Dear Friend,

We took a walk one day further up the mountain in Arfara to Agios Vasilios... the Church of Vasilios. This church, much like other small churches in the village, are just used for certain yearly celebrations such as name days. This church is open every year on the first of January to celebrate the name day for Vasili (Billy).

The road leading up to Agios Vasilios starts as one of the main forks in the village and splits off onto a much less used road going back to times when the village of Arfara was centered higher up the mountain. It's a slow walk in the summer heat, but once you reach the church, you see a view surrounded in olive and cypress trees and the only sound is a herd of sheep on the mountain trails. Kolya briefly interrupted the solitude with a short ring of the church bell. Church bells as I wrote before, are used to communicate with the villagers and a sharp continual ringing of the bell would signify fire. But, it is impossible of course for a child to visit Agios Vasilios and not ring the bell! On our January trip to Arfara, I had taken a picture of Kolya ringing the bell and sent it to one of my relatives. I quickly received an e-mail of his son ringing the same bell.

During our summer visit, we sat for a while longer and enjoyed the peacefulness and then headed a little further up the path to a significant spot that I will tell you more about in my next letter...

XOXO,

Karen June