Barcelona and Greece 2014: Wednesday (A wedding and a Christening)
So this morning we got breakfast at hotel – we weren’t the only people in the restaurant this time...there was one other family!
Then as we weren’t sure what the exact plans were for the wedding and other festivities we decided to have a lazy morning in the hotel.
Around 1pm we started to get ready – the wedding was at 3 in a nearby town called Farkadona and we weren’t exactly sure we would find the venue easily so we left around 1.30. The sat nav worked perfectly and we arrived far too early....! We checked that we were in the right place and then waited in the car for everyone else to arrive.
The wedding was a civil ceremony as Becky isn’t Greek Orthodox and it was much shorter than we had anticipated....! Evidently in Greek weddings the officiate (in this case the Mayor) does most of the talking and the Bride and Groom say very little.
After the short ceremony we drove back to George’s mum’s house in Grizano – there was lots of honking along the way which would appear to be traditional in Greece as lots of people were waving at us as we drove through the village.
(I haven't posted any pictures of the wedding as I haven't asked the couple for permission.)
We had some Greek sweeties and drinks at the house whilst we waited for the Christening which was not until 7pm due to some timing issues (it was St George’s Day which is widely celebrated in Greece).
Whilst we were there it was discovered that some of the essentials for the children (bottles etc) had been left at Becky & George’s accommodation in Trikala so Rob and Chris (one of the other friends) went back to pick the stuff up.
There was lots of Greek dancing and some odd rituals (which we didn’t really understand!). Rob and Chris returned and Becky and George headed to the Christening venue to get some photos taken. Around 6.30 we all made the trip up to the Monastery.
The Monastery was built in the 1700s (I think) and shockingly I didn’t get a photo of the whole building or the interior :(
We met a guy who we had seen earlier at the Wedding and he kindly explained some of the ceremony to us (as it was all in Greek).
During the ceremony we had to pin these on our outfits – one for each of the 2 children that were being christened.
As expected the ceremony was quite long (around 1 hour) and the children found it quite tough :( Thankfully once it was over they both perked up :)
We also had more Greek sweeties before heading back to the village for the reception.
So, back down to the village and we headed to the Taverna for the reception. We somehow ended up on the top table with the family. We tried to resist but the Greek’s insisted that we must be family as we had travelled across for the wedding (awkward...!)
We weren’t sure what to expect for food but we started with Greek salad, bread and grilled aubergine which was lovely.
Then we had souvlaki with chips (which seemed odd but seems to be how it is served) which was AMAZING!!!!!! I’m not normally a big fan but this was delicious...! I would definitely go back just to get some more souvlaki :)
This was followed by much more Greek dancing and extremely loud music....! Emma and I did our childcare bit and took care of Ellie who was getting tired so we walked her around the village in her pushchair and managed to get her to sleep :)
Later Rob and I got Sofia to sleep by driving her around the village in her car seat :)
As the evening passed a few people left and around midnight we were drinking coffee outside....the Greeks said it was cold! The last few guests left around 1am so we helped get the kids in the car and popped all the bits in the car before heading back to Larissa.
We had a slight sat nav issue which took us on a road which was under construction...! Managed to get back on the actual road and successfully returned to our hotel around 2.30am!
Then as we weren’t sure what the exact plans were for the wedding and other festivities we decided to have a lazy morning in the hotel.
Around 1pm we started to get ready – the wedding was at 3 in a nearby town called Farkadona and we weren’t exactly sure we would find the venue easily so we left around 1.30. The sat nav worked perfectly and we arrived far too early....! We checked that we were in the right place and then waited in the car for everyone else to arrive.
The wedding was a civil ceremony as Becky isn’t Greek Orthodox and it was much shorter than we had anticipated....! Evidently in Greek weddings the officiate (in this case the Mayor) does most of the talking and the Bride and Groom say very little.
After the short ceremony we drove back to George’s mum’s house in Grizano – there was lots of honking along the way which would appear to be traditional in Greece as lots of people were waving at us as we drove through the village.
(I haven't posted any pictures of the wedding as I haven't asked the couple for permission.)
We had some Greek sweeties and drinks at the house whilst we waited for the Christening which was not until 7pm due to some timing issues (it was St George’s Day which is widely celebrated in Greece).
Whilst we were there it was discovered that some of the essentials for the children (bottles etc) had been left at Becky & George’s accommodation in Trikala so Rob and Chris (one of the other friends) went back to pick the stuff up.
There was lots of Greek dancing and some odd rituals (which we didn’t really understand!). Rob and Chris returned and Becky and George headed to the Christening venue to get some photos taken. Around 6.30 we all made the trip up to the Monastery.
The Monastery was built in the 1700s (I think) and shockingly I didn’t get a photo of the whole building or the interior :(
During the ceremony we had to pin these on our outfits – one for each of the 2 children that were being christened.
As expected the ceremony was quite long (around 1 hour) and the children found it quite tough :( Thankfully once it was over they both perked up :)
We also had more Greek sweeties before heading back to the village for the reception.
 |
| Favours - not the sweeties (I forgot to take piccy's) |
So, back down to the village and we headed to the Taverna for the reception. We somehow ended up on the top table with the family. We tried to resist but the Greek’s insisted that we must be family as we had travelled across for the wedding (awkward...!)
We weren’t sure what to expect for food but we started with Greek salad, bread and grilled aubergine which was lovely.
Then we had souvlaki with chips (which seemed odd but seems to be how it is served) which was AMAZING!!!!!! I’m not normally a big fan but this was delicious...! I would definitely go back just to get some more souvlaki :)
This was followed by much more Greek dancing and extremely loud music....! Emma and I did our childcare bit and took care of Ellie who was getting tired so we walked her around the village in her pushchair and managed to get her to sleep :)
Later Rob and I got Sofia to sleep by driving her around the village in her car seat :)
As the evening passed a few people left and around midnight we were drinking coffee outside....the Greeks said it was cold! The last few guests left around 1am so we helped get the kids in the car and popped all the bits in the car before heading back to Larissa.
We had a slight sat nav issue which took us on a road which was under construction...! Managed to get back on the actual road and successfully returned to our hotel around 2.30am!
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