Its Beirut !!!!

Well Easter arrived with a bang....or several hundred actually...The church service started around 11pm and as it continued the bells got more and more urgent and soon there was a big queue to get into the church. At midnight everyone came out and the bonfire with the effigy of Judas Iscariot was lit. Someone obviously used a bit of poetic licence when dressing him, as I don't think sunglasses and a glass of beer are the regulation accessories! As the bonfire went up (fed with what looked like whole bushes) the bangers and mortar bombs reached a level where you could no longer hear them, you felt them with your whole body. As a finale Manolis had saved the biggest bomb of the lot and even the locals nearly had heart attacks!!! You can maybe see on the (not very good) photos the smoke surrounding Judas is not from the fire, but from the mortar bombs.
After this the priest brings out a flame which has been passed along from one flown to Greece from Constantinople and everyone lights their candle from it. Some of the candles are plain and some are very ornately decorated, there are even childrens ones with Spongebob squarepants on. The trick now is to walk home, with your candle still lit and make a cross in the smoke above the entrance to your house. This is to bring good fortune for the next year.
I lit my candle, got it home and made a really big, strong cross in smoke over the door, so I am assured a wonderful year now!!!!