Sunday, April 08, 2007

Day 3- Easter Sunday

We had a nice, relaxing morning today, sleeping in until 12 noon, due to our late night previously. As I woke up, I could hear the church bells in the distance ringing joyfully, announcing to the world that "Christ is Risen!" Since we missed breakfast at the hotel, we wandered out into the beautiful afternoon, and found ourselves a nice brunch at one of the many welcoming cafes along the waterfront. Afterwards, we remembered an adorable pastry shop that we had stumbled upon the night before, and made our way over for some post lunch goodies. The owner happily put together a box of his delicious treats- baklava of all sorts and shapes, accented by a piece of jellied fruit or nuts, then drizzled in honey.

With our box of goodies in hand, we settled quietly into the lovely patio at the Porto Mykonos, the hotel that we had visited the night before and admired the incredible view of the glistening bay...

Not much was open in town today due to Easter, so we took the relaxation a step further and spent the afternoon reading and planning our agenda for the coming days. Near sunset, we headed out again, this time over to the water front near Little Venice, where this picturesque church caught our attention.



Dinner brought us to the doorstep of Niko's Tavern, a quaint space with less than friendly service, serving authentic Greek food. We weren't exactly hungry, but we did sample the ouzo, a strong anise flavored liquor, and a bottle of the traditional resin wine, which tasted like Pine Sol to us. Dinner took a humorous turn when these pelicans, one of whom is named Petros, wandered into the restaurant, looking around and checking out the customers. Noone seemed fazed at all, so we can only assume that they're regulars.

We called it a night and headed back to the hotel at 9pm, deciding to spend a quiet evening in playing card games. At 10:30 pm, Emily suddenly pointed out the window, and we turned in surprise to see some serious fireworks. Our hotel had a fantastic vantage point to see the show, and some of the other guests, as well as our hosts joined us outside on the veranda. In Greece, as we were told by our host, celebrating Easter is like Americans celebrating New Years Eve, and the activities that last through the holy weekend and even beyond are full of joy and tradition. What a special honor to be here in such a time of profound sanctity and intense emotion.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow. Such photo brilliance. Am I jealous. No. I am not jealous. I keep trying to tell myself that!
-jy

Alatcal said...

Of all the pictures that captured my attention - it was the box of goodies. How sad for me. But damn, they look good!

connie said...

your trip looks amazing! i love how all the buildings are so stark white. looks like your eating well too, as usual!

Unknown said...

LaV and Jak Travel the World?
Get out. You guys are just cruising around eating pastries in Greece. I had no idea. The shots are awesome. They remind me of what I could be doing right now...

Anonymous said...

Great work.