degrees at the moment.  There is a shipping ban in effect so the Blue Star ferries are tied up in Piraeus and many parts of Greece have experienced late snow.

Looking across towards central Chorio from Lieni.

Some optimistically placed no-parking cones along the waterfront in Yialos.

A windy sky and a chilly sea. The two Dodecanese Seaways catamarans are sheltering from the storm as Rhodes harbour is untenable.

More places are opening up for the Easter weekend.

A ruined shopfront on the Kali Strata steps. This must have been quite a fancy business in its heyday as there are fragments of quite elaborate plaster and wrought iron still visible.

Wild lupins and poppies in the Pedi valley.

Irises and a prickly pear.

One of my cockerels enjoying the feel of freshly sieved soil between his claws.  These stones were dumped on our terraces when the Agia Marina river burst its banks during the winter and we are having to sieve all the stones out of the soil again before we can plant anything.

It is Good Friday in Greece.  Many people have been fasting scrupulously this week and even the gyros bar is only serving taramasalata (cod roe dip) and salads.  Meat isn't back on the menu until Sunday when the Resurrection is celebrated with traditional spit roast lamb and goat. No wine today.  No oil in cooking.  Good Friday is observed very seriously and there should be no manual labour.  Most shops are closed apart from those selling essential foods and people spend a lot of time in church.

Tonight there will be processions of the Epitaphi which represent Christ's body through the streets of Symi, a very dramatic event with much chanting and many explosions to keep evil spirits at bay. The different parishes have their own processions and there is an element of competition as to who produces the most beautifully decorated Epitaph.

Have a good weekend and Kalo Pasca!

Regards,
Adriana