Showing posts with label Greek Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek Easter. Show all posts

Monday, March 18, 2024

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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Monday, April 25, 2022

Greek Easter ~ Back to Normal

 Easter, or Pascha, as it is called here in Greece, has finally returned with all its splendor!

I am writing on Easter Monday, the final day of nearly a week-long celebration and religious observance in our adopted country.  The week is called Megali Evdomada (Holy Week, or literally, the Big Week). 

Epitaphios, Agios Nikolaos

And what a week it has been! Why, it was . . .back to normal!  And I hate to admit it, but we had almost forgotten what a normal Easter week is like here.

In case you think I have my week's mixed up, we celebrate Orthodox Easter in Greece so the date fell a week later than Easter celebrated by other religions this year.

Our village, Agios Nikolaos, Peloponnnes

 After a two-year absence due to 2020's Covid lockdowns and last year's subsequent precautions, the magnitude of the celebrations was evident in every part of the country. Ferries, trains, planes and highways have been jam-packed since Thursday as urban dwellers headed to ancestral homes. Being a celebration even larger than Christmas, Easter is a 'together time' here and finally family and friends could be together.  

Traditions Return

Shopping needs to be done early in Easter Week

We've been expats in the Peloponnese long enough to know that any business transactions or work that needs to be done, should be completed by Wednesday of Easter week as that is the day businesses begin closing for the weekend. The observances of  the holiday are taken very seriously here; a country in which 10 million are of the Orthodox religion.

By Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday the food preparations have begun and the religious ceremonies are underway.  

Epitaphios - Kardamyli on the highway 

Good Friday - a day filled with the somber ringing of church bells - is marked by  church services and processionals through cities and towns in the evening. The flower-covered, canopied Epitaphios, similar to a funeral bier, is carried through the streets following a service in the church. It is a somber, moving processional. A Greek friend nailed it when she said, 'Even if you don't believe in anything, you will be touched.' 

Good Friday - a somber celebration

The Easter service celebrating the Resurrection takes place Saturday evening, near midnight.  Candles are lit and the call, 'Cristos Anesti' (Christ is Risen) rings out.  It is a greeting that continues throughout the holiday weekend as that is how you greet friends and acquaintances. They reply, 'Alithos Anesti!' (Truly, He is Risen). 

Candles are lit - fireworks erupts over the harbor

The Holy Flame from which these candles are symbolically lit comes from the Holy Fire, a miracle that occurs at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem every year on Holy Saturday. A portion of that Fire is quite literally transported by plane from there to Athens where it is further divided and sent on planes to destinations within the country to be used in the Saturday night ceremonies. I couldn't help but chuckle when I read news reports that the flame arrived two hours late this year - due to Covid protocols prior to takeoff. That pesky Covid continues to make itself known!

Breaking the Fast

Our Easter feast is roasting

Sunday is feast day throughout the land as it officially ends the 40-day Lenten fasting. It is on this day families and friends fill restaurants to overflowing or gather for traditional lamb roasting and feasting in private homes. We've celebrated the day at restaurants in the past BC (Before Covid) but this year were treated to experiencing the event at the home of friends. The gathering included Greeks, English, Americans and Swiss.

By mid-morning the lamb had gone onto the spit. For those wondering why Greeks always roast a lamb it is because it represents Christ, the Holy Lamb of God.

Red-dyed eggs an Easter tradition in Greece

We had Greek music and Greek dancing (lessons for many of us, myself included), we broke the traditional red-dyed eggs, which symbolize the blood of Christ and the cracking of shells, His Resurrection. 

An Easter feast to remember

We ate home-cooked cheese pies, stuffed, roasted peppers, oven-roasted potatoes, tzatziki, beet salad, cheeses, breads and desserts too many to list.

The Weather Gods shown down on the celebration with temperatures in the high 70's, and blue skies overhead.

Reports from all sectors are that Greece is learning to live with Covid (it helps that our case numbers are dropping dramatically). If this is learning to live with it, I am all for it!

A gathering of family and friends on Easter

I often hashtag posts about life in Greece on Instagram and Facebook as #blessed.  Some days bring that feeling to life more strongly than others.  Easter this year, I believe, has made us all feel blessed and most thankful that Greece is righting itself after the Covid upset, and that we are able to gather with friends and family once again! 

That is it for this week.  We send wishes for safe travels to you and yours. And a big welcome to our new subscribers! Thanks for your time with us today.  Hope to see you next week - bring a friend or two with you!

Linking soon with:

Monday, May 10, 2021

Greek Easter - A Giddy Sort of Week

 After so very long, we finally had cause to celebrate in Greece.  And even better, we were allowed to celebrate!

Pascha - Easter in Greece is not to be missed even with COVID

Megali Evdomada - the week between Palm Sunday and Pascha (Easter) is a time to celebrate rebirth. This year we were celebrating not only the rebirth of Christ but what feels like the rebirth - most certainly, the reopening -- of Greece itself. 

Church bells tell the Easter story

Traditionally this Holy Week is marked by church bells chiming with regularity, their peals heralding the days of Easter with dirges mourning Christ's death or upbeat peals of joy for His resurrection.  A year ago, the Easter bells were silenced by the country's first Covid lockdown. At the time none of us suspected it was only the first multi-month lockdown and that the second would drag on until it was a few days short of lasting six months.

Church bells rang out during Easter Week

On Maundy Thursday, the church bells began chiming. They rang again on Good Friday. While not a joyful peal because of the days in which they were commemorating it was a joy to hear them wafting across the water again as they had in year's before Covid. 

Greek Orthodox Easter Week was the last week of April this year with Easter falling on May2nd.

Easter Saturday night in the village

Although we are still in lockdown, the government allowed modified church services and Easter traditions to take place - a significant step in reopening the country. The next giant leap came Easter Monday when restaurants, bars, cafes and tavernas were allowed to reopen for outdoor seating, (distancing, masks and group size limitations are in place at all those establishments). We still text for permission to leave our homes and curfew is in place.

Nothing Short of 'Giddy"

Getting ready to open after six months closure

The excitement of the upcoming reopening of eateries and watering holes, combined with the celebration of Christ's Rebirth brought the village to life last weekend. Painting of storefronts, setting up of outdoor tables and chairs under enormous umbrellas, planters being filled with colorful blooms, . . .well, to be honest, there was just a plain old 'giddy' attitude among us all.  

Easter Saturday fireworks

Easter Saturday is one of the biggest nights in Greece -- the night when church services throughout the country concluded with the glad ringing of the church bells and candles are lit and the proclamation, 'Christos Anesti!' "Christ's Resurrection!" rings out from those gathered.  

Usually held at midnight, this year took place at 9 pm as we still have a late night curfew in effect. Although not officially open until Monday, tavernas along the harbor allowed those coming for the service, the fireworks and festivities to sit -- socially distanced, of course -- but it felt so almost 'like normal'.

Hot Air Balloons an Easter tradition

We watched small groups of teenagers sharing whatever it is they share on mobile phones these days, their heads bent over the small illuminated screens. We watched younger kids racing through the parking lots.

Adults were lighting and launching hot air balloons, a tradition at Easter.  We watched others walk towards the church where the evening service was getting underway.  In previous years so many people attended the service that it has been held outside the village pharmacy so that crowds filled the streets. Not this year, as all services were confined to the church yard. 

Friends pause for a photo after candle-lighting


The candles were lit at the conclusion of the service, calls of  "Christos Anesti!" rang out, fireworks exploded over the harbor. 

There have been bigger crowds and celebrations and there will likely be bigger ones again in the future.  But after a somewhat bleak and very long lockdown, for the couple hundred people that had come to the village, this was definitely a night of celebration. 

What's Next for Greece?

Restaurants are reopen - a big step towards normal

Major international media outlets have been announcing that Greece reopens to tourists from around the world this coming weekend, May 14/15. (Proof of vaccinations and/or negative tests are still being bantered about as requirements to avoid a quarantine. And arrivals will be subject to random testing as well). But at least the country is putting back the welcome mat they rolled up more than a year ago.

However, Greek media has been speculating that we who live here may still have some restricted movements, need to seek permission for movement (those SMS/text messages to the government) and other constraints. The Covid counts remain high in some areas.  

Cafes along the harbor in Agios Nikolaos are open again!

Others speculate that once the gates open, they will be open for all.  We are hedging our bets and making plans to travel as soon as it is allowed. You might just say we are continuing that giddy attitude, just thinking about the possibilities.  At this point your guess about what will happen is as good as ours. . .we'll answer this cliffhanger in our next post!

Our thanks for the time you spent with us and our wishes for a 'giddy sort of week' for you and yours! Hope you will be back with us next week!

Linking soon with:

Through My Lens
Travel Tuesday
Our World Tuesday
My Corner of the World Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday



Thursday, April 16, 2020

Ringing in Easter ~ The Sounds of Silence

The church bells are silent this year.  They've been silent for weeks. So silent, that it is downright eerie at times.

Easter as it was - not this year!
To be silent any time is not normal in a Greek village but especially now in the midst of Megali Evdomada - the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. Traditionally, this is the week when church bells chime with regularity; their messages either upbeat peals of joy or mournful dirges for the dead.

No candle lighting gatherings in the square this year

On Good Friday their call is so hauntingly sad -- commemorating the death of Jesus - that they can easily give one goosepimples - even if you didn't know the symbolism of their ringing.  Then late Saturday night when the crowds have gathered -- filling the streets near the church --  to call out Christos Anesti, (Christ is Risen) and to participate in candle-lighting, their joyous clanging is so loud that you clap hands over your ears to save the eardrums.

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No Easter gatherings here this year 

So to silence church bells this sacred week in Greece is nearly incomprehensible. Here, where the Eastern Orthodox religion is considered a state religion and more than 95% of the near 11 million residents are members of the Greek Orthodox Church.

But this is Greek Easter in a time of pandemic. Nothing is as it was anywhere in the world. Greece is no exception. The holiday will be observed without gatherings and celebrations in or near the holy cornerstones of every village and city in this country.  These drastic curtailments being taken by the church and state reflect the seriousness with which COVID-19 is being dealt here.

In a televised address to the nation Monday evening our Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, "Our faith is not at risk, but the health of the faithful."

Many of you've written, asking how Greece is responding and how we are doing. The elimination of such sacred Easter traditions is the most recent illustration of just how seriously the government and citizens are dealing with curtailing the spread of coronavirus.  It is a good way to begin my answer to your questions:

What The Government is doing

Government emergency text alert to all mobile phones

Greece -- only a few years ago, the economic underdog of  the European Union --  is emerging as a poster child in the world for addressing coronavirus quickly and correctly.  Way back on Feb. 27th when the first COVID-19 case was identified here, the shutdowns began. All Karnivale gatherings were cancelled.  The numbers and scope of cancellations and restrictions built in the weeks that followed leaving no industry or individual untouched.   
  


Closed. . .the word of the pandemic.

Tourism has tanked. From beaches to store fronts, the closed signs have gone up in rapid succession.  Here all non-essential business, even hardware stores, are closed. All people living in the country need to notify the government when they leave their homes. We are not to visit family.  We are not to visit friends. 


PM Mitsotakis, has repeatedly likened the efforts to fighting a war. And it's clear he has a country that is willing to help him win the battle.  Mitsotakis, who has served as prime minister for less than a year (taking office last July), is proving himself to be a firm, decisive and unwavering leader. He has won the trust of the people. Opposing parties and the church are standing with him.

Stay at home orders are taken seriously

This united approach seems to be paying off.


Knowing that statistics change by the hour, I am using a snapshot in time, taken this Wednesday morning, to illustrate how the numbers look in our adopted home, Greece, as compared to our American home state of Washington:

Greece:  population about 11 million. COVID-19 cases: 2,170. Deaths: 101
Washington State: population 7.5 million COVID-19 cases: 11,154. Deaths: 544

Greece's actions may sound draconian, but you know what? We all -- Greeks and expats alike -- are appreciating them and feel safe being here because of them. Not once have I seen a FB post from a Greek or ex pat questioning the government's authority or right to restrict our movements.


Who knows when businesses will be allowed to open again


In fact when we see a friend in passing these day, we step back from them, as if they 'had the plague' no matter how thrilled we are to see him or her.  We even laugh about the 'good old days' only four weeks ago --  before the government ordered the country closed and only suggested social distancing -- we could at least have a take out wine in the parking lot and stand an appropriate distance apart from each other and visit. Can't do that any more!


Meeting a friend - social distancing - good old days - no longer allowed

The government has made it clear that this Easter Week is considered critical for containment of people and the virus. There is talk that cars could be banned from the roadways from Saturday evening until Monday evening to assure no one sneaks in that visit with close friends or decides to visit the relatives, as is traditionally done on this holiday.  That is how serious they are taking it here.


The Scout and The Scribe

A glass of wine with friends . . .in the Pacific Northwest


Aside from missing dinners out and face-to-face meet ups with friends, life in this rural part of the Peloponnese is continuing to be pretty routine at The Stone House on the Hill.  Like millions of others we've installed Zoom and learned to use it for social gatherings. We recently drank wine 'with' friends in Kirkland and Seattle during their brunch hour and our happy hour.

Sanitizing the community dumpsters


Certain routines remain the same as we must make regular runs to city dumpsters to deposit our garbage and to fill water bottles from the community taps. On such occasions if we happen to pass friends we feel giddy at the social interaction even if it is calling out hello in passing.

The mobile phone permission texts are becoming second nature. We have six destinations or reasons allowed for leaving our home.  And now that we are into the routine, sending a text isn't a big deal at all. In the photo below my notice is in the green, my approval is in the gray.

Destination sent, permission granted

Shopping once or twice a week, we wear disposable gloves. We've yet to wear face masks. Some clerks wear both masks and gloves. Some stores have also installed glass panels to separate the clerks from the customers. I suspect those panels will remain a part of our 'new normal' life when this seemingly winds down.

The food supplies (including fresh grown/harvested veggies) are plentiful as is the sanitary hand scrub, detergents and disinfectants and. . .Ta-Dah: toilet paper!  Our selection and supply of paper goods would make many of you green with envy.

We have no need to use Insta-shop or stand in long lines waiting to be admitted into a store. We don't need to call week's in advance to get a delivery time slot nailed down. There's usually been fewer than a dozen people in our large supermarket and maybe two or three in the smaller stores when we've been shopping -- all keep their distances.

Dinner out has a whole new look - at home

We have a few cafes and tavernas open for take out beverages and food.  Such food pick-up runs have become the new 'going out for dinner'.

Last Sunday we had Easter (the one celebrated in the Catholic and Protestant religions) dinner -- turkey and trimmings -- from our hangout, Hades. This coming Sunday to celebrate Orthodox Easter we will have a take out spit roast lamb meal from Hades.  We schedule a time to pick up the meal and it is ready for us.  If not we sip a glass of wine, from a plastic glass standing outside while it is packed up. The wait time is never more than a few minutes.

Our village service stations are open and stocked with supplies of gasoline and diesel.


Preserved lemons and dried orange slices

Instead of planning and daydreaming about trips, we have found ourselves focused on home and garden projects. I have been experimenting with craft projects -- all those things I've never taken the time to pursue before. I've been preserving lemons and drying oranges. I have a chair rehab in process for the garden and other crafty things that I likely would never have gotten around to had it not been for the stay at home order.

The Scout burns olive tree trimmings


Meanwhile The Scout is focused on garden and grove. In the last two weeks we've had our olive grove trimmed and the trees sprayed. We did our final burn for the allowed open fire season, cleaning up the grove as a fire prevention move ahead of the dry summer that is predicted for this area.

Earlier this week a two-man crew arrived for a small construction project that had been scheduled before the lock down began.  In each case the workers kept their distance as did we and the jobs were done. Life does need to go on, even if a bit differently than in the past.

What is Next?

Going out for a glass of wine - pandemic-style

Now in our third week of our government enforced lock down, we've learned it will be extended to May 11th. At that time - if the curve remains flat (and you all know what that means these days) -- the restrictions will begin letting up. There is a series of re-opening steps planned to take place slowly, slowly (siga, siga as we say here). However the government has made it clear that we 'elderly' ones over 60 are going to be among the last turned loose so we are hoping that by July we have a less restrictive world.

Pantazi Beach like all beaches are empty

Of course we wonder how many of the small businesses here - especially those dependent upon tourism; of which there will likely be none or very little - will even reopen this year. So our world could look and feel vastly different even when everything is 'back to normal'.


Sunset from The Stone House on the Hill

For now we are enjoying temperatures in the 70F's and each day celebrating the fact that we are not among those statistics I listed above.  Carpe Diem is the mantra and we are trying to do just that.
We hope this finds you and yours wherever you are in the world also staying safe staying healthy and being at peace with the actions taken during this unprecedented time in history.

Where are these two vagabonds dreaming of as their first destination once our restrictions are lifted?  Let me tell you. . .it is our hair salon in Kalamata!  It might end up being the best trip we take this year!!

Thanks again for being with us and we look forward to hearing from you in comments and by email.  What is on your list as your first destination when you can again safely leave home?

Linking with:

Mosaic Monday
Through My Lens
Travel Tuesday
Our World Tuesday
My Corner of the World Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday




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