Pics and Dates

Let’s have a few more of Neil’s wonderful photos to start the week. We had another of our ‘typical’ weekends, but with an added treat. ‘Typical’ being, working away on the final draft of the next book, a couple of walks (length varied depending on who was walking), plenty of sofa-surfing and the treat…? An evening at the kafeneion watching the limited world go by and enjoying being out of the house. That was our second visit since the cafés opened last week. I could get used to it.

I’m just looking at my diary to check what must be done this week and see I have two things to look forward to. Paying the rent and getting my second vaccination. I also have to get this draft finished soon, but that’s about it for ‘must do’ this month so far. I could get a call from Rhodes at any moment and have to go over for a fingerprint, but I reckon that’s not likely to happen until June. Apart from that, things are shaping up to be another quiet week.

Things are changing slightly on the island. The school are going back today, and back to school not via video, so piano lessons can start again. We’re waiting to hear exactly what’s what with restrictions after 15^th, and there are already some visitors on the island. I imagine they are people with properties who can now come back and check up on them; homeowners, I mean, and more business are preparing for whatever the summer season will hold. We’ll know more about that as time goes on, but usually, by this time of year, we would have seen regular visitors from northern Europe coming for their holiday, sometimes the first of two or more through the year.

So, it’s still something of a ‘wait and see’ case, and for me, a continuation of what’s been the norm of late, a combination of work, write, walk, watch but now, with added wine when we can afford to go to the café.

I must go down to the sea again…

I thought I would post some of Neil’s recent photos that feature the sea to see us through the weekend. They were not hard to find because we are on an island, and I hope these show you the diversity of Symi’s coastline and beaches. For those who love being in the water, the swimming season has already started, and the sea is warming up. For those who like being under the water, there’s news coming soon of a new scuba diving company operating on the island. This will let amateurs and experienced divers alike access what lies beneath the Symi waves, and I hope to have more news about that soon. The last I heard, the country and its islands should be opening up to visitors in just over a week, all being well. It may depend on what country you are coming from and whether you’ve been tested. Still, in the meantime, you can imagine being here, and these photos should help. Have a good weekend.

Random Photos and Updates

I have some random photos from my collection today, and I thought I would explain what they are. To start with, there’s one of the usual ‘sunrise over Pedi shots’ taken when I was walking the other morning. The camera never quite gets the colour right, the sky is often more coral than it shows here, where it looks orange. Still, it’s always a pleasant sight to see.

Then, a pre-dawn picture taken at the harbour as the Blue Star was coming in. This was from when I went to Rhodes to start my biometric card application. I’m now waiting to be called to go back again to have my fingerprint done for stage two of the process, and I hope to hear about that in a couple of weeks.

The church tower of St John in Yialos. I was waiting outside the surgery for my vaccination the other week and thought I’d just take a snap while I was there. The vaccinations have been well organised. You arrive, the nurse is at the window and checks you off, asks you to wait, and at your time, you are called in, monitored, asked a few questions and painlessly jabbed. Then there’s a waiting period (inside) in case you suffer any immediate effects, and when all is well, you can go. I expect it is like this all over the world, though not everyone will have this view while they are waiting.

And, again, from a few days ago, the guys preparing the Kali Strata for painting. This is done every spring. The weeds are removed, and paint is slapped on the risers, brightening up the steps, ready for summer. A lot of the time, it rains a few days later, and the pristine white becomes discoloured by the dust and mud washed down, or someone empties a washing machine on the steps and leaves a stain, but for a while, the steps dazzle in the sunlight. We’ve not had much rain this spring, so maybe they will stay whiter than usual this year.

And finally, the old shop. I notice it’s having an external electric meter box put in. I assume that’s what’s going on here. The box is/was inside the storeroom on the other side of this wall. It’s the first sign of activity at the building since 2015. I don’t know if it means there will soon be a new shop or not, but I can tell you that now the cafes and tavernas can open, some already have, and others are preparing for summer as they usually do. All good and hopeful signs – though I just heard Kalymnos, after being ‘freed’ like the rest of us, is now back on a strict 5-day lockdown. Must go and investigate that…

Monday Evening

There was something of a party atmosphere in the square on Monday night as the cafes and tavernas were able to reopen. We popped down for ‘one’ in the afternoon and ended up getting home in the evening. There were people to see and talk to, and after so many months of not being able to sit at a table and chat, it was hard to leave. Neil nipped up the hill to collect the rest of the Easter cake he’d made and passed slices around everyone outside the café. Other people were celebrating their name day (St George, celebrated after Easter because the day fell within Lent), and others were just happy to be in the fresh air. You’re allowed to do this now as long as there are no more than six at a table, and it’s outside seating only, with a closing time/curfew of eleven at night.

Monday night also saw the traditional ‘burning of Judas’ ceremony/celebration, and the end of Easter was marked with a firework display set off on the main road so it could be seen from everywhere in the harbour and from most places in the village. (Sorry for the blurred images; they were taken on my phone.) After all that, we went home and listened to 78s on the wind-up gramophone because we’re right up to date with our technology.

Monday morning

Here we are on the other side of Easter with a few photos from the weekend. The weather has been warm. It was 30 degrees the other evening, so we were able to sit with the windows open for the first time in many months. That helps when the dynamite goes off, and the house shakes, as the shockwaves enter via the balcony, shimmy you along the sofa a little and disappear through the open front door. There was plenty of dynamite and, apparently, lots of fireworks on Saturday night. We tried to stay up for it, but being early to bed, early to rise folk, we slept through it. Hard to believe there was any noise at all when you look at the morning view from the same, still open windows.

Neil was busy baking a cake for two days. I was at work on my manuscript (and will be for a while), taking a couple of short walks up steep hills and doing very little else, and woke up late on Tuesday to another quiet morning.

I also had one of those advice emails from some Greek government website that might interest you. From 15 May, the government will allow any tourist to visit the country if they have been vaccinated or can provide a negative coronavirus test. However, restrictions are still in place for the Orthodox Easter on 2 May – travelling to another prefecture is not allowed, and a curfew is in place. From 3 May restaurants will be allowed to seat people outside. Schools will reopen on 10 May.

I’ve not been out yet, and it’s 7.30 on Monday as I write, so I am not sure if Lefteris kafeneion will be open from today, but its chairs and tables were out and being prepared at the weekend, so I assume it will be open later today. Yiannis is still away, so the Rainbow won’t be opening just yet, but Neil’s ready to go back to work as soon as he is needed. We have four ferries operating now at various times, so travel to Rhodes is much easier, although I’m not 100% sure what restrictions are in place for that. I shouldn’t need to go over for another couple of weeks, by when I should know more, but restrictions are being eased, and vaccinations are continuing.

That’s my catchup news this quiet Monday morning, and the rest of my day will be spent working on the manuscript, popping up the hill to collect the remainder of a cake, and probably slobbing on the sofa again ahead of starting the new-season routine on Tuesday.