Wedding!

Main pic – Maria looking gorgeous, and straight at me! Beside her is her dad and bottom right is Ioannis whom she is on her way to marry.

1st extra – Taken a moment before the main picture. In local weddings the groom's party, including his family and friends, walks from his house to the bride's house where she and her family and friends join in the procession and follow the groom's party to the church. Musicians leading the way.
The route from her house to the church involves the descent of School Street, which I blipped here. Now I understand why it was being so thoroughly cleaned, and now most likely you can understand why nobody ever attempts to drive up it. Reaching the bottom, Ioannis, flanked by his father and best man, pause for the official photographer sporting backpack.

2nd extra – Maria and her father reach the bottom of School Street and also pause for the photographer.

3rd extra – At the front of the church Maria stands to Ioannis' left. To Ioannis' right is his best man and beside him, Ioannis' mother and probably father too. To Maria's left stands her dad, and a little way to the side, Maria's mum comforting Maria and Ioannis' baby who will face the ordeal with the huge copper cauldron tomorrow.

4th extra – I have no idea why this ceremony is being performed by all three local Papas, but it is. Centre is kind Papa Alekos who is based at Glossa's main church of the Assumption and top dog in the local (North End) clergy. On the right hand side of the photograph is the very funny and cheeky locally bred Papa who is based in the village of Elios/Neo Klima. The first time we saw this priest perform he was blessing the extended dining area at Kostas' grill shop in Loutraki and pulling firecrackers from the pockets of his robes, lighting them, chucking them out of the window at passers-by and then ducking a bit. It is quite appalling that I don't know his name! His parents and siblings live round here and we have seen him waiting with his family at the olive press during the harvest. The younger Papa without spectacles on the left of the picture is relatively new here, less than ten years probably. He is based at the church of St Nikolaos on Loutraki with those eagles on the doors and is reputed to be about as fundamental as it is possible to be in the Orthodox church.

5th extra – Papa Alekos does a swishy thing with the pair of coronets (not sure that's the correct word). He holds them perpendicular to each other so that they form both a sphere as well as a cross and he makes the sign of the cross several times on both Ioannis and Maria. He uses both of their names a lot and I haven't a clue what he's saying but I guess he's telling them how devoted to one another they should be from now on to keep God happy. You can see the line-up here with best man bottom right and Maria's dad top left and baby back in push-chair.

6th extra – This is the part of the ceremony where I really have to stifle a snort because the best man is swapping coronets across the two heads and it reminds me for all the world of the 3 cup trick.

7th extra – Maria looking gorgeous again!

8th extra – And then after each of them has been force-fed wine and something that looks like cat-food, they have to gallop round the altar three times, each time led by a different priest. The little girls struggling with their buckets of rice whilst trying to make sure that Maria's train does not become a trip-hazard.