As I understand it Forno in Greek means oven so I suppose Fourni means something similar and if it doesn’t, it does now, cos that’s what it’s like.
So last night we were sat in a harbour cafe by the waterside looking through Tamarisk trees and across small boats and a short stretch of sea to the neighbouring island of Thymena, around which there had been a marathon swimming event earlier that day. Competitors had come from all over Greece and there were to be celebrations over on the island at night.
First we saw fireworks coming up from behind one of the nearer hills and then the beautiful orange glow of a bonfire silhouetting the darkening hills against a night sky full of stars. And then there seemed to be some murmurs of concern around us on Fourni and a pick up truck with some pipes and tanks on it rumbled on to the jetty and eventually the local ferry chugged into life (ironically it takes time to warm them up), the ‘fire engine’ rolled on and off they lumbered to Thymena. Because it wasn’t a pretty bonfire, they had just set fire to the island with the fireworks.
Who would have thought that here in Greece in July after a prolonged heatwave a few fireworks would have caused a fire hazard.?
Still, I am sure there is an Ancient Greek proverb that says