Epiphany

If I were Greek, today would be quite a big day for me. But I'm not, so it isn't.

Ok - explanation time. The Greek equivalent of the name Clare is Fotini, meaning light and the 6th January (Epiphany or twelfth night) is the feast day of all names related to the word light. If you want to know more about how it is celebrated here's a link to the Wiki page.

Here in Symi, the Bishop blesses the water from the platform pictured and at about 10:30 this morning this area was full of people waiting for the bishop's address and to watch the young men dive into the harbour to retrieve the Cross. Unfortunately, as I was at work, I couldn't get a shot of the masses, so this was the best I could manage. As you can see, another beautiful looking day but very cold. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to dive into the sea today. (To be honest, even in Symi the earliest I brave the sea would be late June because I'm a wimp. And even then I would never swim in the harbour area).

To all the Clares (and all other spellings), Chiaras, Fotinis etc out there, I wish Hronia Polla! (an explanation of this phrase is in October Blip)