.September 2009 Page 1 2 3
Tuesday 1st - A glorious day yesterday. A fresh breeze, warm sunshine, no rain as forecast and some clearing views. Just brilliant! The island is definitely less occupied now too, the traffic has died down and there's an overall more relaxed feeling around the place.

Friday 4th - Hot September days with approaching Autumn skies. A few times over the past few days, the skies have looked as if rain was to come, but after washing across the moon a few times, the mornings have been all clear again. There are still many visitors around, but the numbers are much more manageable. It's a really great month! Right - Something big at Dexa Bay. Below - One of the few remaining traditional Cafes in the back streets of Vathy
 
 
 
Below - Around Stavros Plateia and Sotiros church during midday. A few old men at the local Kafeneion, a moped here and there on its way down to Polis Beach, locals going about their daily chores and the day heating up, although it seemed a little overcast earlier that morning.
 
The village square in Greece is paramount to the local pub in the UK/Oz etc. It's the place where adults and children congregate at the parks or the Cafes around the perimeter of the Square. It's a rare occurrence for the village square to be without a church. The church is still at the core of the Greek psyche, even the non-practicing Orthodox, adhere to the religious rituals practiced by their communities for centuries.
Ithaca Village
Saturday 5th - The season isn't over, but Giorgos from Spavento Bar wouldn't miss the opportunity to celebrate his birthday with all his family present. Vanna from Oasis kept the good food and beers coming to keep the brows cool under the midday heat.
Hronia Polla Giorgo!
Sunday 6th - After a little accident, I'm forced to write with my left hand only, so no big write-ups for the next couple of days, but you know what they say... A picture tells a thousand words... maybe 5 - 10 in this case.
 
Monday 7th - Last night the skies over the mainland were lit up by some serious storms and lightning, but there were no rumbles on Ithaki until around 4am when the skies opened up and dropped a river of rain all over the island for around 2 hours. Heavy and relentless. By dawn, it had all but cleared up and we could all enjoy another blue-sky day. With the smell of wet earth all around, birds came out of nowhere to sing in the morning, a daybreak just too good to miss.
 
The music didn't stop with the birds. For lunch at Penelope Restaurant in Frikes, song birds brightened up the lunch shift with traditional Greek song over some local wine and meze. Stathi (the music man and Mr. Penelope) joined in the song touting a new & shorter hair style, just the ticket for these hot summer days. Oh, I love September on Ithaca. The personalities have time to come out again now the August rush is beginning to be just a memory.
Now at 7.30pm, the skies are again looking for trouble, and if last nights' performance is anything to go by, we will probably see some more rain overnight. The rain, and todays freshening wind, has done much to clear the humidity and stickiness from the atmosphere, a humidity that had made for some sleepless and restless nights. Todays clearer air and crispy freshness had everyone a little more motivated to get up and move.
 
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