Mater dolorosa

When You descended - Οτε Κατήλθες

And Joseph from Arimathea with Necodemus buried Jesus in a newly built Tomb...

Now fool moon.

On the way to Zaganiari after a coffee with P. and M.
Tomorrow we are going to vote for a new parliament. I hope that it will not be full of fools like during the last decades.

Potatos

It has been quite a long time since our last post.
Spring is at its best in the Greek islands. My father is again proud of his potato plants.
This photo of his potato field is rather bad as it is taken with a cheap and dirty lens of a random mobile phone. However, for an unidentified reason I like it.

Green and blue, a statue and a lighthouse

Δεν μπόρεσε να μάθει καν το επ ώμου,
Κι όλο εμουρμούριζε "κυρ δεκανεα μου,
ασε με να γυρίσω στο χωριό μου".
Difficult to translate this verse by Kostas Kariotakis, this great Greek poet. I am looking forward to see this view again in summer as a civilian.

happy new year!

The sky might be temporarily cloudy, but the sunshine in the horizon is bright.

From the bottom of our hearts we wish you a fruitful new beginning!

Kostas - Sotiria

Request 1

Dear Saint Basil (of Caesarea),

what about a small boat this year?
You see, there are some very beautiful and quiet places that we cannot reach on foot. We tried!

Keep me posted. But if you decide to bring one this year, please bring it directly to the island. It would be such a hassle to transport it from Munich all the way to Greece.

Cheers,

Sotiria

Island

Appropriate picture for the song I was listening to, today...

Της γριάς το πήδημα, Old lady's jump

A few, or not so few, days ago I had promised to tell a bit more about the Gria (old lady) and the castle .

So, the Gria's castle, formally Ano Kastro (Upper castle) was built during the Venetian era of the island. Not much is known about its history, as archaeologists are somehow more fascinated by the ancient Greek history than the medieval one. However some excavations were held recently (2009). What remains today is a small but very important, for the residents of the nearby Kochylou village and the whole island, chapel of Phaneromeni (Our lady "the uncovered" / better translation welcome!). The chapel is celebrated twice a year on the day of the Assumption and the first Tuesday after Easter.

But how is all that related to the scenery in today's photo? And who is the "Gria"?

One of the many legends has it, that the Gria pretended to ask a refuge in the castle during its siege by Pirates (or Turks), but in fact she betrayed it and when the defenders opened the door, the siegers had the chance to enter and occupy it. After that, the Gria felt guilty and committed suicide by jumping in the sea in a nearby small bay.  Her body became the large rock that you can see in today's photo. The bay is now known as "Tis grias to pidima" (Της γριάς το πήδημα, The old lady's jump) and is probably the most famous beach of Korthi area. Partly because of its funny name, partly because it is one of the most beautiful beaches with this rare geological phenomenon.

Other legends about the name of the bay:
2) The Gria had a daughter who was kidnapped by the pirates and she committed suicide out of sadness
3) The Gria was in love with a sailor who didn't return, and she lost all hope.

(If you know any other legends please write it in the comments!)

PG13 alert --- implied sexuality ----

In greek the word "pidima" except for the original meaning of jump is also used as an euphemism for the sexual act. Which obviously makes the name of the bay far more funny. It makes me think that the sailor from legend no 3, finally returned.

Now grias kastro

The Virgin's chapel close to the medieval castle overlooking Joyfully Kochylou(*) village. Tonight we observe the vespers for tomorrow's celebration. More on the kastro (castle) and the gria (old lady) to follow.

edit: More on the castro and the gria, and also her beach may be found in this post.

(*) btw SE xperia X8 has a great auto correct feature, I think I should get used to it. Until then, "Kochylou" will be automatically corrected to "Joyfully". This alternative is rather appropriate, but it was not in my mind when I wrote the post.
One more thing about X8. Its camera has no autofocus, not even manual focus... which is bad.

Now Platanos (?) Beach.

We headed to a beach named Platanos. After some wandering off road I am not really sure we are there. Anyway, it is a great small bay!

Now Syneti beach

Z had a great idea! Easy to guess the island!

Now Lidi beach II

Guess where! Andros island!
Lidi beach is located close to the beautiful small village Vrachnou.

Now Lidi beach

 

Like Magic

It is almost like magic that these tiny and delicate flowers will transform in only a few months into juicy pears.

For serving: Chill under cold running water (preferably from a spring) and consume under direct sunlight.

Sea urchins

Αχινοί, sea urchins, Seeigel, echinoidea, échinidés. Lots of them!
According to a National Geographic documentary, they are among the first moving animals ever created on Earth. As strange as it may sound, once I had a nightmare involving one of these animals...

Their presence in the sea, means that the ecosystem is thriving! So, it's a safe place to swim but take care not to step on one of these little guys (been there, done that :o) ). Some people like also to eat them but I find very cruel the way they have to be killed.

Historic places

It has been a while, but here we are again.

This is a view to the Aegean from the picturesque St. George chapel near Zaganiari.

In the background you can see the uninhabited Gyaros island (or Giura). People who struggled for freedom from the Nazi occupation, after liberation were exiled there as political prisoners in the years 1945-49. The same fate was met be people who somehow thought that the military regime of 1967-1973 was not a perfect government. The prison buildings were built by the prisoners themselves .Some photos of the place may be found here. Today, virtually nobody visits the island and the structures are left to collapse slowly. I think it is kind of shame.

On the left you can see the Zagora plateau, where the geometric settlement, with the same name, flourished in prehistoric times. The site is unmarked and not visited.
A couple of kilometers on your right, not visible in this photo, was the place where the neolithic settlement of Strofilas flourished. Nowadays a rubish dump is placed next to it, despite a couple of supreme court verdicts. And even after the collapse of the dump this February, the rubish is thrown through it, straight into the sea.

Anyway I am still fascinated by the cyan - blue - green landscape.

Cookie: An expression of Andros locals to describe someone with great eysight is "Βλέπει τον κόχυλα στα Γιούρα" (He can see a Triton's trumpet on Gyaros).

Red hard boiled eggs

Another Easter custom is to dye eggs red on Good Thursday and crack them on Easter. The color symbolizes Christ's blood. The person whose egg is the last one standing uncracked on the table is supposed to be lucky.

Do you notice anything unusual on the picture?

Easter candle

Remember the holy light?
It is a rather new custom to decorate the candles of the children (and children at heart) using toys or flowers.

The most amazing candles I have ever seen are for sure these two! Made especially for the two lucky girls by their (and our) good friend (more info and creations here).

Now freddo cappuccino

Easter aftermath... Drinking cold coffee under the sun!