Water, here we go again

It’s interesting that a newspaper report said the yUK could run out of water in so many years on the same day that our house sprung a leak or three. There was a workman downstairs on Monday as there often is, though I have no idea what they do part from bang about and heave themselves at the door to open it because it sticks. Yesterday, after he’d gone, I noticed our water pump was running continuously. The downstairs flat (unoccupied) runs from the same tank and pump as us up here, and none of our taps or pipes were leaking, so I went below to investigate…

I found he’d left the flat wide open, windows, doors and shutters but was not around, so I went in. The flood advancing towards me along the corridor was reminiscent of a scene from Titanic, but I waded in, in my slippers, to discover the kitchen flooded thanks to both pipes to the sink spurting water, and the shower was also running, and I was unable to turn it off. I don’t think he left it like that, it must have just happened on its own. Still, it was draining our limited supply of water from our temporary 500-litre tank, and all I could do was turn the pump off, meaning no water for either property….

I popped over the road and rang the landlord’s bell and then banged on his door, as is the custom. When he appeared, he found his door stuck much like the one downstairs, and he pulled while I put my shoulder to it, and eventually we were in the same room. I tried to explain what was going on but he looked like he’d just woken up, and neither of us speaks each other’s language well enough to discuss the finer points of plumbing. In the end, I called the ever-reliable Symi Property Services, and Nick came up within the hour, took a look, diagnosed what needed doing (which he can’t do as it’s not our property), but he was able to isolate the downstairs water feeds. The workman didn’t return to close up until about nine at night by which time it was too late to go and explain what we’d done, so I am waiting for him to return, discover he has no water, and then I’ll phone SPS and pass the workman my phone for a properly translated explanation. All fun and games here! The upside of this temporary tank is that it automatically fills itself from the mains and shuts off, so we don’t have to remember to open the mains on water days. The downside is, it’s small and connected to the flat beneath. Ah well, such is Symi life (sometimes).

Still talking food

It was something of a gastronomic weekend up here what with Georgio’s on Saturday night and then lunch with the godson and his mum on Sunday. We’d bought chicken, not knowing that Sunday in the Orthodox calendar was a no-meat fast day, not that we follow that calendar which, apparently, has some kind of fast or feast for every day of the year. I set about a chicken supreme with vegetables, and mum brought a baked chocolate cheesecake for afters. A very pleasant if sometimes manic afternoon and evening with godson’s mum and two small children, one of whom was Neil.

Monday dawned bright and fresh with me also surprisingly bright and fresh, and the only news to report so far this week is that the Blue Star boat has changed. That’s only for the Monday service from now on. The other two days a week are still covered by the Patmos. I’ve just been online and booked my ferry tickets for later in the year when I’m going up to meet my own mum in Athens and then coming back by boat. That’s a Wednesday arrival which means disembarkation at Symi is at 04.55. Not looking to that so much, but the Village Hotel where she will be staying has already said they will pick us up. Anyway… On with my day.

What’s on the menu?

Saturday morning and I was pottering around the kitchen. I can’t remember exactly what I was doing (although I can remember things from 40 years ago), I think I was making yet another cup of tea. I became aware of voices in the street. The road is only a couple of feet away through a stone wall, admittedly, but you can hear everything people are saying via the kitchen window, or even the bathroom walls, depending on what you are doing and where you are – and being aware that the people outside can probably hear me too. I because more interested when I realised the voices weren’t Greek, so I hung around the fridge door from where I can see out of the window to the lane. It’s only a small window and needs cleaning, so I didn’t take a photo. After a couple of seconds, I recognised a man leading a party of chatty, active… tourists. Maybe I should invite them in for a cup of tea? I thought. Then thought, No, I won’t, there are about 40 of them. The guide was a chap I recognise from the season, he brings tour groups over from Rhodes, walks them up to the village, shows them around a bit and then leaves them to find their way back, giving them the choice of where they stop to eat, drink or whatever. So, I can safely say that I saw the first organised day trip to Symi, 2019, passing the house and in the village on March 16^th.

Saturday afternoon was a lazy one. Tearing myself away from writing, I spent a couple of hours sofa surfing and watching dodgy TV. Well, it’s Netflix so not that dodgy, but it was what I call lunchtime viewing; something to chew over while chewing over whatever was for lunch. A reality-style cooking competition between families (we like cooking competitions), and a series about college-aged werewolves and magicians or something. A bit of a “Harry Potter meets Charmed, meet Bewitched, meets every other teen-shape-shifter series with cute boys and slim girls and where the chubby person is only the comedy sidekick and gets killed off before anyone can be turned off by a normal looking person because, after all, every high school student, college student and their parents are all chisel-cheeked models, and one in ten characters is gay, one in five of a non-WASP character and everyone has an agent trying to get them into films” – that kind of TV show.

That done and time off had (and instantly forgotten), we met a friend for drinks and dinner, first at the Rainbow Bar where we were joined by a certain old chum (see photo below) before going to the taverna to eat. If you were wondering what’s available at Giorgio’s in the winter, on Saturday, there was an extensive menu for this time of year. Between three, we ordered a Greek salad (big enough of six), some taramasalata, bread, wine, water, two plates of pork pieces in sauce with potatoes and a plate of cod also with potatoes, and there was far too much to finish it all. €17.50 each. It was enough for us to invite some of the tour group from the morning, but they’d gone by then. We left there at 9.30 by which time Rainbow was closed, and headed home. Sunday dawned around six o’clock, sunny, no wind which had been persistent and cold the day before, and with the godson coming to lunch, lots to prepare. That was my weekend, up to Sunday morning at least. I hope you had a good one.

Saturday Symi Photos

Here’s a collection of ten photos from the last week or so to get your weekend off to a Symi start. Mine’s off to a cold and blustery one, the kitchen shutters are rattling but all the others in the house are closed. The sun’s just coming up, so I’ll soon see if it’s to be a cloudy day or a clear one. Whatever it is where you are, I hope you have a good one.

Changeable Weather

One of the questions we are often asked by visitors concerns what Symi is like in the winter, and it’s often asked because people are interested in spending time here out of season, and quite right too. There’s all sorts of advice one can give, and experiences to share, but one thing we always say, is to be aware of changeable weather. You can see from today’s photos that things can change dramatically overnight. Wednesday was wet and grey, Thursday bright and sunny.

You need to watch out for changeable weather because of the boats. The Blue Star ran yesterday despite the swell (not sure about the Dodekanisos as I didn’t see/hear it, but I wasn’t looking for it), but boats can sometimes be ‘grounded’ in ports and not allowed to travel. This can happen even if it’s gorgeous and calm down here but rough further north – sometimes there’s a ban on all shipping. So, when people ask, ‘What’s the weather like in the winter?’ or even in spring, you have to answer that it’s changeable and hard to predict. If you are thinking of Symi for a visit out of the summer season when the weather is more predictable, then consider the possibility of having to stay in Rhodes a few days while you wait for the weather to change. It’s happened to us – got stuck there for an extra four nights after a holiday once. Had we known, we would have stayed in Romania, where we’d been, as it was cheaper. Not trying to put anyone off, just saying it happens.