A very happy and belated Easter to everyone. As you are no doubt aware, Easter is the biggest time of year in Greece, by quite some way. There is always plenty to do by way of festivals and food a plenty. We went to the Church on the Saturday night to see in Easter and get the flame. I wish I could give more details but I am afraid my knowledge is, at best, somewhat limited. I think somebody said that it comes from Jerusalem via Olympic Airways but, I could be wrong with some of the details. Anyway, we got our candle home in one piece and managed to put a cross above our door and our Landlady's as she always like that. It is actually our first Easter here without her so we did it in her absence as she is very religious and believes that the house is now blessed. When I say a cross, you make it with the black smoke coming off the candles. I recall the first time that I saw her do it actually, I thought she had too much wine or something and was drunk. Whoops.
Anyway, it is a great church here, really nice and while I did not understand a large part of the ceremony, it was nice to get in to the spirit of things. Once it had completed (post fireworks), we headed back home for some much needed fruit punch that I had made earlier that day. It has been so hot that it seemed somewhat appropriate. For loads who want the recipe, it is loads of alcohol, a bit of fruit juice and some fruit. Easy.
Actually, in all seriousness, there was quite a bit of alcohol in it. I put half a bottle of Vodka, Half a bottle of gin, some whiskey, a litre of fresh orange juice, a litre of "five fruits" juice and a litre of another fruit juice that I do not know the word for in English. Then fresh apples, pears, melons, oranges and some lemons. It was great!
The following day I awoke early to get the barbecue on and get the lamb cooking (pictured above. Is it me or does it look like a Pterodactyl??). As Sia was away this year (landlady), we only bought a small lamb, mainly as Justine has been a vegetarian for well over a year now. Loads of others thing, potatoes from the oven (it is a great dish and the translation does not do it justice), homemade beetroot salad, Tarama (what you would call taramasalata in English - 'Salata' actually means Salad in Greek so they don't use that bit), Tzatziki, Aubergine dip, a lovely vegetarian stuffing, a few salads, stuffed peppers, Feta from the oven with fresh tomatoes, A different type of stuffed peppers, soya chunks (for Justine), fresh fish, mushrooms...It is just dawning on me quite how much we ate on Sunday. Anyway, it was a lovely day and to be honest, it is always my favourite day of the year. I will miss Easter when we move to Australia.
Work has been going quite well but mainly taken up with preparation work for the upcoming Oz trip. Poker has been average at best but to be honest, I just can't be bothered to play properly.
In case I don't do an update before I leave next week, text me if you do not have my Australian mobile number and I will text you the details.
Anyway, far too much text from me for one day!
Keep Safe...
