Summer Fiesta (3

Down below our house, beside the sea  at Vayionia, preparations have been going  on for days for one of the islands biggest summer parties.  On the eve of St Paraskevi's fiesta many of the congregation will go to celebrate, as only Greeks can do, down at the beach or on the hill above at Paradise Taverna.



Tables and chairs fill up  the beach around the canteen below.  A big truck brought in hundreds of  cheap rented white plastic chairs and a few dozen extra tables which were set up along the shore.  

Huge trays of  pork were roasted in the big baker's oven in a village across the waters.  Kilos and kilos of wine and crates of beer were stacked around the small beach bar.  On a hot, sultry summer night it is a cold beer which will quench your thirst after a round of energetic greek dancing.

The bay gets crowded with small boats which anchor off shore to enjoy the show from the water.  Roast pork and beer get sent out on a surf board or by kayak. 

The success of the party depends on the music and the alcohol and next comes the food.  A greek saying states 'a hungry bear does not dance'.  But the music must have that beat which draws you to your feet  so your legs move to the rhythm.  You let  go, dancing and clapping and cheering on friends, pulling everyone up to the dance floor. The music must be loud, very, very, loud. And this goes on for hours and hours.  We could hear the music floating up from the beach below till after 4am.

  






The church dedicated to Agios Nektarios, owned by the family that run Paradise taverna.

At Paradise taverna Kiki and her son Vangelis provide for families who sit outside under the vines while the children charge around the tables and have fun in the small playground.
The taverna also serves pork but theirs is roasted in chunks on a spit.  This speciality is  'kondosouvli'.  Big pieces of pork are separated by tomatoes, peppers and onions and it is slowly turned over the coals.

Good wine, cold beer, ouzo, some of Kiki's homemade tzatziki or her big cheese pie called a 'tiropitari' are carried out in laden trays by her son Vangelis and her two daughters.

Kiki makes the bread just as her m-in-law, Theodora, has done done for the last forty years, cooking it in the wood-fired oven

The music here is not as loud but she knows what island songs everyone wants to hear  at a fiesta.    Here too a small crowd will get up to dance.  Dancing is always as much part of the celebration as the food.