A Different Easter…

By Saturday evening, I was itching to get out of the house (as unadvisable as it may have been), so I gave in to the insistence of my neighbourhood friends and joined them for the pre-midnight Anastasi service.  We went to Agia Marina, the church at the top of the hill in Thiseio – the one that is lit up every night and can be seen from the Apostolou Pavlou pedestrian path…
 
I’ve been there before; it’s a beautiful church built around the actual cave from the original structure. On the night of the Anastasi service, there was a special feeling at the church – lots of people, darkness inside, chanting – a ‘religious’ feeling to be sure.
 
After midnight, after the candle lighting and well wishes, most of the people poured out of the church and made their way to their homes and to their cars, down the quiet, deserted streets of Thiseio, candles in hand. This, for me, was a sight to see - almost romantic with the flickering of little flames and whispering voices…

On Sunday I joined a small group of ‘orphaned expats’ for a nice midday meal (lamb yes, but the kind one cooks in the oven – we are not so talented as to know how to operate a spit!). We went out for an afternoon stroll, expecting to find the city empty and shut down. What we saw was quite the opposite: many restaurants and cafes were open in the area, catering to the tons and tons of tourists that seemed to be everywhere. I guess at least that much of the news is true! The day was beautiful, the city was quietly humming, and one had the feeling that – for this one special afternoon - everything was right in the world.
 
(I didn’t mention the midnight firecrackers in the packed churchyard the night before and the stray dog that was going out-of-his-mind barking his little head off. It would just ruin the moment.)
 
Xronia polla to all!
 
Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…