The Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th. In Greece, Epiphany marks the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan with the tradition of the Blessing of the Waters.
Molyvos was bitterly cold but the risk of hypothermia was not enough to put off the brave (some might say foolish). The village gathered at the entrance to the harbour wrapped in their warmest coats. Except of course for the hardy few who await the chance of glory in their swimming shorts.
After the divine liturgy, the priest cast the cross into the water and the brave volunteers dive in and race to and retrieve the cross.
We salute all the young men who helped maintain an old tradition and congratulations to Alexandros Moliviatis who got there first.
The Christmas Fair takes place each year at the school in Molyvos with the proceeds going towards items needed by the school. Previous years proceeds have resulted in new classroom furniture and much needed computer equipment, very worthwhile causes. Due to bad weather on Sunday morning I thought the Fair was never going to take place. However the stalls had been laid out in the morning and nothing was going to stop it going ahead. A final downpour about an hour after the Fair had opened sent everyone rushing for pieces of plastic to cover over their stalls. Even though some things for sale got a little damp it didn’t stop the fun. It is nice to see that in these times of hardship people still turn out (even in the rain) to support the village.There were lots of nice things on offer including a beautifully laid out stall of handmade Christmas handicrafts, a selection of toys, dolls with handmade individual knitted outfits, tom-bola, children’s clothing, gift ideas, wheel of fortune and even horse rides. There were different tables of food, donated by people of different nationalities for everyone to sample, and of course you can’t have this type of event without the obligatory mulled wine, hot dogs and popcorn. The smells of which wafted around the playground which really made you want to try them out. I can personally recommend the mulled wine. The children of the school sang Christmas songs. Santa turned up and the donkey,which was part of the Nativity setting, gave rides to the children. All in all a very satisfying event. We shall look forward to this again next year. Lets just hope the weather is a little kinder.
I can’t think of anything I would rather be doing right now other than sitting outside 