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| Ithaca Greece - Winter 2005 - 2006. Greek Island Holidays in the Ionian. Ithaca Ithaki, the home of Ulysses and Homer |
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| _________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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Winter on Ithaca 2005 - 2006 |
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Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 |
...December |
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Sat 3 Dec - Above - Last night Odysseas Football Club held a fundraising party at Spavento Bar in Kioni. You are invited just CLICK HERE or on photo above. |
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Now that Christmas is just around the corner, the island is beginning to glitter and gleam with fairy lights all around the island. Above - Spavento Bar in Kioni. |
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Above - If you think this looks like a quiet little 'get together' you better set yourself straight by CLICKING BOTTOM LEFT or CLICKING BOTTOM RIGHT OF PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE. Niko Vasilopoulos from Spilia Villa, let's down his hair with a local old timer while his friend Billy Vasilopoulos from Stavros' Hardware Store, and Raphael set up the drinks at Rementzo Music Night in Frikes. |
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HRONIA POLLA TO ALL THE NIKOS IN THE WORLD |
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Tuesday 6th December 2005 |
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| Below we have a few Nikos on the island celebrating their Name Day. |
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| Below Left - Niko from Raxi - 1 something |
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| Below middle - Niko from Lahos - 80 something |
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| Below right - Niko from Frikes - 40 something |
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The Name Day for St. Nikolaos is one of the most popular in the year. If you've ever been to Greece you'd know that every second person has the name Niko, thus alot of celebrations are going on today. |
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Wed 7 Dec - Below - Why are these women looking so pleased with themselves? The answer is simple, Eleni (left) and Viki (right) are celebrating the Name Day of a loved one. Click here or on Photo below for more |
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| A bit cooler today than forecast. Last night it poured in buckets into the early hours of this morning, but after a grey start to the day, it was clear and sunny again by midday. Great views to the mainland, Lefkada and Kefalonia now that the rain and wind have cleared the atmosphere. At Aetos, the rains have made the road into one big pothole and their are little streams running across roads all over the island as the water heads for lower ground. Although there is little wind now, the seas are quite choppy in the bays, and it's said that tomorrow, the weather will make a turn for the worse. |
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Sat 10 Dec - What a miserable day today. It's been pouring all through the night and continuing through the day so far, photo left was taken 10.30am, high winds too, which are forecast to get even stronger tomorrow, 9 force says the weather man. Those traveling by ferry this morning will be in for a bumpy ride from Ithaca to Patra, all around the sea is swelling and breaking with quite some force. Exoghi, anoghi and Perahori are almost completely covered by low cloud. For those villagers, the horizon is as near as their front door. The Aetos road that is still under construction, has turned into one big muddy puddle, and the dips are definitely getting deeper. Luckily on Ithaca, we don't suffer from landslides like many other areas around Greece, so at least our mountain roads are safer to travel on in this weather. Sometimes, it's a blessing to live on a rock. With the cooler weather and so much rain over the past weeks, it's no wonder that there is barely a nose that's dry. Everyone seems to have a cold or flue, right from the little babies on up the age scale. Today is a perfect day to find a warm, quiet corner to curl up in, read a book and pray the power doesn't go out and that the phone lines don't get drenched to stop them from working. |
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Mon 12 Dec - Oh God, I hate complaining about OTE...but I just can't help myself. If the horrific weather isn't enough to remind me that it's winter, then the otenet winter drama slaps me around to make sure I know. How many times should one expect to dial in, pay the line connection cost and then still not get online? 4...5...7...10, 20 times?? Try 52, before I get a line that connects me at 28k. plays with me a little and then cuts me off to try again. Just a thought...seeing that the EU is for a united Europe, same money, no borders etc., wouldn't it be great if we could choose a telecommunications provider from anywhere in Europe without paying for international calls? That would give OTE a kick in the behind I should think. Unfortunately the EU still likes to have some borders of the economic variety, at least for the masses. Ok, I am now stepping off my soap box and letting you all know that today the sun was shining on Ithaki again. The views were very clear to the mountains on the mainland, past those along the shoreline, but to those further inland, and snow has begun to settle on the peaks. Temps are still quite mild on the island, but not so mild that a good position near a fire place isn't very much appreciated. Karamela Cafe in Vathy, right across from the ferry stop, had logs burning in its' open fireplace today and it seems a welcoming addition to the Cafe. Many people decided to have a little interlude before heading home after their Monday morning shopping expeditions, with an ouzo and meze, while the fire crackled in the corner. Cosey! |
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Left - A photograph from the Volt. Before Gefyri Restaurant in Platrithia, there was Levendis. A local Grill, a place where the lahos and Platrithia community would meet during the week to drink and eat. This photo is from the George Florence collection - circa '78. George Florence (Floria) has his roots in Kioni and Platrithia, and is a devoted lover of Ithaki. (He's the half naked one at the end) George runs the Astor Theatre in Chapel Street in Melbourne, Australia and as well as his huge Ithacan photo collection, he also has a gold mine of films and videos of the island. In this photograph there is also Mihalis from Lahos, a strapping young man then, and another Australian with Ithacan roots, Jim Kyriakakis (in the green), who also has his roots in the north of Ithaca, Lahos. Jim has not been to Ithaca again since that time. |
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Above - With the weather forecast to turn bad again tomorrow, the Penelope Girls, Maria, Katerina and Vasso, take time to soak up the sunny rays while they can, with friend and fellow Vathinian Dimitris Danis. |
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Below - About 4 hours ago Ithakis Odysseas played Olympiakos Argostoliou from Cephalonia at the Stavros Football Ground. Click here for more pics or on photo below |
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Katerina is going to be a mum |
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Tue 13 Dec - Left - For those who make Penelope Restaurant in Frikes their place to eat, you will know this face. It's Katerina, the beautiful and friendly waitress who is also the owners' daughter. Yes, the music Man Stathis, or steve as he's known to the Yachties, had time to make some children while dancing in the streets. Well, Katerina is happy to announce she is having a baby next May. Congratulations!!! What will Stathi do without his committed daughter Katerina to help during the August rush? No worries, he has two more beautiful daughters, Vasso and Maria to help take up the slack. |
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Wed 14 Dec - The weatherman was right. The weather is terrible today. All together now... |
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Getting online is becoming increasingly frustrating. Can't get any answers as to why it takes so long to get a line. No help from the help desk, no answers from tech. It worked in Summer, now it's just stopped. 30 40 50 calls that I pay Ote for, before I get an internet connection that usually cuts me off after a few minutes. Not just me, everyone I've spoken to. 130 euro per year for the privilege of Ote, another 200+ euro per 2 month phone bill and timed internet calls. For that amount of cash, one should at least be assured of a connection, let alone Service. Ote advertise - They have the most stable service. Maybe in the cities, but here on the island, I'd get further sending information via a pigeon. With no one to complain to what can be done about it? Nothing it seems. I think they have too many subscribers for the modems they make available. Time to get an ACN card, to pay another server for a service I have already paid for...Now I just have to wait for someone on the island to have a card I can buy...or wait for next Summer. |
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| ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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