Symi news, Horio news, Rhodes and boats
The news from up here today is the nephew George has been offered a job on Rhodes. It all sounds very exciting, something to do with the entertainment team at a four-star hotel in Kalethia, on the coast. It looks like a very nice hotel and the package is good with a day off each week, room and board included, and they will help him sort out the next stage of his legalities; a bank account and the work permits. He’s off there today, via Euromedica to collect his test results, and I think he’s looking forward to it. First day nerves and all that I expect.
That leaves us adjusting to having the house to ourselves again and just when we were getting used to regular meal times, the family at the table, and having someone to do the washing up. Ah well. So for me it’s back to the usual routine as it is going to be all summer, I hope. Apart from the first week of next month when I am going away on my writing retreat again.
This year I am going to work on a new novel, as the next one is nearing completion, edits and layout-wise, and the Donkeys book has given me a headache all year so far. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not meant to be. It started as a film script, and still is, and it works fine that way, but it’s not adapting to a novel and, to be honest, I’m not really into it. I found I was working on it for the sake of having something out there, and that’s not a way I like to work. So that’s in pieces on the back burner while I look into the next story: a thriller/mystery set on the Romney Marshes. No doubt I will bore you about that in great detail as it progresses. We’re still working on Remotely of course and I hope that will be out on Amazon by the end of June – a piece of silly summer reading for you. I’ll let you know when you can pre-order on Amazon.
Meanwhile on Symi: the sun is still out and looks to be staying for a while yet, the breeze is up and there’s pollen about, but nothing unmanageable, and the day boats have been coming and going. The Nikolaos X has started its daily runs too, adding a few more day-trippers to the mix, the Panagia Skiedani is coming in each day and the Pride and Express are doing their usual trips.
A quick note to anyone planning a trip to Symi: check your boats before you finalise your flights. Check them as much as is possible, though the schedules are out for the summer now. I’m still getting emails from people asking why they can’t get to Symi on the same day that their plane lands, as if it was a) a right, and b) my fault. The boats (at the moment) leave in the morning and unless you are in Rhodes and at the harbour by 8.30 at the latest, you are not going to make it that day. Unless it’s a Thursday when there is an 11.30 boat, a Wednesday when there is a 15:00 one and Friday when there is one at 19:00 – those last two being the Blue Star. And if you are planning on coming on the Skiedani, you can’t book it online and it always shows as full when it probably isn’t; you need to book via a travel agent or at the kiosk by the boat. And that’s the last time I am going to tell you, so make notes!
