HALE STORM IN THIS YEARS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIP

This was one of the strangest backgammon championships of Azogires history as father and daughter got first and second prizes.

It was a great success with 13 players from 9 diferent countries and over 30 spectators throughout the day. The competition was followed by a meal of lamb and potatoes in the oven served with salad and tzatziki and it was sponsored by David Hale and Martin Strellow both known professional players.

First prize winner was David Hale, second prize winner was Jessica Hale...Yes his daughter from England. The third prize winner was our one and only Sarkis from Lebanon, a man who plays with passion, not only in life, but also in backgammon.

This was the summer International Tournament in memory of Andrew Millar, one of the founders of the Azogires Backgammon championship. The cup was given to the Hales and they must return it next year for the next Champion to take home. The folks from the Alpha Cafe offered bottles of their very own raki as prizes to the winners, but as they declined to take them we gave them bottles of our very own Olive oil instead.

We wish everyone a good summer and hope to see you all on the next tournament in Azogires .

The Russian Church

How did a Russian Church end up in Azogires?

The church was built in memory of a man who, before his death, had requested it be built in its present location. The church was designed by the man’s brother and his family arranged for his wishes to be fulfilled and the church built. The original plan was to call it Agios Eftixis but since there was already a church in the area with the same name, the local priest prevailed on the benefactors to change the name.

The priest persuaded them to adopt the current name for the church because while he had been visiting the grave of that saint in Euboia, where the body of the saint who died in 1740 is said to lie uncorrupted, he allegedly saw a “possessed” boy being cured. He says he saw the boy being brought to the tomb of the saint and while the boy was put on the grave he started floating a few centimetres above the floor and acting in a crazy manner. When the boy left the church he was fine and cured. On the strength of this the priest persuaded the family to name the church after St John the Russian.

More details of St John the Russian can be found here:

http://www.roca.org/OA/39/39g.htm

Although there was apparently no record of there previously having been a church on the site of the Russian church, during the construction three graves were unearthed, one of which was believed to have been a Byzantine grave with a plastered interior.

End of June flowers

The temperature is almost a high as it is in London at the moment (Paleochora today, 30th June, max 28.5 degrees; west London max 30.2 degrees) but there's more flowers here than there are at the Met.Office station at Heathrow!

Flowers of Azogires

Sorry for the bit of a delay since the last post but here we go...a selection of the local flowers currently to be seen in and around Azogires.

Help to identify them from any botanists out there would be most gratefully received!

Olive Grafting

Olive grafting

This is what I have been doing recently. We do this grafting with olive trees every April/May.

We go to a wild olive tree that does not make fruit and we graft onto it a tamed one. This allows us to make use of the strength of the wild olive root stock while choosing the type of olive we want.

The tools used are shown above.

A cut is made in the bark of the wild tree and into that slot we insert a sprig of the type of olive we want to grow, as is shown in the example above, prepared and photographed in the Alfa Kafenion. Then we wrap the graft in string very tight and we seal it with black earth - mavropiles. This particular soil is like cement, it seals almost anything and we used to make rooftops from it in the old days - water can not get through which is why we use it to graft. By keeping out the air and the water the tree survives. This is called kentrisma and we do it with all trees.

More Aloni

The Koukoutakis aloni by Alfa Hotel is not the only one in the vicinity. Up the road past the Hotel and in front of the church of Agios Theodoru is another fine specimen of an aloni.

The church itself is built the wrong way round. Instead of facing East, as is customary in all Orthodox churches, Agios Theodoru is built facing North East. If you look inside carefully, you will see the remains of some fine frescoes, possibly from the famous frescoe painter Ioanis Pagomenos. There is also a 1000 year old cemetery below the current one. Just below the chuch walls are the remains of a small pirgos, a small watch tower, where, in Venittian days, the police would sit to watch the main road which ran by here then.

Since the main road used to go by here and because it was such a wide flat area that could hold many people, according to local stories, it was a place of gathering and secret speeches in the night.

It's a place where they once shot a Turk who was dumping his rubbish below onto a house of a Christian. The Christian got pissed off, got his musket out and and blew the Turk away!

On the other side of the clearing, heading down toward the Alfa Hotel by the pathway, are the remains of Kaouris Kafe; all the Turks used to gather there and below this is the cursed house -a haunted house where the children would die in the night until my great grandmother, Aleka, broke the spell by 'purchasing' one child. Also here is the position called kathia - meaning a sit down - where the hunters would sit on a moonlight night to hunt hares.

Many people have claimed to have seen a ghost here in the evenings while they were out hunting for hares and rabbits. Some of the sightings have been put down to pranksters who were caught because they boasted about it later in the kafenion but most of the ghost sightings have never been solved - leaving the villagers wondering if Agioss Theodoru is haunted? (It's right by the village cemetery and if you can't get a ghost there where would you get one?)

And now for something completely different....

There is probably a story behind this olive tree but I don't know what it is just yet.....

YET ANOTHER BACKGAMMON COMPETION IN AZOGIRES

Yes a third competition for this Winter! They can't get enough of it! Backgammon is running in their veins and there is nothing they can do about it.

First prize Winner was David Hale from the UK, second prize went to Suzy from Germany - you may all know her from the Palechora Camping Restaurant - and third prize, finally an Azogirian, our very own Horst Schaab. At last, after what seems like an age, (well it would if you spent your time watching people play backgammon) Azogires has a Champion!

The night before the backgammon, Mr Arthur Jarvis, an Azogires resident, was walking down the dark road when he noticed something jumping in front of him. Not knowing what it was, he immediately he took a defensive position as he was trained to do in the Military, and it came out from the shadows...............It was a Frog.

He aproached and realized that it was not like other frogs we have, so he picked it up and brought it down to the Cafe.

Anybody any ideas as to what sort of frog it is? If you do, please let us know.

PS. The frog was returned to the bushes where it was found.

CHRISTMAS EVE IN AZOGIRES

It was a wonderful early evening with 6 or 7 diferent types of Christmas puddings and 5 diferent main dishes. Why do I mention the sweets first?? Well because they were International sweets and we had Irish, German, English and even Greek goodies on that table accompanied by nice soft Christmas music and great company. Eeveryone there enjoyed themselves and all promised to return next year for this traditional party. Unfortunately some people that we would have wanted to be there were unable to make it for various reasons.

However, we wish everyone Merry Christmas And a Happy NewYear.

For this coming Year we wish you all happiness, health and prosperity.

Remember, in spite of the economic crisis that may not allow many people to make the vacation they wanted to this summer, no matter what happens keep on smiling ! ......And don't forget, Azogires means 'life for ever' - that's our logo.

Azogires Raki - Brings the dead to life again!

The medicinal properties of Azogires Raki were demonstrated yet again in Carshalton, South London, on 27 December 2008.

As part of the by now world infamous "Isn't bloody xmas over yet?" Tourette by The (Insert Name Here) Mummers, The Turkish Knight, having been killed by St George in a most dastardly fashion, was brought back to life by a generous tot of Azogires Village Raki.

After three such killings and rebirths, each involving the consumption of far too much Azogires Raki, the Turkish Knight was last seen skipping down Carshalton High Street waving a plastic chicken around his head and singing a very rude song about a goat.

[The (Insert Name Here) Mummers are a group of men based in South London, who perform traditional English Mumming plays and whose avowed intent is to take mumming out of the schools and put it back in the gutter where it belongs. Their association with Azogires goes back as far as last Tuesday and they weren't invited to the Raki making party either.]

BREWING RAKI IN AZOGIRES

As in every previous year for the past 100 years, the distillary again did its magic in Azogires. For one more time the traditions were honoured, for one more time the Raki was made and for one more time everybody got pissed drunk.

That's what it's all about ???

Not quite; it's about getting together, having fun, enjoying yourselves and learning more about patience. Patience because that's what's required while the Raki comes out drip by drip by drip - that's what it's all about. In the meantime we cook potatoes, chestnuts, meat and even marshmellows - as my grandfather used to say "You can't eat on an empty stomach. " Or was it the other way round? Doesn't really matter, what matters is to be there with friends and family enjoying the mystical fumes and aromas coming from the pot.