Before I leave you for the weekend, I wanted to give the calendar another plug and remind everyone that you can only buy it through this link: Symi Dream Calendar (Or click the banner.)
That’s that done, and now, this.
I did it again, though this time on purpose. I found the old, nay, ancient pages of Symi Dream still archived in some bunker in Arizona or wherever, and this time, there are more links to old, nay, ancient galleries. These include the baptism of two young men who are now 18 (someone alert Alex and Dimitris – the other one is H), Neil’s 40th birthday party in Pedi, Some festival dancing, boat launching, you name it, this long list seems to cover it. Better still, all the ones I looked at were still working.
This, for example, was Christmas Day 2006.
And this was Koukoumas that year.
And this was when the Rainbow Bar had blue chairs.
That old fridge/cabinet was outside Georgio’s for months. It was eventually moved after someone dressed as an octopus tripped over a tentacle and went headfirst into the corner. Apparently, the doctor at the surgery was very surprised to find a bleeding octopus being helped from a taxi. The lady sustained only minor injuries.
I’m a little late this morning, because the cover for the new book arrived and I wanted to post that up first (not here, but on Amazon). It’s a part of the process that only takes a couple of minutes, so here I am, back at the typewriter ready for another day. I had no idea what to mention or show, today, so I looked at that old gallery I found yesterday, and dug out a couple of photos from St Nicholas’ Beach 20 years ago, and found a couple I enjoyed.
Then, I thought, as the Panormitis Festival is coming up next week, I would put a couple of those up here too, and leave you to browse.
I spent some time yesterday morning checking the finals of the new book, and, I’m pleased to say, the Kindle version has now been published. So, for those of you who follow the Victorian mystery adventures that Jackson Marsh publishes, this link should take you to the Kindle and Kindle Unlimited version. The paperback should be out in a few more days.
A Depraved Indifference – the Delamere Files book ten.
After fiddling about with all of that, I went for a short wander around the back of the village, just to get some ‘air in the bones’, and this was what the weather was doing at that point.
As you might be able to tell, it was a quiet day at home with not much going on. You can’t say the same for the harbour, where, at around midday, the parade set off, and the military, schools and others marched to and past the War Memorial to celebrate Oxi Day. Here’s a photo from 20 years ago.
At least, I think it was 20 years ago. I went searching online for a photo of the event, and found, by some weird quirk, a link to a very ancient Symi Dream page. This is an index of galleries, and some of them still exist. This page and its links must have been archived in some way, and so have some of the galleries. I clicked on a couple and found the images were still there. I can’t be sure of the date of all of them, but they are probably 20 years old. There are some headings that might interest you, such as: ‘A day on the triton.’ ‘Sunrise – new kafeneion opening night.’ ‘Symi Dream Opening Night’ (which sadly doesn’t work, but it shows you how old the index is).
I’ve run out of exciting stories from Rhodes last week and am now back to the usual day-to-day with whatever photos I can find lying around. Oh, I found this one…
That was as I was about to leave Rhodes, which was, at that time, under a heavy, dark cloud. I don’t think it rained, though. It’s all very quiet here now. I say that, but yesterday, I popped down to the bar in the afternoon and managed to grab more or less the last seat. Then, more people arrived, and I had to help Neil put out more tables and chairs. Maybe because today is Oxi Day, a national holiday, and people have come over for a couple of days to see the parade later this morning. Maybe it was the extended family who were visiting for a night or two, I don’t know, but late afternoon in the square was busy – and there are still day boats coming across from Rhodes.
Last week. The plastic chairs are back out for the winter, and the summer ones have been put away.
I was told that the road has now been fixed at the ‘new’ port at Petalo, but don’t quote me on that as it was kafeneion chatter. What is for real, though, is that the layout guys have sent back the first copy of the new book, so I must now go and search through that for any last minute fixes, and hopefully, there will be none (or only a few as there is always a widow or orphan wandering lost among the pages), and I can start publishing it. Which reminds me, I must remind the designer to send over the full cover so I can also put up the paperback version. And on to the next one…
Continuing the adventure begun last week with 29 hours in Rhodes, and including some random images.
Tuesday.
I had two appointments that morning, and the first was at the new H-pad at nine, where I had been invited for coffee. So, after I’d breakfasted on a banana (because at the hotel breakfast was €12.00 extra, and I could get a coffee and large baguette for less at the café (but I didn’t)), I headed a few blocks down to St Nicholas Square, arriving ten minutes early. I sat and watched the world, and Michaelis who reads our water meter, go past until nine, when I called at the apartment. We had one coffee (black, no sugar), an inspection of the H-pad revealed all was well, and after some last minute and unneeded fatherly advice, I headed off for my next appointment, while he headed off to his indoctrination day, or whatever it’s called at colleges these days.
Balcony view
My appointment was at Stavroulis, a private diagnostic centre two more blocks down the street. I had set this up via email the previous week, and it was for an X-ray of my teeth, because my dentist wanted to see what was what. Nothing urgent, just checking up. The centre had emailed me on Monday afternoon to remind me of the appointment at 10.00, and later in the day, the nice lady on reception phoned me to suggest I come ten minutes early as there is always paperwork to do. I arrived at 9.40, and introduced myself to Stella, who seemed delighted to see me, took my passport and tapped away on her keyboard. ‘Do you have an AMKA number?’ she asked, and I gave over my card. (It’s like National Insurance in the UK.) ‘Ah,’ she said with delight. ‘You are entitled to a free blood test. Would you like one?’ Oh, really? Today? ‘Yes, now. It’s for cholesterol and a general check of the usual.’ I’d had one in February under my private health insurance, but this was free, so why not have another? ‘Ah.’ She paused. ‘Have you eaten today?’ I fessed up to the banana. ‘I’ll make a call,’ she whispered as if we were now co-conspirators. A quick chat to someone upstairs, and I was allowed to continue my adventure because I hadn’t had milk or sugar in my coffee.
Stella did some more tapping and handed me two sheets of paper. ‘This is for the X-ray, and after, you are going to the next floor for blood. Take a seat and your number will be called.’
Off I go to the waiting area, where I just had time to arrange myself on a sofa and was settling in for some daytime TV, when my number was called. So, I heaved myself back out of the sofa, and staked my claim, to be led past where we usually go for X-rays and deeper into the mysteries of the Stavroulis. A young lady appeared from a doorway and invited me into her lair, where stood a machine into which I was asked to step. Chin there, look here, keep very still for 15 seconds… She bustles into her antechamber and reminds me to keep still. The machine buzzes around my head, and two panels sweep past left to right to left, and before you know it, done.
‘I will email the image to your dentist, and you can collect your CD before you leave.’
All this was before the time of my appointment, and wow! I got a souvenir too. A few paces to the lift and up to the blood letting department, there to hand over my piece of paper. I was just sitting down when I heard the name ‘Tobias’, and realised they’d already called my other three (in Greece, it’s surname first, then the others). I hovered in that semi-squat, pre-sit position as I waved, and, having righted myself, followed another nice young lady into the bleeding chamber. ‘English or Greek?’ she asked, and I thought, ‘Here we go…’
Rhodes is still very busy with tourists and cruise ships.
The usual reply in such a circumstance is English, with the excuse that my Greek isn’t good enough for technical or medical matters. Well, nice young lady #2 had other ideas, and when it transpired that I had lived in Greece for 23 years, that was it. Full-on Greek chat as she sought a vein, with me trying the second excuse: but it’s difficult to learn it on Symi, because they speak Symiaka. At this point, I did my rather naughty impression of the old men outside the bar and rambled along the lines of, ‘Ella, re (indistinct mumbling), punto, re (more indistinct gobbledegook), malaka, mumble, mumble, spitou.’ Laughing, she found a vein and the withdrawal began.
A pleasant chat and a piece of sticking plaster later, and it was back downstairs to wait for my papers. That took about ten minutes, and there I was with a receipt (€40.00 for the X-ray, €0.00 for the full blood test) and a CD. Not of Celine Dion or anyone, not even from K-tel, but an image of what lurks beneath my teeth.
That, I dropped off at the dentist last Thursday, and at some point soon, I will need a root canal, eek. Still, at least, by the time I got home Tuesday evening, my blood results were waiting for me in an email. Nothing outrageous in there, the same as in February, actually, but still, it was free.
