Symi Saturday photos
As it’s a Saturday, here are some photos taken in/from Horio for you by Neil, no words, except to say, have a good weekend.
All posts by James Collins
June, busting out all over
June, busting out all over
Ah, June is here and with it comes so many returning, loyal visitors, and friends. That’s one of the problems, especially when your other half works at a popular, local bar. ‘Are you coming down? X Y and Z are here…’ And it is so hard to say ‘No, not today,’ because you want to see them. Not only that, it is a joy to see them and catch up on news, share stories and see how everyone is. One thing leads to another and, before you know it, ‘Will you join us for dinner?’ ‘We’re having a drinks do on Thursday, will you come?’ ‘We must go out to eat one night…’ And so on. So hard to resist. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘I can resist everything but temptation.’ But still, a couple of glasses of red per day are good for you, they say.
There was a great buzz at both village square bars on Wednesday night. The Blue Star and other boats had brought in many returning friends, so there was much to catch up on. You say goodbye and ‘see you soon’ to one, and then another comes along. ‘You must have a drink with me.’ And ‘Water please’ is not an acceptable answer. So, we do what we can but don’t go too far as I am still in the habit of getting up at six and heading straight to work for six hours at the desk before lunch and a siesta and then… well, often starting the process again.
June also brings with it good weather, except yesterday it was cloudy, and there were a few spots of rain. A cruise ship came in, and I was tempted to go and work my passage on it back to Cyprus, but that would take far too long. I’ve found flights now and connection details and, as soon as I can, will book everything so it’s all taken care of and all I have to do is travel. Thank you to everyone for the tips and advice. I’ve also contacted the Film Festival admin department about a room. The festival is at the university in Paphos, and I think, but am not sure, that they have special rates on accommodation there. I mean, I know they have a special rate, but I think the accommodation will be on site. If they are already booked up, there are plenty of other places nearby and not expensive so I will be able to find somewhere to lay my head for the three nights I shall be there.
Before I go, I just wanted to issue a word of warning. Some visitors arrived the other day, having booked their accommodation through Boking.com, only to find that the accommodation owners were no longer taking guests. Apparently, no-one had told Booking.com, and the couple had to find alternative accommodation and then deal with the financial fallout. Not a great way to arrive and, I have to say, it’s the first time I’ve heard of this happening on Symi. I don’t want to name the place, in case I didn’t get the story 100% correct, but it’s a small apartment block near Campos in Horio. Not booked through any of the big companies like Olympic, or Symi Visitor or Kalodoukas, but done independently through Booking.com. I think it’s always best to send an email to the place you are going to stay at to confirm your booking when using this site. Which is what I shall do if I don’t find myself being a university student next weekend.
Still in pre-travel mode
Still in pre-travel mode
I’ve been giving myself and a few other people a headache trying to organise these flights to Cyprus as I now have to be there on Saturday 17th, in a university in Paphos by 5 pm. I’ve had help from all over the place, but the timing is the issue. So far, the easiest I’ve found is with Aegean from Rhodes, via Athens to Larnaca and then a bus down to Paphos. Other routes have been suggested by friends, but they don’t go on the days I need to go. And as for those flight compare sites…
Well, don’t you just hate it when you search around and you find ‘Fly direct from Rhodes to Paphos’ and head to a site, put in the details you want, being flexible on dates, and then they say, ‘no matches to your search?’ There are others that, after bringing up several pop-up boxes, then invite you to search each one on their own, which isn’t really doing the search for you, as advertised. Then you find ‘Yes, we do this trip!’ And you search there and ‘No you don’t! comes screaming out of you. False advertising or what? Good old Aegean are still the most straightforward, with a decent morning flight to Athens an hour’s wait and then an hour or so down to Cyprus. By the way, should you be interested, a taxi from Larnaca to Paphos is quoted at €87.00, which would still be cheaper than some of the ‘fast, low-cost flights’ I’ve found: Rhodes to Athens, Athens to Paphos… via Moscow, duration 13 hours. I don’t think so.
So, I am leaving it for today and will start the search again tomorrow. Meanwhile, the folks back in the yUK are still searching around for me, and I am contacting some travel agents in Rhodes. There’s been a suggestion of taking the boat to Turkey and then a bus down the coast and another ferry across to Cyprus… That would be a fun trip if I had the time and money. Ah well, on with the search.
I know it’s a crucial day in the yUK today and I hope that after today I will feel able to call it the UK again (rather than the yuk it’s become). You know how I feel so I won’t bleat on. But if things go horribly wrong, as I fear they might, I might just not mention the place at all after tomorrow, and I certainly will do all I can to avoid having to set foot in it again, no matter where I am travelling to. Whatever side you are on, just make sure you go and vote for someone.
New Symi photos
New Symi photos
Finally, some more up to date photos for you today, some by Neil some from me.
Also today, there is a new interview with me published on a site called Expat Focus which you might like to take a look at if you have not already seen it. Click here to open the page.
As you can see from the photos, the sun is out, and the weather is calm and very pleasant, hot in fact. There are still many flowers out, and the hills and valley are still green, though not as green as they were in March and April. It won’t be long before the shrubs and herbs turn brown under the sun, but the beauty of the island will still remain; it’s just different according to the seasons.
I am researching flights to Cyprus though I don’t know the date I will be going yet; the film festival asked what date we would like the screening on, which is good of them, and we’ve suggested a couple. So, as soon as I know, I shall be booking what I can, when I can. I must thank Jean, and also Andy from the Symi Visitor Travel Blog for giving me advice.
Anyway, a quick post today with a few more photos taken yesterday here on Symi.
Lonely House
Lonely House
This is another post about me and what I am up to in the book/film/creativity arena. First though, I’ll just let you know that it’s hot here on Symi, summer has kicked in. As someone said the other day, the thermostat got turned up on June 1st as usual. So, that’s good news. Taxi boats are heading out, day boats are coming in, the around the island boat trip is running, the bus is on schedule, the taxis are at work, it’s good walking weather, swimming has started, the Pentecost celebration was held on Sunday in Ag Triada square in Horio, I think all summer businesses are now open… Everything is ready for your visit.
Meanwhile, a quick list of highlights of my weekend: discussing the possibility of adapting and author’s book for film, being given the opportunity to go to Cyprus for the film festival in two weeks to present ‘The 13th’ to some very important film people. Discussing a Danish translation of ‘Symi 85600’ and finishing off ‘Honestly – a Miss P novella’ (first draft), and liaising with my designer about a new cover for ‘Lonely House’ – see below, in a moment, I’ve not finished yet. There was also the meeting up with old friends returning for their stay, being taken out to dinner, starting on our courtyard redecoration (great job, Godson!), another dinner with good friends at their house, having our dinner donated to us by Yianni (there were more dinners than there were dinnertimes, so we’re having it for lunch today), good laughs and happy times in the square, Dawn’s sausage party – a birthday tradition – and several other things which, if I added them, would make it sound like we have more fun than a child with a free Disneyland pass. I don’t want to make you jealous.
So, here is the point of this post, the new cover for ‘Lonely House.’ I’ve not uploaded it yet. Well, I might have done by the time you read this, I am waiting to get the final file from my designer in Portugal. So, if you’ve not got this one in the ‘James Collins’ section in your library, leave it a couple of days until you see this cover on Amazon and Kindle. I hope it doesn’t scare you too much…
