leonardcohenforum.com

a message from mary b and liverpoolken............

Mary
have an ouzo for me!
Leslie

Tremendous photo of you two!! Don't need to tell you to have a wonderful time... you're already immersed in that!

Not only on the beautiful island of Hydra, but sunshine as well.

Denise.
from a very cold and rainy Manchester.

Enjoy.

Mary...you and Ken look great! I'm so jealous that you and George were able to make it to Hydra (we usually travel somewhat in tandem), but thrilled for you both. I will make it to the island one of these days but I'm sure it will be between meetups. Meanwhile looking forward to all photos and updates, both on the forum and FB! Enjoy!!!

Diana

Hi,
Here are my photographs:
http://www.maartenmassa.be/images/Album ... index.html

All the best,
Maarten

(5am = time for bed... )

ah Maarten,

Thank you so much for all your wonderful photos!

I loved the one of the back view of that bronze head looking out to sea.

I don't know if it is because I am from tropical Queensland but one thing I did notice was that there were a lot of "legs all white from the winter"....and a little bit of huffing and puffing from all that climbing.

All in all, it looks like you are all having a wonderful time in an ageless, timeless place. If all goes well, I will be there next time.

Take Care all of you,
Bev

Okay..I just got home about an hour and a half ago.
I can't say I'm too happy about that... Those who were still there this morning can probably confirm that my face wasn't half as happy as before.

What I'd like to say is...these three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) were the best of my life so far and I have never been happier or more peaceful and in terms with everything. Hydra is a beautiful place, the places where we went were all fantastic and most of all, all the people there were fantastic. To say "I had a really nice time" just won't do justice to the facts.
Special thanks to:
Sophia - for taking care of me like a responsible nanny on my first commonly shared Leonard Cohen experience.
Ute - for being the great person she is and for silently encouraging me to sing "my song" and also for speaking my language so gracefully.
Laura - for surprising me by being such a sweet person and for not complaining about my frequent intense hugs.
Jarkko - for putting up with me and my obsessive talking about Finland.
Eija - for taking so many pictures that I was secure my memories wouldn't be lost and just relaxed, keeping my camera always in my bag.
Maarten - for making me constantly nervous with his "I'll catch you sleeping" type of photographing and for inspiring me to drink three cokes in one night.
Anna, Sam, Dem, Kerstin - for taking really good care of me on our way up to the monastery when I was just about to faint and die there.
Anne - for her truly inspirational twenty minute dance in the Pirate Bar!
Mary - for all the funny and not-so-funny stories and also for the two bottles of water.
Maarten again - just remembered all the stuff he took out of his bag and gave me and felt the need to thank him again. Anyone interested in a dozen of key rings?
Krzysztof or Christopher Number One - for the Polish lessons!
Christine - for her overwhelmingly kind words the last evening at the Roloi.
Jarkko again - for the great work he's done to make most of these things happen.
All the people there - for making me feel comfortable and loosening my tongue in more than one languages.

and last, Leonard himself, for uniting me with so many beautiful people and opening a way to happiness for me.
No matter what, I will never forget these four days, even if I got a horrible sunburn and tan, even if I slept less than four hours every night and even if it will take me a while to get over the sadness of separation. It's all beauty.

Thank you all. xx
Stamatina

Fantastic photos Maarten, thank you for taking me there.

Maarten thanks for posting the photos. You all look so good. What is that bird in the begining of the photos.

Thanks for the virtual tour of Hydra Maarten! Love your photos!

The photo's were wonderful, but I would have been waiting at the harbour with a retsina, while you all enjoyed the walk, climb, hike, up the hill.

Really enjoyed the photographs Maarten and surprised not to see too many drunken ones lol.

Hope I make it there some day.

Stamatina, that was lovely what you wrote and I understand what you mean completely. Leonard has drawn together a great bunch of people no matter what the age difference. The adventures in the LC world start now

A BEAUTIFUL series of heartfelt thank you's, Stamatina... so true, all of it.

Now, I'm off to look at Maarten's photo series and feel the angst of having to miss this gathering.
So happy for all of you, though !!!

I'm so happy you went, Stamatina. A lot of excellent photos of you ... and I can't believe how beautifully you drew the unified hearts on your jeans/leg freehand! GREAT close-ups and long shots, Maarten, including those of you. You captured a wide variety of moods... and I remember so well that feeling of accomplishment and victory when I reached the top. FELT the ascent as I looked at some of these photos of those not just there, yet .

Much more to say, but it was wonderful 'seeing' all of you having such a wonderful time.
Jarkko and Eija, as always and ever, totally involved!!

Looking forward to still more photos from others .

Blessings to all of you and this sharing of Hydra.



~ Lizzy