Age Old Ceremony

 The Olympic torch was lit at Ancient Olympic in Greece today. The torch will be carried by relay through Greece for 11 days and then  to Marseille on a French 3 masted barque.  The French relay will last for 68 days until it reaches Paris on July 8. There the torch will light the flame in the Paris stadium, opening the 33rd Olympic Games. 

In 2004, for the Athens Olympics, the torch was brought to Poros and the relay went around the island, being met by one of our Olympic rowers.    We will not be seeing it this year though we now have an Olympic silver medal winner.  And a few up and coming rowers who could quite possibly compete in the 2028 Olympics.

Greek journalists, news readers, are on strike today but it was covered by the BBC and then I found it on the national channel. The ceremony is a piece of well rehearsed greek theatre and at the end of the performance the High Priestess lights the sacred flame.   I watched the flame being lit but couldn't hear the commentary which was in reverently hushed tones.  I wouldn't have heard anyway as K was on the phone next to me talking reverently in loud tones about the price of a pig.

The first modern ceremony of the lighting of the Olympic flame took place in Ancient Olympia in 1936 before the Berlin Games.  The ceremony takes place in the ruins of the stadium where the  games first began in 776 BC.

Over the years the flame has been around the world, into space, travelled underwater and even scaled Mount Everest.

Lets hope the torch travels safely to France and into Paris.  

1. These are the 1st games where there will be equal numbers of male and female athletes

2. France has hosted the summer Olympics 3 times.  In 1900,1924 and now in 2024

3.  There will be 32 sports contested including breakdancing, surfing, skateboarding and sporting climbing, whatever that is.

4. Neither Russia nor Belarus will be competing in these games because of the invasion of Ukraine. 

Spring Clean Up

 I got some help this weekend

Pruning the thorny white bougainvillia

Nels and Poppi replanting celery.  We will have celery coming out of our ears soon if we don't start eating it.  Celery, the leafy kind, called selino here, is sold with the roots still attached.  We have 3 pots of the stuff now. This 'pot' is an old washing up bowl.  It grows very easily, as does the parsley which has turned into a bush

K got the annual clean up of his back yard over with. An able bodied Albanian lad did an excellent job.  He filled up 14 huge black rubbish bags with weeds and plastic rubbish hidden in the jungle.

Before

After

The front yard is my domain.  The garden is still nice and green.  The clover/sorrel is starting to wilt a little but the nasturtiums have begun to flower, yellow and orange blooms, the mint is taking over the bed by the entrance .  And there is no rubbish in my territory.  

What was left of the big winter wood pile has been taken to the back of the house, and stacked.  Slowly I'm sweeping and cleaning chairs, tables and shutters ready to arrange our summer sitting place

The front roadway should be weed-whacked but in the meantime the knee-high weeds have been cut back.  In a month's time they'll probably be knee-high again.  Unless this heat continues and dries them all out.

Now that wall needs white washing for Easter

Sunset

 Poros at dusk.  Photos taken by another granddaughter.

This is taken from the car ferry.  Looking towards the main town.

And from  their balcony looking over the strait to the hills of the mainland

And here she is.  Or isn't.  

This child does not like having her photo taken.  Obviously

Thanks Natali. See, I didn't put your photo on the blog!

Or not your face anyway

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

Nels

 

Just boasting.......

Nels. No, not Poppi this time. 

Nels. Sister of Poppi.

Dietician. Nutritionist. Beautician. Athlete. Rower.

She has put many family members on weight losing diets. We're a family of losers thanks to her

This is the granddaughter who runs 15ks, phone in one hand, taking photos without breaking stride.

She has dozens of medals and cups for rowing but gave it up to study.

A few years ago.....

Rowing for Poros

All the grandchildren have tried rowing and they've all won medals. It's naturally a popular pastime on a Greek island.

Her hobby is hair styling, fashion and beauty.

For friends.

And her grandmother

I got my nails done.

Poros island, permanent population around 4,000, has many talented young people and has produced a few world champions.

An Olympic silver medalist for rowing at the Beijing Olympics.

Poros also had rowers at the 1960, 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

 European and Balkans Triathlon winner. 

European and Balkans WaterSki champion.

European and Balkans Kayak and Canoe gold medalists

Nels will be working on the island of Lipsoi this summer .

Give it a Google. It has been named the best holiday island in Greece.   It's an island of unspoiled beauty, not a party island.

Lipsoi

Tiny island in the Dodecanese

Population 800

 Crystal clear waters 

Sandy beaches

Fresh seafood from the Aegean

Homegrown lamb and goat

Thyme honey

Local cheeses

Fokiano - sweet local red wine

3 day Wine Fest every August

                    

Phenomenon

 Sea Fog.  

 Formed when very cold air moves over warmer water.

Sea fog is a very rare occurrence. 

I've never heard of it before.

We noticed the other day coming down to the harbour that there were strange clouds hanging low on the hills opposite. Fortunately a friend of ours took photos and a video.

A thick cloud of Saharan dust covers the city of Athens.

Not my photo

182 million tons of dust (sand) is carried away from the Saharan desert every year

How long will it take to empty the Sahara???

The dust can be carried as far as Europe, the UK and even the US, depending on wind patterns.

It is full of minerals and is good for the garden. However it can cause breathing difficulties, heart congestion and eye irritation.

The present dust storm seems to be going on for over a week. I've got stinging eyes and a headache.

The dust is very hard to get rid of. Our car, which is not under cover, has to be well soaped and rinsed. Flagstones have to be cleaned with soapy water too but often there are orange stains which only disappear with time.

It's supposed to dissipate tomorrow. 

Did anyone hear of a decent April Fool's prank?

In years gone by there were always a few joke news reports. I've heard nothing so far.

Is the world suffering too much to stop for a few minutes of light entertainment?

March Pruning

 Pruning time.  Our gardener finally found some time to clean up the vines and roses.  Poppi has been doing this job for 4 or 5 years now and she does a damn good job.  Her arms are strong from rowing and she wields the secateurs with confidence.

This year K told her to cut the grapevine right back.  There was a lot of old wood.  Never mind the long vines whipping around in the wind. She sheared it right back almost to the thick main stem, collected all the cuttings and piled them up in the back yard for K to use on his BBQ.

Look at those nasturtiums.  They have taken over my front yard this year.  Some of the leaves are as big as dinner plates.  They would have smothered any other plants in the garden but I hadn't really planted a winter garden this year. All I had was a few cauliflowers and lettuces in pots.  And one stunted kohlrabi.

One reason for severe pruning is to stop the grapevine later from growing out onto next door neighbours driveway.

She cut the roses well down too. They were reaching for the power lines. 

I bet in a couple of months time they'll all have turned into veritable bushes. It's difficult to over-prune grapevines or roses . Or olive trees. 

Nasturtiums, lemons and no rubbish in my front garden

Maybe I should rename this blog. Lately it seems to be...

'The Life of Poppi'

Independence Day

 Greek Independence Day, 25th March. The celebrations mark the beginning of the uprising, in 1821, to throw out the Turks. 

Greece was finally recognised as an Independent state in 1830.

Poros marks the day with a church service, followed by wreath laying, speeches, a parade of school children and finally Greek dancing in traditional costumes.

There was a huge military parade in Athens and the highlight is a flyover of jet airplanes. 

One of the pilots is a local lad and he gave Poros and the surrounding villages their own special air display.

He flew right down over the strait between the island and the mainland and came back even lower saluting us all with a wiggle of the wings.

The noise was tremendous. The airshow spectacular.

We all cheered and clapped . 

Our Poppi once again. Leading the dance wearing the folk costume known as the  Amelia dress.