Sunday, May 5, 2002 14:31
Weather: The clouds burned off, so it's sunny again!
Location: Vathi harbourfront restaurant

Happy Easter! Happy holiday... when everything in Greece is shut. No travelling for me today...

Last night after a good dinner (which ended with a complementary creme caramel -- I was the restaurant's only guest, pre-festivities) I kipped out for a little while, then headed down to the local church square for the midnight celebrations. As the service went on in the church, a crowd of revellers of all ages filled the square. At quarter to twelve the church's outside lights were extinguished in preparation for the emergence of the new flame.

Finally the church opened outwards, the congregation and clergy pouring from the doors, bringing out lit candles, whose flame was quickly passed to the candles and lamps of those waiting outside. The clergy, resplendent in red and gold robes, climbed a small stage and announced the resurrection in chant, then the bells started ringing, and then the fireworks started going off.

It was actually rather like being in the middle of a war movie: part of the square emptied as firecrackers were lit by hand and thrown in that area. For about 10 minutes the noise of the firecrackers and bells was deafening, and the flashes lit up the square like strobe lights. I called Kelly, Robyn & Dave, and Patrick to share the moment, but only got answering machines... not to worry. It was overwhelming... and quickly over, as the congregation moved back into the church to complete the service and the square emptied, with families going home and younger people heading to parties and bars.

I headed down to the harbour and sat quietly on a bench, looking for, but not seeing, a fireworks display. Instead, the firecrackers continued from all parts of the town, interspersed with heavier "crumps" as if artillery and small arms fire had started up all around. I wondered briefly about the annual casualty rate of a festival where drunk young men threw bombs with careless abandon.. and then decided I was getting old, and went to bed.

This morning I got up around 9:30, showered, and set off to see the island. This plan quickly fell apart. The scooter rental agencies insisted that I have an International Driver's Licence. I eventually found a couple of car rental places, but they were far from cheap. I bit the bullet and signed up for a little car, only to find (to my embarrassment) that I no longer have any idea how to drive a stick shift. When the rental people saw my awkward attempt to pull away, they took away the keys.

Depressed at the thought of wasting a day here with basically nothing to do, I was walking towards the bus station to see, for the second time, if there was any activity, when I saw that there was a crowd gathering in a large harbourfront square. They were watching the preparation for a televised Easter festival, complete with local dancers. I took a seat.

Some time later, the whole thing got underway. As a small band played and sang, a group of about 20 men & women dressed traditionally started a circular dance as the cameras rolled. Between numbers there were lengthy breaks as a glamourous M.C. chatted up the band, the dancers, the V.I.P.'s seated at a food-laden table, and (once) one of the tourists in the audience. Other breaks were clearly being filled with taped segments, which we could hear but not see.

I watched for a while but probably spent as much time looking at the rest of the crowd as watching the show, which got old pretty fast. I ended up chatting with an Australian couple who sat down next to me. We gave up on the show, and they headed off to find a hostel (having just arrived from Turkey), but we made plans to meet later for a drink and dinner. They also told me about a small beach they'd found, within walking distance of the town, so I'm going to head over there this afternoon.
posted by Tom at 2:56 PM | link |