Today is the holiday of the " Holly Cross" a holiday celebrated in the Greek Orthodox church and a name day for any one called Stavros or Stavroula, the Greek word for cross is stavros.
We are located on the other side of the town where we could hear the church bells from the monastery calling everyone for their service. We decided to replenish our whole wheat bread visiting the local baker as it goes fast as well as some salad veggies. We also bought a pot of basil for our terrace.
A basil plant is in every home, store (mostly in smaller towns and villages) and without fail in every church. The priest has a branch of basil dipped in holly water for the blessing.
As we walked in town a lot of local people all dressed up were going home from the church service holding branches of basil and some had some bread from the communion most likely to give to a family member at home.
We decided to take Sofia for a long ride to show her the rest of the Island and drove the complete circle road to the farthest points East, West, South and North. Along the way we went through endless pine forrest and as we went higher and looked in the distance one could see the island of Aegina and the peninsula of Methana as well as Athens.
The wind had picked up just enough to make the atmosphere even more clear, the sea bellow around the lace like coves with their almost private beaches were so inviting, the water was turquoise and deepened in color as one's vision went further into the Saronic Gulf.
A view of the Peloponnese from the island.
This small island is shaped as a heart and has a lovely byzantine church on it, a lot of people like to have their weddings here. I will be posting a clearer picture of this island soon.
The boats have started coming in for their weekend stay
anchoring in the different little coves making it their own.
Our cousins arrived later in the afternoon for a short visit, they have a home on the island of Aegina,
we had a lovely evening remenising and sharing, it is such a good feeling
spending time with family and sharing stories anecdotes and just being together, something I miss so much.
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