ABC Wednesday: Orange groves and olive fields

It's ABC WEDNESDAY today, and O is for orange, and it's also for olive.

The orange trees in this field are our very own! We have 500 orange trees spread across half a dozen fields in Fournes, Hania, Crete. The olive trees in the distance (with the black nets below them covering the ground) aren't in our field (but we have been known to make good use of them every now and then). The artichoke plant is in front of the cement fence we recently built to section off our property from a country path running through it.

Kalithea, Vamvakopoulo

This is a very revealing image of the village-like suburb of Hania where I live, just 4km out of the town centre (which is, of course, the Agora). The trees are typical of the area - citrus and olive. The field and garden irrigation taps are common all over the province - they are always found on the side of the road (they aren't the ones that supply us with household water). The houses are a mish mash of old and new. On the left hand side, there is a cheaply built box house with an unfinished apartment on top (maybe for a child to inherit at a later age, or as an investment). On the right hand side there's a newly built house with Italian style arches. Most houses have an iron water deposit on the terrace (the flat roof of the house). A few of the older houses have a tiled roof, superseded by newer building methods. There's even a flag flapping in the wind (Greeks are very patriotic) on the right hand side.

My house is a little further up the hill, where I have a great view of the town, right up to the sea. Come on over for a visit, and I'll treat you to a cup of coffee.

Nice view

For some people, choosing a place to live is all about what kind of view they have from their house. I was very lucky in that I had a 'high' view from most places I lived in. When I lived in Mt Victoria (Wellington, New Zealand), I could see all the hills of Kelburn and the Aro Valley suburbs, with the colourful cute little box houses. The dome of the Greek Orthodox Church was also visible from my bedroom, and even though I was half hour's walk from the Victoria University library, I knew which floors were still open for late night study.

Now where I live in Hania, despite the dirty grey terrace of an unfinished house just down the road, every day I can see when the ferry boat from Athens has come into Souda Bay, and I can play a game with the children by asking them if they can see it moving away from the port at night. Eventually, they'll be able to name the ship that is in port, as I can now - this one is the ANEK Lines ELEFTHERIOS VENIZELOS, a former cruise ship which has been superseded by newer ships. Even at night, it is visible, with a long row of lights, so you can track it for a good fifteen minutes as it starts moving away from the harbour and into the dark sea. Maybe this is why the suburb that I live in is called Kalithea (= nice view), Vamvakopoulo.

Happy Greek Easter!

HAPPY GREEK EASTER!
Best wishes to you and your family!
We're all set for a get-together with festive food.
If you want to know how I made these eggs, click here.

Good Friday

According to the Greek Orthodox calendar, yesterday was Good Friday (we celebrate Easter Sunday tomorrow). Good Friday is celebrated with a solemn procession of Christ's tomb, a wooden structure decorated with flowers and an icon of Christ on the cross. Everyone following the mourning procession holds a yellow candle as they follow the shrouded funeral bier that is carried through the town's or village's streets to the local church. Every major city and tiny town in Greece has their own procession; I attended the service with my family in the village of Galatas, close to where I live.

Galatas has a long standing connection with Wellington, New Zealand, my hometown. It is also the village from where my mother left Greece to migrate permanently to New Zealand.