Mater dolorosa

When You descended - Οτε Κατήλθες

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

Bridges II

This bridge has some seriously strong bases...
Have no fear crossing it!

Bridges

A bridge to pass, and then a mountain to conquer.

I am proud of you.

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.

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.

Oliven

Olives for our beloved friends.

Why everyone feels tired after a holiday break? Equivalent question to "why did the chicken cross the road?" I suppose.

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

Just because

Trying to cheer up all the people out there. Random flower from a long time ago...

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 a bit off the south coast of Evia

Now Syneti beach

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

Now tiger lilies in Syntagma.

Read our log of the events here

Now looking at the future.

Read our log of the events here

Now again cleaning the chemicals

Read our log of the events here

Now aftermath

real protesters cleaning up the mess left behind by the kind contribution of the government