By Lyn Funnell
When we arrived in Corfu we discovered that they held Easter a week later than us.
Easter Saturday is their most important day and we were told about something that is unique to Corfu.
At the stroke of 11, all over Corfu, everyone throws red pots on the ground.
We hired a car and drove to Lefkimi early so that we could park easily.
When we lived in Corfu for a while when I was the Rep, Lefkimi was, quite honestly, a bit of a dump with a smelly river.
Now it’s a modern bustling town, but still with narrow streets and old houses.
The old meets the new successfully.
Parking easily and free, we went to a café next to the church and sat outside with drinks, watching the number of people gradually growing.
Red flags were hanging in the streets.
Red is the Corfu Easter colour. They don’t sell chocolate eggs. They dye hard-boiled eggs red.
We could see red pots of different sizes on the balconies, varying from tiny to huge!
A couple of ladies in National Costume walked around and posed for photos.
A quick trip to the loo, then we decided it was time to join the small crowd outside the church, some of who were clutching pots, opposite the houses with balconies.
Ladies and girls dressed in National Costume appeared on the balconies of the houses opposite the church, smiling and waving. As 11am approached, their smiles turned into cheeky grins
20260411_105913.mp4 – Google Drive
The church bells loudly began to ring at 11 and on the last peal, the pots were dropped over the balconies and people in the crowd dropped their pots on the ground.
We all waited for the big ones. And finally the biggest ones were smashed and everyone cheered. It took two of them to lift them.
Everyone rushed into the road to pick up pieces of pot. They’re supposed to be lucky.
The road was open again and mopeds and bikes drove over the pieces, making loud crunching noises.
We thought it was one of the funniest things that we’ve ever seen.
Afterwards, we went into the church which is magnificent. It’s amazing how ornate it is in a small town. Beautiful.
We walked along the road and there was a choir singing Greek music.
The people standing on the pottery shards watching all knew the words. What a lovely sound!
Granddaughter Isabella said that as Pottery rhymes with Lottery it might be a sign.
So when we got home, we all bought lottery tickets.
If you don’t hear from me again, Dear Readers, you’ll know why!
