EASTER IN ATHENS

ΚΑΛΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ

Greek Orthodox Easter
Greek Easter is the country's most important religious festival.
It begins with a 40-day fast, though many people choose to fast only on certain days of religious significance or just During Holy Week the churches are full every evening as even people who are not regular church goers still observe Easter during the final week before Easter, Holy Week.
The red eggs for just after the Resurrection are the women’s first job as far as food preparation is concerned. In our house this involves 3 generations Grandma, myself and my girls. Eggs are usually painted and cookies baked on Thursday.
Good Friday is a solemn occasion and many people spend long periods of time, sometimes all day in church. Others go for a short time to light candles. The church bells ring a death toll all day long and it is the only day of the year on which I do not play music, mainly out of respect for local traditions.At about 9pm the “epitafio” is brought out of the church and leads a candlelit procession around the streets.


At midnight on Saturday the church bells ring out joyfully: the faithful, candles lit, can celebrate the Resurrection. Fireworks are set off and some places have bonfires where they burn an effigy of Judaes.



The meal afterwards consists of "mageritsa," (soup made from offal) which I avoid like the plague the red eggs are knocked and the traditional phrase "Christ is risen" will be heard all around the table.
On Easter Sunday, spit-roast lamb is the centerpiece of the table Served with plenty of green salads particularly lettuce and lots of good red wine or retsina. Many families will spit roast a whole lamb for this ocassion, ours included, and friends as well as family are invited to join the feast.
HAPPY EASTER . PASSOVER. HOLIDAYS

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK ON LINK

http://www.chiff.com/a/easter-greece.htm

A SHORT UNSTEADY STAGGER DOWN MEMORY LANE

A long time ago in a place far, far away there was a cruise ship.
THE FAIRSTAR. Fairstar the Fun ship to be precise. Unlike
other ships of this type the Fairstar was not full of wrinkly folk
who thought that eating a bowl of soup without dropping the
spoon was a major achievement. On the contrary, it was full of
lovely lasses and young fella me lads looking for a good time.
Just to make this tale even more enthralling the aforementioned
merrymakers also happened to be Australian!!!

___________

Erm.. this is a pic of the casino staff.I threw a little party

which got so big that we had to take the bathroom doors

off and invade the next cabin.Going to the loo was a bit

embarrassing though.The beers were in the shower.

These folks made America’s spring break look like a kindergarten
picnic at nap time. I swear to (insert deity of your choice) that I
met women on that ship who could trip a man up from behind and
lie down underneath him before he fell, FAIR DINKUM!

_______________

We spread the fun around, never before have

gamblers enjoyed losing their money so much.

This is where I learned the art of SKULLING BEER,

if I remember the term correctly.

This involved piercing the bottom of an unopened can of beer

with a penknife, or a biro if you were a WUZZY,

and then placing your mouth over the hole as you pulled the tab.

The beer then spurts forth at such a rate that you end up drinking

( or wearing) the entire contents of the can in 5 seconds flat.

Which is a mercy

when you consider what Australian beer tastes like.

What's the point you may well be asking so without further ado...

THIS IS THE CRAZIEST CASINO YOU HAVE EVER SEEN!

and I have the pictures to prove it

____________________

Here I am dealing blackjack.The guy with the guitar is

one of my co workers, he is on a break and the people

who I am dealing to are singing along.

The song?

MEATLOAF. Paradise by the Dashboard Light.

_________________

Guess whose birthday it was:)

Your right, MINE!

I started celebrating early and by the time the casino

opened it seemed like a good idea to go to work in a

grass skirt. Don't ask me about the hat though, I didn't

know anything about it until I saw this picture.

These two passengers brought me a bottle of champagne

and helped me drink it.

Then the manager sent me to bed early.

Thankyou Pete and Chuggy.

CALLING PURPLE PLANET

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRLANE. THIS IS YOUR PRESENT:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.

I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE TO CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY
BY REVISITING SOME PARTIES FROM MY PAST. THESE ARE
FROM MY CRUISESHIP DAYS. iF YOU RECOGNISE YOURSELF
LEAVE A COMMENT AND TELL ME WHO THE HELL YOU ARE:)


IF YOU AREN'T DRINKING BEER YOU CAN COKEROKE




THAT'S ME IN THE HAT


HOW MANY CROUPIERS CAN YOU FIT IN ONE SHIP'S CABIN?

THOSE ARE NOT MY KNICKERS

VOGUE POSE



IS IT MY TURN TO SING?

GIRLFRIENDS




SECRET SANTA

GET MORE BEER!

And last but not least a few words of encouragement.

Women over 40
For those who are anxious about aging
and those who think it will never come,
what a wonderful opportunity awaits,
but most of all those who are enjoying
the freedom of womanhood

Here is a piece written by Andy Rooney

As I grow in age,
I value women who are over 40 most of all
Here are just a few reasons why:
A woman over 40 will not lay next to you in bed
and ask, "What are you thinking?"
She doesn't care what you think.
If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game,
she doesn't sit around whining about it.
She does something she wants to do.
And, it's usually something more interesting.
A woman over 40 knows herself well enough
to be assured in who she is, what she is,
what she wants and from whom.
Few women past the age of 40 give a damn
what you might think about her or what she's doing.
Women over 40 are dignified.
They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera
or in the middle of an expensive restaurant.
Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you,
if they think they can get away with it.
Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved.
They know what it's like to be unappreciated.
A woman over 40 has the self-assurance to introduce you
to her women friends.
A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best
Friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women.
Women over 40 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends

because she knows her friends won't betray her.
Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess
your sins to a woman over 40. They always know.
A woman over 40 looks good wearing bright red lipstick
This is not true of younger women or drag queens.
Once you get past a wrinkle or two,

a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.
Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you
right off if you are a jerk or if you are acting like one!
You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons.
Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal.
For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed,hot woman of 40+,

there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool
of himself with some 18-year-old waitress.
Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say,
"Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

Here's an update for you.

Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why?

Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig

just to get a little sausage!!!!!

Fancy That

I Spent most of this weekend helping to organise a fancy dress party for the school which my children attend. I am the treasurer of the parents' association. This isn't as grand as it sounds it is a very small school.
Today is the first day of APOKRIES which lasts for three weeks and precedes lent. It is the Greek equivelent of the carnival celebrations and apart from street parades on the last day
there are also various theatrical events parties and the like. One town which is famous for its parade is PATRA and many Greeks and foreign tourists travel there to join in the fun. This is one of my favourite times of the year as I love dressing up and dancing, any excuse to make a fool of myself.Hopefully I will have some pictures to add later,if I can work out how it is done.
If you want to read more about Apokries you can visit:-

http://www.livingincrete.net/apokries.html