Blessing of the waters today – 6th of January – in Rhodes town, Mandraki harbour. It was such a nice spot right (next to Evaggelismos chruch) where I was sitting by the sea next to an old, friendly fisherman – Antonis. From here we could saw very well this exceptional event – which is called the Epiphany – and also sunbathing, because the Sun was shining so strongly today. I don’t know what this event exactly means to the people here, but for me it was something new, and yes: magical in a way. I loved the boats, the bells, the lovely kids around, the excitement of the people, the waves in front of my legs, the salty breeze of the sea and the comments of Antonis – the fisherman. 🙂 For me who come from a really different culture, this morning was colorful, fragrant, warm and cozy.  Crowds gathered today only to witness the competition of some determined swimmers for the ‘holy cross’ in the cold sea. It definetely had a power, and I could experience Mandraki with a really different energy. The scenery was amazing – of course, and really everytime I am so impressed by the beauty of this harbour…

9 o’clock in the morning the harbour was almost empty, because everybody was in Evaggelismos church at the ceremony. You can see the stage where the priests throw the cross from into the sea later on:

People were arriving to the church ceremony continuously:

Wherever there are crowds of people you will definetely find balloons…

More and more people were coming to the church…

… and started gathering by the harbour also…

Some boats arrived to the harbour too, some of them with tourists, to watch the event from the sea:

And finally the boat came with the swimmers:

It was full of people everywhere:

The boat of the lifeguards:

Many priests came at one point:

So the excited swimmers were preparing for the jump:

People helped them to find the cross in the water:

And finally it was found by the lucky one:

Everybody swam back to the boat…

… to take them out from the harbour:

And then, everybody went for a coffee in the beautiful sunny Rhodes! 🙂