Halki in Pictures

Last Friday, June 24th, on the Halki trip, I took the camera again and so, here below are some more Halki moods. Hope you like them...

(As usual, clicking on any of the pics will open it in a larger window)

Above: 

A forest of Agave flower stalks, sadly signifying that these particular plants will soon die, after probably 20 years of growing.

Above:

This is the bay where there is a very pleasant beach to the right, which is very safe for bathing and sports the required taverna too!

The couple in the pic above were Jean & Phil Sibley, who have just contacted me by e-mail since arriving home in the UK. I remember them well, but didn't ask them their names at the time. So, since Jean's now been in touch, I'm happy to name-check them here. Especially since they haven't taken legal action since discovering their photo on my blog!!

Above:

The Traditional House of Halki. Well worth a visit and signposted from the harbour.
Regarding the spelling, see text at the end of this post.

Above:

This woman was scaling fish, a traditional task going back for centuries. What brought me down to the modern day with a bump was the fact that, whilst carrying on a conversation with someone several metres away, she exclaimed at one point: "Tell her to put it on Facebook!"

 The above pic features two of my guests on the excursion. A lovely couple of Grecophiles from Poole in Dorset, UK, called Maggie & Phil. I was trying to remember who Maggie reminded me of. Then it came to me, didn't she once play the lead in "To The Manor Born"?

They used to have a place in Northern France, but having chatted with them about their impressions of Rhodes & Halki in particular, I'd say it's only a matter of time...

Why "Halki" and not "Chalki"?

Simple: Τhe Greeks read the "ch" as a gutteral "H." We Brits see it and say "chalkey" as in "chalk" with the "i" sounding like the double "e" in "see." 

The correct pronunciation is "Hal'key". With the "Hal" bit sounding like the computer's name in the movie 2001 a Space Odyssey.

So this is why I spell it, as do many Greeks too, without the "c". Although, just to confuse everyone, sometimes the Greeks will spell it "Chalki" when using the Roman alphabet (as is the case with the signs for the Halki Traditional House). The Greek spelling is Χάλκη. This is because the "x" in Greek is the gutteral "H" and if you want a real "X" (as in "taxi") you use "Ξ" in upper case or "ξ" lower case. 

Of course, you already know that the "η" is like an English "i"!

Still awake? Thought not!

Also, check out this post too.