Reviving Memories

I have given up watching television because I find that there is little that I really want to watch. However, I do have a large collection of DVDs and I find myself often watching these of an evening. It's a mixture of films and television series; some are recent and some are old.

I try to add a couple of DVDs to my collection each month so that I continue to add variety to what I have to view at any given time, and like the way that I can reread some books regularly because I enjoy them so much, so it is with the DVDs. I won't buy anything that I don't think that I will want to watch a number of times. Obviously I have made the odd mistake and bought something that wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped, but these purchases have been few and far between.

Recently I purchased the DVDs for the BBC television series Who Pays The Ferryman? This series, which is set on the island of Crete, was made in 1977 and I remember watching it when it was on television, and again when it was repeated. Unfortunately, the BBC haven't released this on DVD so I had to purchase it from Holland; it's in English with Dutch subtitles (which can be turned off, of course) and over the last couple of evenings I have watched all eight episodes.

Not only has it been a joy to watch a series that I enjoyed so much when it was first shown, but with the passing of more than 30 years since I saw it, I had forgotten much of the story so it has almost been like watching it for the first time. Only the music for the series which was written by one of the best known of the Greek composers of that time, Yannis Markopoulos, has remained in my memory all this time, and that is because I have heard it regularly over the last 20 years or so.

One of the sub-plots in the series takes place over the Easter weekend. The Greeks celebrate Easter with reverence, but also with great passion and enjoyment. Watching the DVDs has reminded me of the two Greek Easters that I have been lucky enough to have celebrated, not in Crete as in the series, but in Corfu, the place that is recognized by the Greeks as being the place to go to celebrate Greek Easter.

The first time was more than 20 years ago, when my husband and I made our first visit Corfu. We fell in love with the island and its people and we went there every year after that; it was also the place where my husband died. I still continued to visit Corfu after his death, and decided to go for Greek Easter again in 2004. When my mother died at the end of 2003, I asked my father whether he would like to come to Corfu with me for Greek Easter, so the two of us went there for Easter 2004. Because I knew what to expect this time, I was able to ensure that we were in the right places at the right times to see the spectacle of the processions on the various days and for the fireworks at midnight to mark Christ's resurrection.

It is incredible how clearly those memories returned while watching 'Who Pays The Ferryman?' and listening to its music, which like Zorba's Dance has been added to the repertoire of all Greek musicians and was heard regularly on my trips to Corfu. And what is perhaps more interesting, was how I was able to enjoy those memories with little of the sadness that I usually suffer these days when I think of either my husband or my parents and all the happy times that we had in Corfu.

It's Guy Fawkes Night And I'm Scared

As a child I absolutely hated fireworks which was a bit unfortunate because one of my cousins had his birthday on 5th November and we always had fireworks at his birthday parties.  Even sparklers frightened the life out of me so I would stay indoors with my aunt's dog while everyone else went outside to watch the display.  With age the fear disappeared and I enjoyed organized displays especially when my husband and I went to Florida and visited Disneyland and watched fantastic displays every night.

Some of the best displays that I have seen other than those at Disneyland have been when I have been in Corfu for Greek Easter.  The displays over the Old Fort in Corfu Town as midnight struck and Easter Sunday started were the climax of the moving service that had just taken place in the open air.  All those present light candles and greet those around them with the words 'Christ is risen'.  It is an amazing sight to see so many people gathered in the town for this celebration.

Living on my own, I find that I am now disturbed by the bangs of fireworks around me once again.  I don't have quite the fear that I had as a child, but I find it difficult enough to want to hide my head under a pillow.  I know that this fear is irrational, but I can't stop it.  All I can do is try to keep myself occupied so that I don't notice the noises around me.  Hopefully the noises won't carry on too late so that I can get to sleep at a reasonable hour because sleep is one of the things that I have been having problems with over the last week.

The strangest thing about this fear is that I love the smell that fills the air after a firework display.  There is something about the smell of the gunpowder that I enjoy much as one enjoys the smell of rain after a long hot spell.  Most peculiar, isn't it?

A Film I Love And Hate

I've just been watching Captain Corelli's Mandolin on television.  I first read the book not long after it was published, and it is a book that I have reread many times since that first occasion.  I probably read it a couple of times a year, and yet I never tire of it.  The film, however, leaves a lot to be desired.  To even say that it is based on the book is a travesty, as so much of the story is changed, but I still watch the film.  You may wonder why I do, as I am so disappointed by it; the answer is quite simple.

One of my favourite places on this Earth is the island of Corfu, more properly known as Kerkira.  It was while on holiday in Corfu that I read Captain Corelli's Mandolin for the first time, and was struck by the descriptions of the people and the scenery in the book.  It is set on the island of Kefalonia, which with Corfu is one of the Ionian Islands.  While I have never been to Kefalonia, I feel as though I know it intimately, the descriptions in the book, of the scenery, the people and their way of life, could so easily be about Corfu.

So, while I am watching the film, I am watching dances that are familiar, houses that are like many that I know, and the streets of the main town are reminiscent of those that are seen in Corfu.  But more reminiscent yet, are the cypress and the olive trees.  I may not like what has been done to the story, but the film does show the beauty of the Ionian Islands and watching it makes me feel as though I am there.