A Bit of a Knees-Up

My other, nay better half (best not get that wrong, eh?) is always on the lookout for an opportunity to strut her stuff on the dance floor. Not your modern rubbish of course. No, she wants to dance Greek steps to traditional Greek music. But the fact is, we don't often actually get to an event, for all kinds of reasons.

But last night, just for a change, it worked out OK. There was a Greek Festival being held slap bang in the centre of Pefkos and it was primarily in aid of the fairly new and still developing website mypefkos.com. It was due to kick off at around 9.30pm and, when we arrived at around a quarter to ten it was already in full swing.

As is the usual sequence at such soirées, the first hour or so consists of a dance troup or two doing various dances from various islands in their full traditional regalia. This bit is frustrating for the likes of my wife, since she's itching to get up there. She's not a show off. She just has it in her blood and wild horses wouldn't keep her in her seat if and when the appropriate opportunity arises, which it did a little later. But at this time the floor's surrounded by a thick layer of tourists all busily clicking away with their iPads, phones and cameras. Standing room only for the meantime.

After all the formal stuff is out of the way, the profile of the audience can be seen to change. The tourists drift away, ever enticed by the lure of a bar with a big TV screen showing the current sporting event, or simply the desire to flop down in a comfy chair with another drink. But, as the evening wears on the locals emerge from the woodwork - often in their best bib and tucker and, although the numbers are a little less, the dance floor grows ever busier with people who were brought up on this stuff deftly stepping around the floor in ever-lengthening lines, exhibiting very clearly the fact that in all likelyhood they were doing these steps before they could talk.

By 11.30pm or so the crowd around the periphery had noticeably thinned, it was much easier to get a seat at a table, but the audience had become 80% Greeks of all ages. Men and women would approach their group's table laden with souvlaki for everyone and staff were prowling the audience with cardboard boxes full of chilled beer in cans. The numbers stabilize now and even begin to increase as midnight passes and the band is really cooking. Had I not had to get up on Monday morning to do another Lazy Day Cruise, we'd have stayed to the end, which would have been around 4.00am I'd guess.

So, here's a pictorial record of the proceedings. My better half is clearly visible in a number of these, oddly enough...

That's my girl, with her back to me!

I'm ready with the water bottle as she passes...

The fella with the shorts blows my comment about "best bib and tucker" out of the water doesn't he.

Who needs gyms when you can have a workout like this? Yup, she's still out there.

The most I've seen of her all night.

Mind you, I did get up a few times myself. No chance you're gonna see any photos of THAT though!