Wednesday, March 25th, was Greece's Independence Day. It marks the day in 1821 when the "bishop" (head of the church) in Patra began the long fight for independence from Turkey, who occupied Greece for over 400 years. It really took about another 100 years before the Turks left northern Greece and Greece became the country it is today. We went and watched the parade. This was a military unit that carried their skis. In a country as mountainous as Greece, that makes a lot of sense.

There were several different groups marching in their native costumes and many, many groups of school children who were dressed alike and marched along swinging their arms in unison. Lots of the girls were wearing high heels---I wondered how their feet felt at the end of the parade route.

A group of scout in uniform marching in the parade.

There were lots of Greek flags flying on Independence Day. Here's a sample from one apartment building.

We thought the grandkids might like to see this kitty all comfy in a secure spot on a window ledge in one of the monasteries. We thought it was a good things these buildings were monasteries and nunneries. Can you imagine trying to keep track of toddlers and little children at these heights?