Have you ever had an adventure in Greece?
It is not only during summer you may have an amazing adventure in Greece.
Many people all over the world visit Greece during summer in order to enjoy the beautiful islands, discover the sea with the clear, crystal, clean water, the sun and the beaches.
Most people believe that the only period they should visit Greece is during summer. It is true that summer is an ideal season to come and live your myth in Greece. But it is not the only period that someone should live an adventure in Greece.
Live a different adventure in Greece during Easter
An alternative way to live a true, unique and original adventure is visiting Greece during Orthodox Easter. Greek orthodox Easter is a very special and important religious event and its celebration is filled with rich Easter traditions.
To get a good taste of the celebration you have to visit some small cities or villages where original, authentic cultural events are taken place. During Easter holidays, Greek people escape from the big cities and travel to the country side in order to spend the holidays with their family. In many small picturesque villages, there is a big celebration accompanied with a traditional meal, dances, songs and a lot of “kefi“. The whole event is called “panegyri” and it is a “Must” activity to do while being in Greece during Easter.
To give you a taste of the celebration I present you some of the most important activities:
Holy (or Great) Thursday
It is the day which we dye red eggs.
Holy Friday
It is the day which women and children take flowers to the church to decorate the Epitaphio (the symbolic bier of Christ).
Holy Saturday
It is the apotheosis of the Holy week. The midnight Service of the Resurrection is an occasion attended by everyone who is able, including children, each holding a white candle. At midnight Young people shoot off fireworks and just after midnight most families leave the church and go all together at home where they have a big, rich meal. During that meal we break and eat the red eggs !
Easter
It is the day of the Greek Easter lamp. Lamb on the spit (Arni Sti Souvla) is the traditional Greek way of serving lamb at Easter – Pascha. Usually this is the only time of year in Greece that families will prepare lamb this way.
Your Greek Easter adventure in Greece becomes more special in Chios Island
If you visit Chios Island during Easter you are going to have an unforgettable experience. That is because Chios is famous for its special event which is called “The rocket war“. The rocket war is taken place on Holy Saturday.
The Rocket war is a war between two main churches of Chios Island. Each church is represented by a group of people. They build manually the rockets during the whole year. On Holy Saturday, the war of rockets between the two churches starts at midnight. The spectacle is amazing and it is one of the most spectacular and original events in Greece. Many tourists all over Greece but also foreigners visit the island to discover and live this particular event.
To be honest with you, I have never been in that event in my life. But 2012 is the year of big changes so I decided to live this unique experience.
Tomorrow night is the big night and I feel really excited with the idea. I will be glad to share with you the whole experience. I hope you took a good image on Greek Orthodox Easter and why it is the number one adventure in Greece you should definitely have one day.
Did you know all that Greek traditions?
Do you have traditions of that kind in your home country?
Please, feel free to share your experiences.
I know that Greeks have a lot of different traditions. We have a very dear family friend that was born and raised in Greece. She just went back to their island for a visit and spent 10 days there. I think it’s the first time she’s been back since her husband passed away a couple years ago.
She’s shared some of their traditions and of course I’ve been to her son’s wedding and their first child’s baptism in the Greek Orthodox church.
I have a question for you Lenia and maybe you can answer this one. Their son was baptized in the Greek Orthodox church. Here in the US, normally the child is baptized in the mother’s church so I was really curious as to why it was done that way. Does it have anything to do with him being a boy? I mean we all believe in God so I was really kind of confused about that. Maybe it’s just up to each individual’s families beliefs.
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Hi Adrienne,
I am sure your friend shared with you many traditions and habits of Greeks. It is a great thing to discover another culture, don’t you think? I am always excited to meet people from different countries and learn about their tradition.
About your question, I am not sure that I have the answer. In my opinion that has nothing to do with him being a boy. I know that in Greece, the first child (especially if the child is a son) usually takes the name of his father’s father. But I am not sure that there is a tradition about where he is baptized. I think that sometimes Greeks insist a lot to apply their habits and as you mention some families have their own beliefs.
For instance, another habit we have in Greece is related to the place of the wedding. In some Greek cities the tradition says that the wedding has to be done in the groom’s church but in some other Greek cities (such as in Chios Island) it has to be done in the bride’s church.
I believe that when we are talking about international couples (couples that the man and woman come from different countries) we need to be tolerant and respect the traditions of each side.
Thank you very much for sharing with me your experience and thoughts.
Have a great day.
Lenia recently posted..My Adventure in Greece and How to Define Your Adventure
Well they did get married in his church, their first born son did take his father’s name and they did baptize him in his church. Here in the US, it’s customary to get married in the brides church because their family pays for the wedding. It’s also customary to baptize the child in the woman’s church but hopefully they are both of the same religion. She’s definitely not Greek Orthodox but I’m sure she just wants to respect their wishes as well.
Thanks Lenia.
Adrienne recently posted..Blogging Community To The Rescue
Hi Adrienne,
Oh I see what you mean. I guess his family insists to do what they want! Unfortunately that may happen. But it depends on the family.
Your comment is very interesting because I discover the habits you have in the US. In Greece, both families usually pay for the wedding and not the couple (bride and groom). Sometimes that becomes frustrating because parents invite people they know but that doesn’t necessarily means that the couple also knows them. So, it happens to have in your wedding people you have never met and spoken in your life just because your parents wanted to invite them!
In my island, sometimes the wedding is a big party done only for the happiness of parents. That means they choose everything and the couple don’t even have the right to give an opinion. To be honest, I don’t like that at all and I would like to avoid all that stuff in my wedding. Things get more complicated if we are talking for an international couple. My opinion is that habits and traditions from both sides have to some point be respected.
Thank you for this great comment.
have a great week!
Lenia
Pretty interesting learning about all these customs + baptisms + naming conventions
Jason “J-Ryze” Fonceca recently posted..Watch More TV And Succeed – Community
haha Jason, there are plenty of them here in Greece. I don’t even know all of them as I had been living abroad for almost 6 years! But my parents know and want to respect all of them…I am not always 100% aligned
Lenia recently posted..My Adventure in Greece and How to Define Your Adventure
HI Lenia,
I wasn’t aware of the Greek traditions, but they sound intriguing
I’ve never really thought about visiting Greece but it looks like a very pretty place from the other pictures I have seen here on your blog.
Hope you had a blessed Easter!
Linda
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Hi Linda,
I am glad to see that you find Greek traditions intriguing.
I also thank you for the good comment you make about Greece. Lately we don’t have many positive comments for Greece not because the country isn’t beautiful but because of its bad financial condition. But there are too different topics, isn’t it?
Well I had a great Easter and I will soon upload a new article with my first video which will be about the rocket war. I just would like to give a view of this cultural event.
Thank you for your comment Linda.
Have a great week.
Lenia
Lenia recently posted..My Adventure in Greece and How to Define Your Adventure
I’ve never been to Greece before, but I kind of knew about some of these adventures. I can see why people would want to visit in the summer for the islands since I’ve heard they are really great. But from what you have written here, it sounds as if you’re only getting a part of what Greece has to offer. Thanks for sharing this.
Steve recently posted..Are You Remarkable or Forgettable?
Hi Steve,
First of all, welcome to my blog. Thank you very much for this kind comment about Greece and its traditions. I have been living for a long time in France and I had the feeling that people visit Greece inly for its islands.
Off course, the islands are greats but I believe that as in every other country there are tips that are not commonly known but they can give an original experience to visitors. That is the reason why i decided to share this article.
Thank you very much for your comment. See you in your blog
Have a great week.
Lenia
Lenia recently posted..My Adventure in Greece and How to Define Your Adventure
Lenia,
My favorite places to visit are places with history. Preferably thousands of years of history and traditions. It’s one of the reasons why i loved living in Japan.
I had no idea about the Greek culture. this is such a treat because now i have a new plaace i want to visit with the kids.
ps
that picutre of thel lamb roasting makes me hungry
Annie Andre recently posted..Worlds Best Lover: Are The French The Hottest Lovers? Adventures In France #5
Hi Annie,
I am sorry for my late answer to your comment!
I haven’t been in Japan yet but is is certainly one of my next destinations.
If you really like culture, Greece is definitely a great destination for you and your familly. There are numerous cultural events and traditions during the year. I think you would love!
Many of the traditions are related to the religion while others comes from our history.
I hope you find your way to visit Greece and discover more about its culture
Thank you very much for your comment
Ps haha, really? To tell you the truth, lamp is not my favorite type of meat but the whole party around the “lamp roasting” is very funny
See you!
Hi Lenia,
Thank you so much for informing us on Greek traditions over the Easter period. I found your post very interesting and it made me feel like going to Greece.
Let’s see. I might make a brief visit with my friend over the summer. It is a land with such great history and culture.
Hiten recently posted..Five Personal Development Steps To Building A New Level of Self Awareness
Hi Hiten!
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I thought it would be a good idea to present an aspect of Greek culture that is not very well known. I am happy to see that you liked the post and the information provided.
You can check out the video I prepared about the great experience of Rocket War.
I hope you will find the way to visit some places in Greece. Feel free to ask me tips. I would be glad to help you if I can.
Enjoy your day and see you soon.
Lenia
Lenia recently posted..A You Tube Video For An Original Adventure In Greece
Hiten, great to see you around the ‘net
Maybe we’ll both end up in Greece 
Jason “J-Ryze” Fonceca recently posted..Watch More TV And Succeed – Community
What an incredible look at a new way to experience Greece. Thanks Lenia!
The Chios Island rocket war sounds crazy cool, I’d love to hear your experience of it
Jason “J-Ryze” Fonceca recently posted..Watch More TV And Succeed – Community
Hi Jason!
I know that these kind of Greek experiences are not commonly known and I would like to show you another aspect of Greeks…not just the “OPA” one
If you want to discover the rocket war, I invite you to watch the Your Tube video I prepared in the next post. It is funny
Lenia recently posted..A You Tube Video For An Original Adventure In Greece