Easter Sunday (if you are a very strict vegetarian you may not wish to view this post)

Early on Easter Sunday morning Simon was out getting the barbecue lit (which he did from the Holy Flame as mentioned in previous post)

I meanwhile prepared the lamb. The previous year, before I had arrived on the island, the lamb had been prepared & cooked by Sia, our landlady. As she was not here for Easter this year it was down to myself & Simon, as novices to do the job. Bear in mind also that Justine is vegetarian so we had a whole lamb to get through between just two of us, a bit extravagant but very traditional.

The lamb was brought out of my fridge having been bent double in order to fit it in overnight. After a wipe down I filled the inside cavity with onions, garlic, cut lemons, mint and some celery type leaf and stitched it up with string to hold it all in place.

I was quite concerned about the eyeballs & what might happen to them when it was roasting on on the spit. I remembered, from dissecting an eyeball in my Human Biology lessons at school, that the eyeballs contained a liquid called 'viteous humor' or something similar. I had visions of this expanding with the heat & exploding & I also didn't relish seeing the lamb on the spit 'looking' at me so there was only one thing I could do to prevent this happening. Yes I removed the eyeballs with the back end of a fork, a very sharp knife & the precision of a top surgeon.


On the right is Justine's main course, a very colourful selection of stuffed peppers. Simon had prepared the stuffing for these & I think it included feta, rice, onion, herbs etc.

We also had green salads, a Greek beetroot salad, potatoes roasted Greek style, feta & cherry tomatoes cooked in oil in foil parcels and a delicious vegetarian stuffing I made with breadcrumbs, onion, mushrooms, apple, mint, lemon & thyme.

A sharp eye had to be kept on the lamb as it cooked, it was turned by a clever electric gizmo which saved all the hard work of doing it by hand. As it was nearing being ready & the meat was falling away from the bones it was threatening to fall off the spit & had started to twist which I must admit gave it a quite grotesque appearance, almost human like. Having said that, when it was finally cooked it was delicious. The day was made even more enjoyable by the fact that we had glorious sun lasting all through the day.

What was left of the lamb after the day, was split between me & Simon & mine was stripped of the bones (which were boiled up for the stock) & made a delicious shepherds pie which lasted me the following couple of days.

A very enjoyable first Easter for me on Zakynthos, with hopefully many more to come.

Easter Saturday

On the night of Easter Saturday, shortly before midnight Justine, Simon & I made our way to the lovely little church in Ambelokipi where we live.

On entering we placed our offerings in the collection plate & took a large candle which would later be lit from the Holy Flame after the service, & a number of small candles which we lit in remembrance of those we have lost.

The church was full & we stood at the back during the service with many others. When the service had finished everyone made their way out of the church & into the dark.
The priest came out with the candle lit from the flame that had originated in Jerusalem & had been flown to all parts of Greece by Olympic Airways. A number of church officials lit their candles from the flame & proceeded to pass among the assembled congregation who each in turn lit their candles from the flame.
Above is Justine & myself outside the church waiting to light our candles (I haven't gone to sleep, just got caught on camera with my eyes shut & the shadows on the wall behind us make it look like we have beehive hairdos LOL)

Below you can just see the shadowy figures in the dark outside the church as people had begun to light their candles.

As this was happening there were also canons being fired which startled us each time they fired even though we were expecting it.

After lighting the candles it is time for everyone to make their way home, endeavouring to keep their candle lit all the way so that the sign of the cross can then be made above the door of the house with the candle smoke, thus blessing the house for the following year. It is quite a moving sight seeing all the people either walking home protecting their flame with their hand or with paper lanterns some had brought with them.
Others, including ourselves, could be seen sitting in their cars with the tiny glows of candle flames just visible inside. The only difficulty was trying to get out through the small roads around the church which were crammed tight with cars all trying to go in opposing directions.
Eventually we found ourselves heading home & we each made the sign of the cross above our respective front doors & Simon ensured that this was done over Sia's (our landlady & friend) door as she was not in Zakynthos for Easter this year.

We also lit tea lights in lanterns with the flame from the candles. Simon wanted to try to keep the flame going all night & had the idea of lighting the barbecue the following day with it as we would be spit roasting the traditional whole lamb. Whether that would make our lamb any more spiritual I would strongly doubt but the flame was kept going all night & yes the barbecue was lit from it the following morning.

Easter Celebrations Part 1 (Good Friday - Easter Sat morning)

On my earlier post of 3rd April I gave this link which gave some interesting information on the traditional Easter celebrations. I've been lucky enough to take part in & witness many of these celebrations & traditions this year.

Over the next few posts I hope to give you a flavour of Easter from Good Friday (6th April) through to Easter Sunday (8th April)

You will find plenty of photos too further down this posting.

As I said in the earlier post, I had arranged to go into town late in the evening of Good Friday. I headed in & met up with my friends Jassy & her fiancé, Alex, at around 11,30 pm ( a late start I know) We had a few drinks while we passed away a pleasant few hours chatting & generally having a good time. As time went on we made our move down towards St Marcos Square as this was where most people would congregate for the start of the 'funeral procession of Christ' When we arrived the square was already busy & bustling with people but we managed to secure a cafe table to sit & were joined by some friends of Jassy & Alex.
It was quite atmospheric with the priests voice being broadcast from the nearby church out into the square.
At around 4am !!!! the procession left the church & headed on it's traditional route around the town. From where we were sitting we were unable to see it at this stage but were assured it would be returning to the square later, which it did.
I had also been told about the pot smashing which was to come later & there were a few stalls on the streets selling small terracotta pots. Smashing your pot is supposed to bring good luck so I'd already decided I'd better buy a pot to smash , bearing in mind the recent news I'd had about my house sale (going to pot - sorry couldn't resist)
Here are a few pictures from the night/morning:

A bustling St Marcos Square in the early hours of the morning.

Part of the solemn procession for the 'funeral of Christ'

The bands followed.

The effigy of the 'body of Christ' is carried around the streets having been taken down from the cross in the church.

As daylight started to appear Alex ushered us to get up as the pot smashing was about to start & we had to make our way over to the area of the square where this would happen. Jassy had become very attached to her pot & was expressing reluctance to smash it. The previous year she had taken her pot home intact but this year we managed to persuade her to smash it.

It seemed as though everyone in the square was trying to get to the one small area where the pots were smashed. We kept making our way forwards & eventually could see the circular area that people were casting their pots into.

Alex said he would take photos on my camera of me smashing my pot & as we got to the edge of the circle he told me to cross it to the other side so he could get the picture. I thought he was joking, as pots were being thrown into the circle from all directions & smashing on the ground. I saw pots flying up into the air & raining down too. Alex told me not to worry ha ha & so I quickly dashed across the smashed pieces of pot & on reaching the other side, raised my pot high & smashed it to the ground - all caught on camera as you will see on the following photos.

On the left of this photo is Jassy, her friend's are in the middle & I'm on the right, all with our pots intact.

The crowds around the area where the pots are smashed with the broken pieces in the centre.

Someone has a lot of clearing up to do later.

Alex, that's a bit too close with that camera.
This was just before Alex asked me to run across the circle.

There I am, safely on the other side with my pot held aloft - seconds later it was smashed into tiny pieces on the ground.
People were also picking up pieces of the broken pots to take away with them, we assumed that this must be part of the good luck thing too, so I have a piece of broken pot sitting on the top of my fridge now.

Here is our little group, with our pieces of broken pot (minus Alex who was taking the picture)
As you can see it's daylight now & we've all gone right through the night with no sleep so I think we look remarkably well considering that.

The final highlight for me was on walking back along the harbour to the car to return home. As anyone with a serious interest in photography will know, the early morning light is probably the best for photography. When I saw the light I wished I had taken my digital SLR instead of my little compact camera but even taken on that I think you can see what I mean about this magical end to a fantastic night. Here are the morning light harbour photos, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed seeing the scene in real life.

I will hopefully be posting more Easter celebrations over the next few days.

Bad News Received

I have received some disappointing news this week regarding my UK house sale. It would appear that the buyers were not totally honest with the mortgage lender & something has now come to light.

The sale is not totally off the cards but the buyers are now apparently trying to raise additional funds so they can put down a bigger deposit & borrow less. As there is no guarantee they will be successful my UK estate agent has taken the decision to place the house back on the market & has put the For Sale board back up & will be re-advertising.

So I could be starting again from scratch to sell the house which could mean me losing the house I have had an offer accepted on here as I can't purchase here without the proceeds from the UK sale.

Needless to say I'm feeling rather gutted at the moment & have to just hope that either the current buyers get themselves sorted quickly or a new offer comes in at the right price & from someone who can move forward with no delay.

I have all my fingers & toes crossed at the moment & am trying to stay positive.

A Week Off For Easter

Ooops, it's been a while since I posted anything so I must put that right now. Easter is the most celebrated time in the Greek Orthodox church & this week is Holy Week. I have a week off work & don't return until Tuesday 10th April so a nice long break. When I return to work I'll be agreeing my hours of work for the Summer, when I shall be increasing to full time.
You can find some interesting information about how Easter is celebrated in Greece here. I'm planning on meeting up with a friend & her fiance in Zakynthos town on Friday night to witness & take part in some of the celebrating. Apparently things don't start to happen until about midnight & go on well into the early hours of the morning. I think a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon may be in order to be sure of staying awake to enjoy it.

Ive no further updates on my house sale & purchase situation just yet. I'm still awaiting any news of when the contacts will be signed for the sale of my UK house though I know that the buyer's surveyor has now been to do his report for their mortgage lender so hopefully things will move forward now. I've met with my Greek lawyer who is currently looking into an issue to do with the the land registry documents for the house I'm buying here. I'm hoping it's not something that's going to be a problem, so as you can imagine I'm still a little on edge until everything is signed & sealed. I'll update as soon as there is any news.

The year seems to be moving along very quickly. It seems such a short time ago it was Christmas & now we are approaching Easter & with the beginning of May the new Summer season will be upon us. I will certainly notice a change to the island as our Summer visitors begin to arrive & the resorts all come back to life after their Winter sleep. There is lots of activity to be seen taking place at restaurants, bars & hotels, all getting things repaired, refurbished, built & painted ready for the season to start.

The weather seems to be warming up a touch, though still quite chilly at nights & with some rain forecast still to come. There are even a few dreaded mosquitoes making an early appearance. One afternoon last week it was such a beautiful day that I just took a blanket & a book & went to sit on Crystal Beach at Kalamaki for a couple of hours. There was a fair breeze creating quite a few waves on the sea but it was just so lovely & peaceful to be able to sit there all alone on the beach taking in the sights & sounds. In just a few weeks the beach there will be very different when it's once again a sea of sunbeds & happy holiday makers. I'm looking forward to the Summer again though I've most certainly also enjoyed the contrast of the Winter too. I suppose I really do have the best of both worlds & once again count my blessings that I'm lucky enough to call this beautiful island HOME.