Χρονια Πολλα Γιαννι!

Click the button to the left of the volume control to go to “full screen” for a BIGGER view.

Click the button to the left of the volume control to go to “full screen” for a BIGGER view.

And yes yes, we know… we’ve got years and years of practice before we put Mr. Spielberg out of work. But it’s the thought that counts, and we’re thinking of you, Dads.

The camera follows the story’s protagonist, a little Greek boy riding all over town on a stolen bicycle (actually, he just borrowed it… it’s a sub-plot). As the boy takes his journey, the narrator describes the neighborhoods and important sites from the old town and harbor through to the newer city and surrounding areas.

Nearly ALL of the locations shown in the video are very familiar to us (it’s a small town). Hopefully it will give you a good feel for this incredible place we call home.

In fact, if you watch carefully, you can even see *exactly* where we live! At 6 minutes and 45 seconds into the video (nearly the end), the boy rides down an alley way (passing another bicycle parked against the wall) — that’s our street, and the house seen at the end on the left with the second-story balcony is directly across from our house (hidden behind some bushes). How’s that for a tour!

The official start of Easter was at 12 midnight, marked by an ornate mass at the local churches. The ceremony is capped off and highlighted by a candle-lighting ceremony, complete with fireworks and gunshots vying for your attention during the “pappas” (priest’s) singing sermon.

We took some video (click the video to watch a bigger version on youtube…), though I was trying to be discreet so angles are a bit bad. It’s more about the audio – listen for the “pop pop pop pop” of gunfire and small cherry bombs exploding all around us!

Through all commotion, the pappas kept singing, as did the nice little old lady (surely, somebody’s yaya) who kindly shared her candle’s flame with Kristy and I.

It looks looks like I get popped at the end of the video, but I was just klutzy and dropped the camera – nobody was harmed (that I know of!).

Time to EAT!

After last night’s noisy kickoff, the party continues for the rest of today: a big, fat, Greek day of eating, drinking, eating, eating, and more eating.

We’ll be barbecuing lamb, chicken, eggplant, and other veggies, and enjoying the company of Stephane and Ata, two of our fellow “out-of-towners” coming over for dinner. I’m sure we’ll have some photos to post later… maybe we’ll even do a “family portrait” – they had also joined us for Christmas dinner, so it’s becoming our own little tradition.

καλο πασχα! “Kalo Paska” = Happy Easter, from Chania, Crete!

OK – enough with the history lesson. The church also has a clock tower, complete with a carillon featuring large bells that are audible for quite a distance and most definitely heard quite clearly from our home.

The bells serve as our neighborhood’s timekeepers, ringing to signify the time. They ring every hour, on the hour, every day. At ten o’clock (morning or night), the bells are rung TEN times; at five o’clock (afternoon or early morning), the bells are rung FIVE times. You get used to it…

The bells are also rung for special events. Today is Good Friday, and the monks served up a special holiday rendition of the ringing bells this morning starting at 7:45am and lasting for 15 minutes.

So here now, for your enjoyment, is a short video shot this morning from our rooftop, featuring a sweeping 360-degree view of our local domain here in Chania, Crete, accompanied by those (frequently) ringing bells.

Video Link: watch on my Picasa page for now. We are uploading a copy to youtube which will show above shortly (and will thereafter remove the Picasa video).

Update: The auditory experience has been repeated two more times since this morning, at 10:45am and again at 12:45pm. Lots of church faithful going to mass today!