Happy Birthday Greece

 Saturday 25th March 2023


I had a bit of a late night yesterday, I met two friends for dinner and in true Greek style, two  more showed up and the conversation flowed. They were really good as they tried to keep to English but they did slip into Greek and then apologised. No apology needed I said. I think I hit the sack at one am. I would not normally stay up that late, but I would not have missed that experience.

Photo Interlude - My free glass of..


Today at the coffee shop I was armed with the Happy Birthday for Greece and I think my efforts were appreciated. On the television they were showing places where marches and other events are going to be held at eleven am to celebrate the day I recognised one place Samos, from its name in Greek, easy to spot actually. There was another piece about tourism numbers going up I think, or something like that. A guy came in to the shop, unseen he had brought a bottle of a drink of some description, home made. We were all given a shot of it. It was a bit like Brandy. We toasted the day. I went to pay and thanked him for his drink and he replied “thank you” in English. It’s a shock when that happens! I explained what I am doing here and so on. His daughter works in London in a University. He has been but doesn’t like the place. It was an interesting chat. There was a service in Kato Hora so I went to see that, and joined the parade.

Photo Interlude - Everyone coming out after the service 




Footnote After the service finished in Kato Hora the parade visited a lot of the churches all which were open, the first time I have seen inside most.

Photo Finish - The Parade when it reached the road.



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