Epiphany in Lefkada

 

Today was Epiphany on Lefkada.  Being heathens, we had to Google what Epiphany was all about.  It is the commemoration of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.  It is celebrated all over the Christian world, of course, but each regional area seems to have their own unique celebratory customs.  

We remembered two years ago that while travelling by train in Spain at this time of year a whole group of revellers, some dressed as Magis, came into our carriage very happy and gave us handfuls of candies/lollies.  In Spain, Epiphany is the day when the children get their presents, not Christmas.  The hotel we were staying at in Algeciras had a big party for the kids in one of their function rooms - there were jumping castles and kids totally hyper on sweets but having a great time as were the parents and grandparents.

The Epiphany cake in Spain two years ago - quite a bit warmer than here in Lefkas

The children's party in Spain

Here in Greece the celebratory customs involve the Blessing of the Waters but each area has its own unique contribution to the festivities. In some areas people parade around town dressed up as goblins (Καλικάντζαρο) and light bonfires.  In other areas people wander from house to house singing carols.  In Lefkada, oranges are added to the celebration of the Blessings of the Waters.  

We went into town early and got a prime spot on the bridge across the harbour channel to watch the festivities.  About an hour before the start of the ceremony, people started to line up along the waterfront holding bunches of oranges tied together by their stalks with a long string or ribbon.  Boats of all sizes, including the Coast Guard, sailed into the harbour channel.

Lining up along the waterfront with bunches of oranges on a string

Boats gathering in the channel

Then a marching band paraded down the waterfront road ahead of the Bishop and several priests all in their finest regalia.  The priests went into an open marquee and sang and chanted.  Meanwhile a group of hardy men and boys lined up at the water’s edge and began to strip down to their swimmers.  The bishop threw a cross attached with a long line into the water three times to bless the water.  

The marching band - very good musicians

The men and boys waiting for the time to retrieve the cross

The blessing of the waters

The water and the boats blessed

 Then the cross was detached from its line.  Now it was time for the men and boys to show their stuff.  The minute the priest threw the cross into the harbour, the boys dived into the frigid water to recover the cross.  The one who brought the cross to the surface is said to receive blessings and good luck throughout the year.  

Getting ready to dive in

The cross retrieved

Getting out of the frigid water

Meanwhile all along the water people dipped their oranges in the water three times signifying the Holy Trinity.  These oranges dipped in the blessed water are taken home and put in front of the icons to give blessings and prosperity to the house for the coming year.  The oranges from last year, now desiccated brown balls, are thrown back into the water.  The harbour was filled with bobbing brown orange balls.

Dipping oranges in the blessed water

With the main events completed the band, priests and the lucky retriever of the cross marched out of town.

The band heading away from the waterfront

The priests in their finest robes

The Bishop's crown

The very happy and proud young man who retrieved the cross

It was a great privilege and lots of fun to watch this impressive community event.

The Heel and Toe of Italy

After bedding down Songster in order to leave her for 18 days, we were ready to catch the bus to Igoumenitsa then catch the overnight ferry at midnight to Bari, Italy.  It was a long day and night but fortunately the ferry had very few passengers and we were able to stretch out and get some sleep.

Ferry coming in at midnight

Early morning over the Adriatic

Our first views of Italy

We picked up our hire car in Bari and we were ready to start our road trip of the Puglia and Calabria provinces of Italy.  We first headed towards Alberobello.  Aberobello is known for its unique trullo buildings.  Trulli houses have comical conical roofs of dry limestone.  They look like houses made for the woodland fairy folk.  The popular story of their origin is that they started building them in the 17^th Century to avoid property taxes.  The dry stone wall construction could be easily dismantled whenever the tax inspector was in the area.  Now Trulli are tourist attractions and have been renovated as boutique accommodation.

 

 

 

 

The countryside in Puglia is very pretty with limestone dry stone walls surrounding the neat and tidy olive groves and lush green fields of winter crops.  We spent the night in Ostuni and struggled to find anywhere for dinner.  The Italians don’t start thinking about having dinner until about 9 pm.  We hadn’t had any lunch as being the off season, the few cafes that were open had shut by about 2 pm and we had missed out.  This plus the fact that we only had a few hours sleep on the ferry the night before meant we really just wanted an early dinner and early to bed.  We finally managed to find a restaurant near our B & B that would serve us at 7 pm.  I must say though, the food was worth the wait – delicious seafood in this part of the world.

The next day we continued south to Brindisi to check out potential marinas and anchorages for next season and then on to the very pretty city of Lecce.  Lecce is known as the Florence of the south.  This is drawing a bit of a long bow but the city does have many lovely Renaissance buildings as well as an ancient amphitheatre only recently excavated.  The view from our B&B was very festive.

The view from our B&B in Lecce

Old town Gate

Recently excavated Roman amphitheatre

   The next day we continued south into the heel.  First stop was Ortanto, a very pretty town with the 15^th Century Aragonese Castle, overlooking the harbour.  We spent an hour or two walking around the delightful old town.  This port is definitely high on our list to visit on Songster next season.

Harbour at Ortanto

Castle wall

 

Recycled plastic bottle Christmas tree

Ship sculpture of rusty steel and glass

We continued to Leuca at the very tip of the heel.  This town has a great harbour but it is definitely a holiday town and the entire place was closed up for the winter.  We had hoped to grab some lunch here but there was nothing open and we continued up the west coast of the heel to Gallipoli.

Gallipoli is a sizable city with several good ports and another great old castle around the old town.  We found a restaurant still open on the blustery windy headland of the old town and had a fantastic seafood linner.  We had ordered a mixed seafood antipasta thinking it would be a small plate to share.  Instead they brought out 6 separate plates of exquisite seafood:  raw prawns in a light peanut sauce, raw tuna with grated parmesan, eggplant with calamari and prawns, stuffed zucchini with fish pesto and a fish cake.  Delizioso!  The sun was setting as we finished our linner and totally replete we headed back to our B&B in Lecca.

Beachfront at Gallipoli

Castle wall

Fantastic seafood pasta

The next day we had a long drive around the instep of the foot into Calabria.  The neat and tidy plains of Puglia gave way to the rugged hills and slightly poorer region of Calabria.  We arrived in Crotone after dark to the nicest B&B we have yet to stay in, the B&B Castello, right next to the castle wall.  A lot of care and thought had gone into decorating and organisation of this small B&B.  The hosts were delightful and returned an hour after we checked in with fresh baked apple cake to welcome us.  

The next morning we walked around the waterfront doing our usual reconnoitre for possible visits with Songster.  The waterfront was very industrial and looked like there the area was doing some scrapping of old boats as there were half a dozen half sunk wrecks in the harbor – a very sad sight.

Cyclamens and old architecture

Boat graveyard

Castle now a restaurant enroute to Crotone

Our next stop was the city of Reggio Calabria, right on the toe of Italy overlooking the island of Sicily.  We again arrived on dark (the short winter days make for truncated days of sightseeing).  We enjoyed the festive winter lights around the town with Christmas shoppers busy buying gifts.

Christmas Square in Reggio Calabria

 It was time to start making our way back to Bari.  Along the way we stopped at the village of Scalla.  This picturesque village is known for its unique boats used to fish for swordfish.  In winter the waves pound onto the beach and headland.  The town rises above the water on steep cliffs and narrow roads. 

Rainbow over Sicily across the Messina Strait

Castle at Scilla

Windswept beach

Large truck stuck on the narrow steep streets of Scilla

We spent the night in the hill town of Cosenza.  It was cold and wet so we didn’t see much of the town.  We woke up to views of snow in the mountains.  

Snow covered mountains near Cosenza

Finally we were back in Bari to return our rental car.  We really enjoyed seeing this part of southern Italy, away from the usual tourist spots, but we did tend to remark how much nicer everything would be in summer.  Despite Bob having spent two years in Antarctica, we just are not winter people.  Never mind, we will return to this coast on Songster next season when it is warm.

Italian Road Trip

Wintering in Lefkas

After the stormy weather of the Medicane, we settled down into the life of wintering over in Lefkas.  The days are crisp and sunny and the nights quite chilly with very heavy dews.  We are getting to know the town, finding the best place to get bread, fresh fruit and veggies and which κρεοπωλείο has the best cuts of meat.  Lefkas has all that we need but if the shopping bug strikes (a non-existent event for me) there are buses to the bigger towns of Prevesa, Athens and  Thessolonika. 

We haven’t explored too much so far outside of the necessities but now that we have crisp, sunny days instead weeks of gray dreary ones, we have taken long walks around the lagoon and explored one of the old forts dotting the island and mainland.

Windmills and grasses around the lagoon

The beach on the Ionian

Ottoman influence at the main gate

Ruins of the old fort with the marina and hills of Lefkas in the background

The fort walls looking out into the Ionian

The Mammon of religion

There is the usual long list of boat chores, (though we have been procrastinating with these, a bit, as we will be here until March, and the holidays are coming, and our general pontoon lassitude).  But we have found all the chandleries and hardware stores where we can get bits and bobs and we are making ourselves known to the various tradesmen to line up jobs for after the holidays. 

The repair and service shops at the marina

There are also plenty of social activities with the other yachty liveaboards. Unlike in Marmaris, Turkey where the wintering over community had dwindled over the years from a high of 500 to about 4 people last year, there is quite a large community living on boats here in Lefkas Marina.  The majority of liveaboards are British but there are several Swedish, German and French sailors staying for the winter.  There are also three or four boats with children living aboard.

A large British ex-pat community lives here in Lefkas in addition to liveaboard yachties.  Most have had years on boats and now have bought a little house on the island. Others have small businesses while living a simpler island life.  We met one Australian woman running a chandlery who grew up not far from Canberra and her parents have retired just down the road from us in Bellingen – such a small world.

The centre of social life in the marina is the Porto Cafe and Bar.  Tuesday afternoons is the Knit ‘N’ Natter where women and children gather over a warming cup of tea or hot chocolate, have a chat and gossip and take the opportunity to relax over our latest knitting project.  Wednesday evenings is the Quiz Night which draws a large crowd.  The questions are often quite British-centric and we colonials and the Swedes will complain but it is all in good fun.  There are guitar lessons in the common room and singing lessons at the Irish Pub.

The Porto - centre of social life at the marina

Knit 'n' Natter on a sunny winter's day

I am quite enjoying the slower pace of life during the winter and cannot believe we have been here for a month already. But our itchy feet and the holidays mean we are off next week to southern Italy and then London for Christmas.

Lefkas getting ready for Christmas markets