Assumption day, the15th of August in Greece

On Wednesday it is August 15th – a public holiday – This day Greeks all over the country will celebrate one of Christianity’s most significant days, the Dormition of Virgin Mary. Some call this day “the summer Easter” to show the importance of the celebration, and many thousands of people attend religious services throughout the country.

Virgin Mary is a holy figure for Greeks not only because she gave birth to Jesus but because worshipers have connected her with the Greek nation’s freedom in many cases. As a result, the mother of Jesus has been given several different names all over Greece as locals wanted to thank Virgin Mary for her aid in some of the woes they faced. It’s the same holy figure, having taken different names, though.
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/08/13/greek-customs-across-greece-on-assumption-day-august-15/

On Skopelos you can go to a church service on Wednesday the 15th but there are also services on Tuesday morning and the evening of Tuesday the 14th. Banks, government and public offices will be closed on Wednesday.

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Filling up?

The waterreservoir near Loutsa is slowly filling up. Or not ? Thanks H. for the photo.

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Bear with us a little longer; Glysteri

(photo Jitka)

(photo Jitka)

(photo Jitka)

Jitka is from the Czech Republic. She came for the first time to Skopelos with her family in 2007 and she has commented on my post about Glysteri and has send these amazing photo’s. Thank you Jitka !

She says:”Your yesterday contribution about Glisteri makes me so happy but – and also makes me want to write you. Glisteri is part of my heart. I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. So peaceful….. And to be honest, I think it is more beautiful now, when it is not so organised than before the flood. I was destroyed by the news about the catastrophy , but my last two visits made me peaceful. I saw that there is no need to be worried about the future of Glisteri. When I read your text about your evening swim, I feel as if I am here again. It reminds me of our evenings, we have spent this summer in this place. I would like to send many thanks to people, who take care of this beach…..please keep on going. And, please, do not let this piece of beautiful and peaceful land to be destroyed by commerce.

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Ode to Glysteri

You all know that I am a fan of Glysteri beach. Bear with me one more time.

Yesterday night I had one of the most beautiful swims of my whole life in the water of Glysteri beach. It happened that we were alone but even if there were more people in the sea that would not have mattered. I would have welcomed it because the night and the swim was so beautiful. To share this experience with others would be such a pleasure.

There are no lights on Glysteri beach at night but that doesn’t matter because we took a flashlight. We could walk in the dark because apart from pebbles, sand and some wood there is nothing else on the beach. No beds or umbrellas. We could hear a call from a bird echoing through the valley because no other noise could disturb it. On our way to Glysteri we saw a rabbit beside the road. There is a spring called ”the spring of the rabbits” in Glysteri. Was it going there? It is so quiet we only hear the birds.

The water in the sea was almost warm but as I swam along the shoreline in other areas the water was colder. Cold, warm, cold, warm. A surreal experience. I know that there is water from springs that flows into the sea from the mountain.

Lying in the water we could see all the stars and airplane lights. I went out of the water but on the beach it was much colder and I went in again just to see if the sea was still so nice. It was. For the first time in a long time my husband said before me;”shall we go”? I walked reluctantly to the car.

I remembered yesterday afternoon on that same beach beach where families, couples and friends enjoyed that beach bringing their own umbrellas, small chairs and beach stuff. They were able to sit down where they wanted and the only music were the high pitched voices of the children in the water combined with the lower voices of the adults playing with them.

There is no beach bar on Glysteri but there are rumors of something opening next year. Maybe we will have sunbeds and umbrellas. I know that people need to make a living but I know from talks with many people that there is also a “market” for beaches that are more quiet. More natural. I really hope the municipality takes that into account when the give out licenses.

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Gone

(photo skopelosnews)

The forest around Amarandos, one of the most beautiful parts of Skopelos is gone. The fire was caused by somebody cooking, BBQ-ing? It doesn’t matter anymore because the fire started and burned the forest!! Do we even realize what has happened or are we busy with the next news event?

In the life we are leading everything needs to go fast; our cars, our communication, our travelling, our lives. We want to get things fast, our food, our sunbeds on the beach, our drinks etc. Many times we forget to take a breath and enjoy that moment, that feeling, that peace, that view, that joy, that silence.

(photos Costas Andreou)

We spend the time in our lives doing everything as quickly as possible and many times without a thought about how we spend that time. Are we enjoying ourselves or do we just let the time go by? Because we are in such a hurry we also don’t take time to comment or act when a situation arises that is not OK. For instance when you see littering, mad driving behavior, wild camping or ignoring of rules that apply to somebody or to a certain area.

Do we take the time to realize that something needs to change or are we already getting ready for the next part of our life. Do we want to act at all or are we afraid of the consequences?

This is what happened at Amarandos. Nobody commented, I did not comment, everybody went there, I went there. Many people did what they wanted and without any respect for the nature we and I let it get burned. This is an area that should have been guarded, by who I don’t know. With nobody commenting on the situation, including me, the situation got out of control and about 500.000 m2 got burned. Gone.

Daphne

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Thank you

With a son and daughter both working in the service industry this summer I wanted to make this post to say thank you to all the people on this island who:

*Make our coffee
*Clean our toilet in our hotel room
*Make our bed
*Lay out and cook our breakfast
*Mix our coctail drink
*Rent our a car
*Serve us an ice cream
*Clean the terraces in the morning
*Open the museums and churches
*Make the products that we buy
*Pick up the garbage
*Take our shopping in the supermarket and make up the bill
*Put out our sunbed and umbrella
*Are our representative on holiday
*Serve our diner

They work very hard, many times more than ten hours a day. They are away from their families for a long time, they are tired when they see them and these few months are the only way to bring in some more money in the household. I think a thank you to all of them when you meet them will make their day and might even take away a little bit of the stress and tiredness they experience every day.

THANK YOU !!!

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SIFFY is back!

The first two days of SIFFY (Skopelos International Film festival of Youth) have been amazing. The kids are playing with the theme Philotimo which means love of honor. Do something without asking something back.

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