Blessing the Waters on a cold day.

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Thursday is our weekly shopping day and the town is usually very busy, however the first supermarket we passed was closed. That was a surprise. We drove on and saw that all shops but the coffee shops were closed too. As we drove through the town we realised why everywhere was closed. It was the day when the priests bless the waters. Sure enough down by the sea a crowd had gathered waiting for the priests to arrive and throw a cross into the sea. Men who must be very keen, then dive in and race to become the first person to retrieve the cross. The winner gets a blessing for his efforts. This is not my background so it seemed rather a strange thing to participate in on a cold morning in January, but it happens every year. We just forgot and had a wasted journey. So tomorrow we will make a second early start hoping that life in town has returned to normal.