I told you women are ... strange, right? Well, Lena (being a woman) is compulsive, if she loves something, she just can't stay away from it. So near the end of August, she took advantage of our eldest son, who came visit us with his girlfriend and took us again to Kefalonia. Supposedly she wanted the kids to enjoy the beauty of the island, but I know that deep inside, it was her who wanted to go back and she grabbed the opportunity.
So the Caradimas family engaged in another trip and here are some family pictures.
The proud mother and her three sons, on the ship, at the port of Killini.
Lena, Sergei (our eldest son), Lena's mother and Sergei's girlfriend, Julia.
Titanic?!?!?!
Lena with Julia and Jim.
Alex was watching some cartoon videos when he fall asleep. Picture illumination provided by the MacBook screen.
That's where the kids spend most of their time.
View of the southern part of Kefalonia.
Me with Sergei. He is the ... thin one.
The three kids with a friend of Sergei.
Spartia beach. When we left, that wooden pole was not standing up. Alex made sure that it was no longer spoiling the looks of the beach.
Lourdas beach, "Our beach" as Lena calls it.
A hotel entrance in Argostoli, the island's capital.
What was strange though, was that the forest fires which started with the one near our house, around mid-August, followed us to Kefalonia. At least two of the occured while we were there, the first during our second day.
That gave me the chance to shoot the small PZL fire planes used by the Greek Airforce. It was the only airplane that I had never photographed, it didn't participate in fighting of the fire near our house.
The second fire also gave me the opportunity to admire the capabilities of those pilots flying those little planes. During one of the drops (these things carry retardant fluid, for which they have to return to their airport for reloading) one of the pilots, went high over the top of the mountain which was overhanging the fire area, and then flew down along the slope of the mountain, so that he hit the fire at the perfect spot. I've never seen any other pilot doing this, with any other plane, I assume the Canadairs are too big for such maneuvers. Considering that the time of the drop was well after sun-down, when the fire-fighting planes are not supposed to fly, I can only congratulate the pilot for his brave maneuver.
One more thing.
Last year, during another forest fire in Kefalonia, a PZL pilot lost his life when his little plane crashed in the yard of a "Rooms to Let" house, after hitting some power cables.
Above photos courtesy of kefalloniapress.gr
Col. Kotoulas could have avoided death, but he prefered to stay in his plane until the last moment, trying to avoid hitting the house, which he eventually did. For his bravery, the Kefalonian people build this small monument, right opposite the area he died.
Godspeed Colonel.
Bookmarks