Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Just like that, our hibernating village awakened to spring! Eateries are reopening, fishing boats are being painted and readied for the season. And celebrations are underway.  

Our village, Agios Nikolaos, awakens to spring.

I write today during a three-day holiday weekend in Greece. We end three weeks of Carnival celebrations on Saturday and Sunday, then on Monday kicked off Lent with meat-free feasting and flying kites and outdoor gatherings of families and friends.

Clean Monday's kite-flying tradition. Photo credit

Saturday and Sunday were filled with activities to end Carnival, here called Apokries.  Dressing up in costumes and masks - and often referred to as Halloween -- the events were fun and festive community-wide parties.  

Carnival comes to the village.

Carnival really got underway two weeks ago on Smoked or Charred Thursday, Tsiknopempti,  when barbeques appeared outside businesses and homes throughout cities and villages. Souvlaki (usually chunks of pork on a skewer) and other meat was served in generous portions and eaten with gusto.  

A Tsiknopempti celebration makes ready in Kalamata

But like all good things, celebrations must come to an end, and this weekend moved us from Carnival's frivolity to a more somber celebration of Lent, which is heralded in on Clean Monday. In Greek the day is called Kathara Deftera, the day that officially starts, the seven-week period of fasting, and self-moderation before Easter. 

Clean Monday is similar to Ash Wednesday in western religion.

Kathara Deftera is celebrated with non-meat feasting and flying kites. (For those wondering about the kites: It signifies the ascension and purification of the soul; symbolic of the human spirit flying closer to God.  And for kids, it is just plain fun, no matter what the reason.)

Clean Monday's kite-flying tradition. Photo credit

Mother Nature has been a bit fickle this celebration weekend with rain and hailstorms dampening parades and concert plans in the region on Sunday but allowing for outside activities on Saturday and Monday.  

Kite flying at Pantazi Beach on Kathara Deftera

Monday's sunshine and light wind was just enough to bring early morning hopefuls to Pantazi Beach just below our home.

And it worked!

The holiday weekend brought a surge of visitors to our village. The rural villages often draw large numbers of city dwellers on holidays weekends; many are returning to their roots, their family homes, and others are simply seeking a change from the city.  Some 60,000 cars were recorded leaving Athens on Friday on the nation's highway - thankfully not all were headed our direction.  

Section of Agios Nikolaos waterfront road opened!

The weekend was such a big celebration that our village has even managed to completed repairs to a section of our main beach road and open it to traffic.  After a near nine-month closure, let me tell you, that is BIG news! And even more reason to celebrate!!

Close up of roadwork at To Limeni in Agios Nikolaos

And restaurants in the still-under-construction part of the roadwork, didn't let that stop them from opening their doors to the new season.

Seafood pasta a popular Lenten dish

I realize that some of you are all set to celebrate Easter on March 31st, as that is Easter's date in western religions.  Here, the Orthodox church is celebrating Easter on May 5th.  

Another feast: tzatziki, horta, falafel balls and calamari

As long-time readers know, the weeks leading up to Easter are my favorite time to be in Greece. I honestly think that the three Easters we spent in Greece prior to becoming expats here helped to tip the scales in favor of moving here.  There is no other season that highlights the coming together of families, culture, history, religion and traditions as well as do the weeks leading up to Easter.

Stuffed squid one of my favorite non-meat dishes.

Next weekend is another three-day weekend, the first of Greece's two Independence Day celebrations this year. One is in the spring and the other in October.  Both are times of celebration and pride in country and marked with strong displays of patriotism.  

Spring is here!

So, we are welcoming spring and the celebrations that it brings each year.  We hope that wherever this finds you, you are enjoying your surroundings as much as we are ours! 

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