Ithaca Carnival

peterpecksen

3 years ago

We were very fortunate to be able to be in Vathi for the big Carnival parade. OK, maybe big is a bit of an overstatement. However it is obviously an important event for the island as winter wraps up and the preparations for summer start.

It was fun to see the obvious effort that went into the children’s costumes as well as seeing the mothers right in there with them in full costume.

And who knew that the island has their own marching band. The Drum Major got a smile from everyone.

The thing that really struck me about the Carnival gathering is that it is the first time we really saw families gathered together since we have been here. Usually we had only seen men gathered together or having coffee in small groups. It was nice to see parents together with their children enjoying the day.

As we are in our final week on Ithaca we also had to make sure we saw the last of the required sights on the island. The weather cooperated as we headed out to Kioni to check out the windmills. There are around 20 of these short round towers on the island, though these are some of the best preserved on Ithaca.

As we were tromping around trying to get to the windmills, we took a wrong turn initially, we met this gorgeous beast. He was not too thrilled to see us and made it very clear with body language and snorting. He was good enough to pose nicely for me before we quickly exited his domain.

The last beach we wanted to check out was Afales Beach right near our house. Not an easy beach to walk on, but it has beautiful views across the bay.

We have very much enjoyed our time house sitting here on Ithaca. Between car repairs, sick animals, torrential rains, and dodgy internet it has provided the challenges we needed to stay fresh and that, quite honestly, is way more important than most people are aware. Even after the challenges our time here has been great. The people have welcomed us and helped us every time we needed it. The weather has been fantastic considering the time of year and the animals we were fortunate enough to care for have left us with some wonderful memories and stories. Thank you Ithaca.

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