July 2010 >> Page 1 2 3
 
 
 
Thursday 1st - Summertime on Ithaca doesn't just mean holidays, but also weddings and honeymoons. The beautiful churches around the island make the perfect setting for a traditional wedding.
 
Above & Below Left - Midnight walk around the northern villages. You, the full moon and quiet streets, maybe a lit boat at Polis beach and the gleam of the Cephalonian village of Fiscardo in the distance.
Right - View to Exoghi. In the late afternoons of summer, the heat forms a cloud over the mountain tops which slowly sweeps across the land and over the sea.
 
 
While the bay side village carry on into the early hours of the morning, the inland (if you can call them that, as every village is near the sea) are quiet by midnight.
 
 
Friday 2nd - Some electricity interruptions over the next couple of days, but only in the north of the island. Seems there's work being done that couldn't be done during the off season? Tomorrow proposed hours of outage are 8am - 12pm and then there's also a possibility that Monday morning we'll have another outage. This mornings outage wasn't too interruptive, only a couple of hours, but still with hot days and defrosting fridges, businesses endure a bit of a struggle.
 
Above - Vathi harbour in the late afternoon. Right - The Novacastrians from Newcastle Australia have arrived on Ithaca. We caught up with them enjoying a night at Dodonis in Frikes. Below - Maria from Margarita Cafe in Stavros always has a smile for everyone, no matter how busy it gets.
 
 
Above - Costa comes to Ithaca from Lefkada with his van full of fresh fruit and veg. He does the rounds around the villages.
 
Above and Right - Kionis very picturesque church is the focus of many a tourists' camera. The flowers around the periphery really make it a colourful landmark of this northern bayside village. Below - A heat mist rolls across the mountains over Marmakas.
 
 
There was so little room between the viewers and the tv, the above shot was take through the Ice-Cream Fridge lid. In Frikes, even if you're not a football fan, watching the fans can also be quite entertaining. At Rementzo the game is on tv and at Fiorendino Bar the game is on Satellite. Between the two broadcasts there is a few seconds delay on the satellite, so those watching the game at Rementzo call out the goal or the miss before the Fiorendino viewers see it for themselves. The viewers aren't always grateful for the 'heads up'.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE fRIKES PANIGHIRI ITHACA GREECE FESTIVAL IN JULY 2010
 
 
Saturday 3rd - No big power interruption today, which was a relief to wake up to. Tonight is Frikes Panighiri night so had the power been off in the morning, it could have caused quite an inconvenience. Tomorrow however, DEH is announcing via microphone from a van as I type, that the power will be off between 7 and 9am.
Football is still on, and although the Cafes with sports tv aren't as full as they used to be, there are still dedicated fans glued to the games. Left - Sisters, Jackie from Capetown SA and Debbie from LA USA are glued to the Ghana game. When there was hope, 'shots' all round, but as it went into overtime, the intensity required full and sober concentration. Below - Debbie's son Shane looks on from a distance.
The Frikes Panighiri is usually held on 30th June annually, but this year, to get the southerns up to the north, the Frikes Community decided to have its annual Festival on Saturday 3rd July. Some good planning and organization made this year's Panighiri a great success. Last nights Festival was the best attended out of all the Festivals this village has held in the past. The Community organizers deserve a big pat on the back. The band this year was 9HXO from Patras and although they played the usual Panighiri tunes, they played them extremely well and built the night up to a frenzy, keeping everyone up on the dance floor. Late in the night, Ithakis own Yiannis Andrianatos also took to the stage to sing a few favorites. Click Here or on photo left for more pics.
Monday 5th - The power cut yesterday didn't happen because the priests of the north didn't approve, so now it's on for today - 7am - 11am supposedly. Guess we'll see. The weather is warming up now. Nights are milder and there are no predictions of any cool changes on the horizon. Below - Kioni bay side at dusk.
 
Below - Ithaca rubbish tip in the south of the island around Piso Aetos caught on fire yesterday. Cause is unknown, but as we all know, rubbish tips are fire traps and it was bound to happen. Planes from Cephalonia dropped water and retardant substances on the fire, but it is still burning today.
 
 
Tuesday 6th - Beautiful weather these past days. The sun is finally beginning to warm up the sea. With these hot temperatures however, fire danger is high. Left - Kioni. Below - Dino is back and looking happy despite his arm which he injured falling down some steps in the Tatoo parlor where he works in Patras.
 
 
 
 
 
Luckily today the wind has dropped, but as usual on that side of the island, it will most likely pick up again at sunset. Let's hope that the planes that are still dropping water on the flames will have some significant success in stopping the fire. Last night the smoke was so thick that the fire department couldn't get near the fire and the planes were the only hope to get it under control. As far as I know, the fire is contained in the 'rubbish tip' area and hasn't spread to forested areas around it.
Looking north, the fire was frightening and horrible, looking west, the most beautiful sunset over the Cephalonia Strait. Beauty and the Beast. The question that begs to be asked now is 'where will the rubbish, which in summer is substantial, be dumped now?'
The smoke was blown toward Dexa, Vathy and Perahori by a north westerly and today by all accounts, it is still effecting the Dexa Region. One Dexa local noted that both the sea and Kathara were completely hidden from view by the smoke this morning.
 
Wednesday 7th - Another hot day today. Perfect 'day at the beach' weather. Below & below right - Krouvoulia 1 & 3 beaches just outside Frikes on the road to Kioni.
 
 
 
Right - (R-L) Sue, Nick, Sam & Mike. Sue and Mike are Kioni locals but Nick and Sam are here from the UK on their 8th trip to Ithaki. We caught up with them at Spavento Bar in Kioni over a couple of beers, talking over old times. Below - Safari anyone? Niko from The Gods Gift shop in Frikes uses flags and headgear to attract his target customers.
  
 
 
 
Left - Helen and David Soul are back on ithaki. They fell in love with the island a few years ago and made a mutual connection. Helen and David were married a couple of weeks ago and saw it fitting that their honeymoon should be the place where Helen was proposed to. I was also fortunate enough to hear Davids daughters recordings. Her name is China Soul, she's 22 years old and has a magnificent voice. China is a singer song/writer, so keep your ears open for her recordings. She lives and gigs in the UK presently. If you can catch one of her shows, you won't be disappointed.

Just a note to let everyone know that if you want to be on ithacagreece.com, I'd be happy to take your pic. Just whistle or yell 'Hey Erika' to get my attention. I'll be the one with the big camera and red hair perusing the baysides. As many of you know, none of the daily update pages are ever deleted. You can always revisit any of the years the site has been in existence. Now that Summer is truly underway, there'll be lots of new faces on the site, hopefully all with big smiles.
Above - Gypsy timing. Only a few more days to go until the the Exoghi Panighiri. This year the Ag. Marina festival lands on a Saturday which also happens to be the weekend the school holidays officially begin, so it could be the biggest festival Exoghi has seen in awhile. Below - Kioni Bay from both sides now.
  
 
Sunday 11th - Another beautiful weather day which will have those here on the island, heading for the various beaches around the coastline from the north to the south. The tip is still smoldering, but completely under control now. Soil has been dumped on the ashes all week while the fire fighters have really had their work cut out for them.
 
 
July 2010 >> Page 1 2 3