Droushia Jingle

I had some blog posts in hand at Christmas but when Elena passed away on 23rd December it all seemed a bit wrong to post and I did not feel it was appropriate but I actually remember that Claire, Mina and I called in to see her whilst we were out and about 'jingling' and she was in good form under the circumstances - it was the last time we had a right old laugh together.  If she is up there somewhere, or down there somewhere, with internet access she would be feeling cheated that she was missing out on reading some of these memories.  She was a big part of my life here in Droushia and I miss her...

Every Christmas we set aside an afternoon to visit all the establishments in the village and wish them a Merry Christmas - this is the Droushia Jingle - all comers are welcome but you must wear something Christmassy.  This year John and I had new Christmas tops to wear and John had splashed out on a spectacularly bright bow tie which would prove useful for finding our way home later that day.

We started, as we always do, at the Droushia Heights Hotel where the lure of the log fire is always great and the comfort of the sofas almost too much to make us move.  Not so many of our friends able to attend this year for a number of reasons but we ended up with 10 of us spreading the wealth.

It was a miserable afternoon weatherwise when we left Villa 10b - it started with that horrible drizzle and it was cold but we were prepared and in layers and nothing was going to stop us enjoying ourselves.

We did things slightly differently this year by organising that there would be food available at Cafe Vrisi so that people could pace themselves and line their stomachs.  We had pitta and chips which was a fine idea as we had six establishments to visit so it can sometimes get a bit messy.  I have to apologise to Bambos at O Stathmos for not taking any photographs there - not sure what happened - obviously enjoying myself too much!!  Have to thank John's mum for the wacky beer mats which provided quite a bit of entertainment en route.

Don't think our singing was up to much this year - but at least we had simple carols that everyone knew so we made some noise.  Here we are at the Akamas Cafe where we managed to clear the place - to be fair there was only one other person in there at the time and that was old Mr Kaponas who had probably hoped for a quiet afternoon.

There was a lovely fire at Christos's taverna - there always is when we go on the jingle and it is a shame the taverna isn't open more often because it is really lovely in there and she makes us so very welcome even though by the time we get there we are two if not three sheets to the wind!

Our final port of call was Kaponas Grill House where Eleni provided food and drink and was not going to charge us be we insisted she took money if only to give to her children. I had prepared some soup if anyone came back - so thanks to Roberto for being a good egg and being the only one who tried it - he said he liked it so much I gave him some to take home - Diana and John checked their eyelids for pinholes, Sean, Sharon, Louise, Hywel, Claire and Mina were sensible and went home.

Kronia Polla to the village and Kronia Polla to all our friends.