Queen of Poros

On 25th March 

 Greece celebrates the beginning of its successful uprising and eventual freedom from the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1821

 

On this Greek isle, as in every greek village, there's a parade of school children, wreath laying, music by the Municipal band, speeches and later Greek dancing

The last grandchild in the parade

There she goes, Luli, Queen of Poros and  Queen of my blog.  Dressed in the traditional costume of a Poros woman

She'll be in the parade in October and after that we will have no-one to applaud. The last of the grandchildren would have flown the coop

The costumes are provided by the Lykeio (High School) 

Worn in the 1800s and early 1900s

Luli 2nd to last on the right

she was also the wreath hander-over to all the local important people as they approached the War Memorial

Mother and daughter

They represent almost 50 years of parading, dancing and reciting patriotic poems on this and a few other waterfronts

All the kids in that final class were in costume

Nels first, Christos the rowing coach, Poppi and friend dancing the hasapiko, a traditional greek folk dance.  The hasapiko,  'butcher's dance', originated in Constantinople, instigated by the Greek Butcher's Guild'

 

And just to show you how it was done in days of yore

Here is Danae, in the middle, dancing the same dance when she was at school.....a few, ahem, years ago. On Poros waterfront

Danae is my '28' year old daughter, mother of Poppi and Nels and  24 year old son, George

Forever young

At the going down of the sun 

The Navy Guard from Poros Naval School taking down the flag at sunset on the 25th, bringing the celebrations to an official end

It's also the name day of those named Vangelis (male) or Vangelia (female) so unofficial celebrations continue long after sunset