We went ashore on the Sunday morning and were relieved to find the small supermarket was open, stocks of beer, wine and food were replenished as all were running somewhat low and we knew we had strong winds to hide from in the next few days.

On Sunday evening we decided to conserve our stores and eat ashore. Aliki is somewhat touristy but not unpleasantly so. They are building a large extention to the harbour wall which will provide more shelter, but it's a long way from finished. We strolled along the quay and chose to have a beer at a taverna near the beach, noticing as we sat down that there were microphones and amplification equipment being set up opposite. We asked the waitress who told us there was a local festival that night to celebrate the 'St Jean'. They make wreaths of local flowers on the 1st of May and let them dry, then on the 23rd June they make a bonfire on the beach, burn the wreaths and it's the tradition to jump over the bonfire. With Carolyn's French links we are well aware of the French festivities for 'Saint Jean' on the same day which involve burning things so we decided to stay and watch.
The food was good with taramasalata and a local dish of peas and potatoes in a tomatoe sauce which was nice for starters and a 'special pizza' with homemade dough - one of the best we have found in Greece. (We haven't found many decent pizzas actually, pizza is not a major food here).

Festivities at Aliki

We had to wait until 21.30 before anything happened, but after speeches (also in English and French) there was a display of local dancing and then they lit the fires on the beach and mostly young men were jumping over the flames. They also launched the small fishing boats and lit red flares to illuminate the proceedings. Unfortunately the crowds had simply flooded to stand in front of our table so what started as a front row seat became a 'see nothing seat' and we were limited to peering over heads.
An interesting evening anyway.

Main Photo: The Skipper was pleased with his pizza!