Day 1 – Greece: Chios & The Rocket War

We landed in Athens at 8:30am GMT and I couldn’t wait to step outside. This was the coldest plane ride of my life even though I had several layers on, and unfortunately I didn’t sleep much. We exited the plane, flew through customs, and stopped for a quick bite in the terminal. Stelios ordered us 2 frappes and spanakopitas, and Leo had a salami and cheese sandwich. The first bite of that spanakopita was heavenly, a 10/10 for both of us. It feels so incredible to be back in Greece. I feel very lucky and blessed that we get to come back to this beautiful country and visit family. After our morning breakfast we went through security and waited to board our flight to Chios. 

By 10am I started feeling a little lightheaded and delirious from the jet lag. I most definitely need a nap at some point today. We finally started boarding at 11am & The plane was ridiculously hot as we waited for everyone to board. While we were waiting we chatted it up with the guy behind us who asked if we were going to the rocket festival tonight. Since we had no set plans that sounded like a great idea! I remembered reading about the Chios rocket war when I was doing research the first time we came here but it only happens once a year right before Greek Easter. Surprisingly Stelios has never been to it because growing up he would only come to Chios in the summer. Looks like tonight was the perfect night to experience something new altogether! 

Arriving in Chios 

We landed in Chios by 12pm GMT and Mihale, Steli’s family member who is also a taxi driver, was waiting for us to take us to the Tsoukalas house. It was a quick 15 minute drive from the airport and when we pulled up Stelios’s parents were excited and waiting for us. We also got to say hi to Thea Maria, Theo Theodori, and Stelis brother Mike. The Tsoukalas property is quite large and split into a front house and back house. Stelis parents own the back house which is a duplex, where his brother Mike lives in the first floor apartment and we will be staying on the 2nd floor with Stelis parents. The front house is larger split into 3 family units + one rental like so

1.  Thea Maria & Tasos (Stelis aunt & uncle)
2. their son Bobby, wife Marika, and two sons Anastasi and Angelo
3. Theo Theodori , wife Poppi, and son Mihali 

So it’s quite the welcome party when you pull up to the Tsoukalas house! 

After getting settled, Leo wanted to go with Vasilios (Stelios’s dad) to see the orange farm, and Stelios and I decided to walk to the Chora (downtown) and get some lunch by the water. We took the scenic route and stopped at the famous Chios windmills along the way. When we got closer to the town center it was clear that the town of Chios was ALIVE and full of energy. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and as we walked through the busy port people were filling up the seaside restaurants, music was bumping, and the vibes were high. Everyone must be gathering, catching up with friends and family in anticipation of the Easter celebrations this weekend. It also seems to be all locals compared to when we visited in August which was a mix of locals and tourists. 

We were scoping the scene for an open table for 2 outside and finally grabbed a table at Kentriko. I ordered a glass of Zitsa white wine for only €5 which ended up being equal to 2 American sized pours, and Stelios got a local Chios beer which tasted quite good. For lunch we ordered the Zuchini flower appetizer stuffed with cheese and dill, calamari Saganaki, and grilled octopus. The first two were absolutely delicious, but the octopus was on the tougher side. Overall a delicious lunch for only €50, including tip. After lunch we walked back to the house and stopped at the liquor store to pick up some Mastiha and Greek wine for the celebrations tomorrow. 

Back at the house, we were told that tonight after the family gets back from church we are all having a midnight dinner with the family. It’s a Greek tradition that the night before Easter the family gathers and eats Magiritsa, the traditional Easter soup, to celebrate that Christ has risen. After finding that news out on a travel day I changed into comfy clothes and decided it was nap time if I was going to be functional enough to make it past midnight tonight. I woke up from my nap around 7:30pm ate some delicious pasta with meat sauce for dinner and changed into warm comfy clothes for the rocket festival. 

The Rocket War 

The “rocket festival” is actually called Rouketopolemos in Greek or “rocket war” in English. You can read about the full history of the tradition here but essentially it started in the 19th century when Chios was under the Ottoman Empire and the islanders were banned from celebrating Easter. Two churches decided to rebel by shooting rockets (back then it was actual cannons) at each other’s bell towers as a symbolic gesture of faith and resilience, and the people of Chios have carried the tradition forward ever since. It’s a huge event and is televised across Europe, and it’s even made its way to the US, where this year the festival will be filmed and created into a virtual reality experience at the Las Vegas sphere. 

Most people and tourists who come to see the festival drive to Mount Aepos, which requires parking on the hilltop and walking down to the spectator zone. However, being amongst family and Chiotes, we were very lucky to get the local experience thanks to Mihali (family member and taxi driver from earlier). He picked us up at 9:45pm and took us to “the heart of the beast” as he put it. Mihali had friends on the front lines who were launching the rockets so he planned to escort us down to launch area amongst all of the locals and other rocket launchers. He told us that the rockets are hand made with actual gun powder and each rocket costs about 2.5€ to make and the people pay out of their own pocket to make them.

Getting to the launch point there were several roadblocks and volunteers directing traffic, but luckily Mihali knew exactly which side street to park on. He then led us on a 20 minute walk through the town of Vrontados, and stepping out of the car it sounded like we were in the middle of a war zone with homemade bombs going off left and right in the streets. At one point we were walking through a cloud of smoke so thick I could barely see. Finally we reached the first local viewpoint and could see the crossfire between the rockets. After one round, Mihali took us down a trail even closer to watch directly behind the rocket launchers. Not gonna lie, it was a little scary at first being that close to live gunpowder and rockets being set on fire. We did not expect to be THIS CLOSE to the action, but I leaned into the thrill of it all and was running high on adrenaline once the rockets really started going off. It was an epic experience, totally unique, and something that would never happen back home. After 30 minutes, the rocket launchers have to take a 30 minute break so the fire department can go inside the church and survey the surroundings to make sure nothing is actually on fire. LOL. During the break Mihali’s friend came over to us and told us that they have 700 meters of rocket coverage along the wall for the festival and that an estimated 40,000 rockets will be set off tonight. WHOA!

The final round went off at 11pm and they did not hold back!! At one point we were a little too close and got smoked out, I had to run uphill to get some air. In hindsight we probably should’ve wore bandanas or something to protect ourselves from the smoke but we’ll live. By 11:20pm we started walking back to the car to avoid the crowds and traffic that would be exiting later, plus we still had to make it back home in time for midnight Easter dinner! After getting a front row experience to the rocket war we were all amped up on adrenaline and could not thank Mihali enough for bringing us to the front lines to experience the chaos and excitement of the rocket war. 

Back at the house, Evangelia (Stelis mom) was finishing preparing Magiritsa and we set the table before the others got back from church. All 10 of the immediate family members living on the Tsoukalas property gathered around the dining room table as we enjoyed the traditional soup which is the main focus of tonights meal. There was also loukaniko (sausage), charcuterie, bread, wine, and cheeses. So basically a full on dinner post midnight. The soup was delicious by 1:30am the other family members departed, and Stelios and I showered and got ready for bed. We were absolute zombies at this point. I can’t believe what a full day we had and it’s only been our first day here AND it was a travel day. It feels like I’ve been up for 48 hours aside from my nap. What an incredible start to this trip. It’s 2am, good night.