Able to get here? Good for you, dangerous for us.
I’m writing this yesterday as I usually do because my head is never quite in the right place first thing in the morning. Today (Monday) is the day most places can reopen, and that means up here in the village, the Rainbow, Lefteris, The Sunrise and, I assume, other cafes and bars will be opening their doors… well, their outside seating. As far as I know, it’s outside seating only and with distancing, and the rules can be revoked or changed at any time, so ‘don’t go silly’, is the message. It will still be a while before we see any visitors and when we do, it will only be from other islands or the mainland, at least to start with.
Now then, we’ve had a few enthusiastic messages from people saying things along the lines of, ‘Yay! We can come to Symi now,’ and adding a smiling emoji along the way. Well, possibly, yes, you might be able to, but how is another matter, and when another one also. Yes, it’s good that places can open up again, and Symi is, as we know, a very welcoming place. However, please remember that we have been isolated here, as have many smaller islands. Although you might feel safe coming from a highly infected country like the yUK, you’re going to a practically non-infected country and certainly a non-infected island, such as Symi. Good news for you, worrying news for us. So, even if you can get here, find an open hotel, don’t have to quarantine for the two weeks of your holiday, have health insurance that will cover you, and are a huge Symi fan with lots of friends here, please remember that you’re coming to a place where there’s been no, or very little chance to build immunity. We’re even thinking that if close friends or family want to/can get here this year, maybe they should stay in their own accommodation rather than our house.
I maybe blathering from my own point of view and off the top of my head, but that’s what I do. Hey, don’t get me started on what’s now happening in the yUK with that unelected bureaucrat who did what ‘any father would do’ and put the lives of many at risk for the convenience of the few. No wonder the yUK isn’t on Greece’s list of countries from which travel to Greece is allowed. Sheesh!
