I stopped off at a shop on the Kali Strata the other day, and had a chat with the owner. She let me take some photos of the inside and outside of the shop and I thought I would share those today. This will give new visitors to Symi an idea of the kind of high-quality things that are for sale on the island. There are other shops of course, and many of them too. We do have some of those ‘tourist items’ available for those who want them; guide books, maps and souvenirs, but we also have high-class jewellery shops and craft shops, many selling homemade items and art. A great variety of shopping can be done, from rope at the chandlers to gold at the gold shops. Here is just one example of what you can find when you visit.
Off to meet Neil from the boat now, so back tomorrow.
The start of the Kali Strata, the steps up to HorioBlu, on the Kali Strata
Thunder and rain is rolling in this morning (Monday). It came in at about 6.00, so I was just in time to bring the washing in. I have to head to Yialos later this morning, so I am hoping it doesn’t come back. We’ve had some unsettled weather this May, but the forecasts show that this should be settling down over the next few days. I can see a belt of rain heading towards us now, across the sea from the far coast so I will leave setting off to town for a while yet. I only need to get cat food for the fussy furry thing, but we all know how noisy it can be if he doesn’t get what he wants when he wants it.
The London Greek Film Festival winners
I pulled a couple of photos from Facebook and the London Greek Film Festival pages so you can see ‘The 13th’ director and producer receiving our awards. He’s the second on the left in the group shot and, obviously, the man in the other one. I’m just waiting to hear what the news is on the distribution deal now. Kickstarter backers should have received an update by now, but I have a copy here so, if you didn’t, email me and I’ll send it on to you.
Chris Hastings, ‘The 13th’ receiving an ward.
We’ve had a great response, still on-going, from the good people of the Romney Marshes who are now gathering not only towels but also shampoo and even hot chocolate and biscuits for the boys, for when they arrive there on Friday for the football. The boys leave here on Friday morning and have quite a journey to get to Camber Sands for about five in the evening, so they will be ready for a shower and hot chocolate by then, I am sure. It’s a wonderfully heart-warming gesture from the Martians – or should that be Marshians?
Yialos
In home news, Neil is due in Rhodes in [checks the time] 90 minutes and back here on Tuesday. Had I known there was going to be a Blue Star sailing from Rhodes on Monday we would have booked that so he was home earlier. He could still catch it, but the hotel in Rhodes is booked and paid for, and he is meeting a friend there for dinner, all pre-planned, so I think we are leaving things as they are. The cat is going slowly mad. Last night he spent half an hour running around the house (he never runs, unless it is towards his bowl), shouting and searching for something. I opened the courtyard gate, and he was out like a shot. He wasn’t home by the time I went to bed, so I had to shut him out. But there he was, at half five the next day, ready for breakfast and into the courtyard as soon as I opened the gate. He’s just been doing the same thing but, as it’s about to rain, I’m not letting him out right now.
Horio
Finally, today I have asked some of the other writers in a Facebook group that I belong to, if they have any books about Greece, or set in Greece. If any of them have anything, I thought I’d give them a mention here as I know our blog readers might be interested. If you have anything of your own that you have written and published on Amazon (so I can link), drop me a line and I’ll do the same.
And that’s that. Hopefully, in the next few days I will have my camera back and can go out and get some up to date images for these pages; I am still running on old ones – won’t be long now.
I can tell you that ‘The 13th’, the film filmed on Symi in 2013, picked up three awards at The London Greek Film Festival on Saturday night. Best actress for the lovely Rebecca Grant, Best Music for Michael Bishop (the play-out music at the end of the film includes the sound of Symi bells, recorded on the island) and a ‘special mention’ award for Chris Hastings, director, producer and co-writer. Congratulations all round. I expect there will be another Kickstarter update for backers soon, giving all the details.
Looking down to Pedi
Meanwhile, the good people of Romney Marsh, in Kent, have been rallying around to supply towels and toiletries for the Symi football teams that are arriving there on Friday for the tournament. Due to finance and luggage restrictions, the boys aren’t able to take more than hand luggage, and the Pontins they are staying at doesn’t supply towels to its guests, which are heavy things to pack when over 40 people are travelling. Some of the Marsh football mums with children in the competition are arranging donations, with others, to be taken to the holiday park and then donated to charity afterwards. That’s a wonderful gesture, and I hope it all works out and the boys can have a shower when they arrive on Friday night, and after the games. It’s going to be a long day so they will need it.
The Symi team after winning the league a couple of weeks ago
While all that has been going on, a strong wind has cooled the temperature here down a little, but today (Sunday as I write this), the sky is blue, and the wind has dropped, so we should be warming up again very soon. And when I say ‘warming up’, it’s not cold, it’s perfect walking weather, and I am in t-shirt and shorts at 7.30 in the morning, so there is no need to panic.
Looking down to Pedi
People have been asking about the taxi boats. I have seen one going in and out of Yialos as I watch from up here, and I expect the others will be up and running soon. We are having one of those gaps between Easter and the start of school holidays when things really start to pick up, so it’s probably not worth running the boats just yet. The day trip boats that are coming in every day are bringing lots of visitors for the day, so things must be pretty busy over on Rhodes.
So, a few good pieces of news to start the week off there.
Here are your ten random Symi photos for today, to keep you going over the weekend. The weather’s been a bit odd these last couple of days, I was back in long trousers last night, but so far today (Saturday) the rain has not come back. Tonight sees the awards at the Greek Film Festival in London so there may be some news on that next week, and later this week the Symi football teams (under 12/11) are off to play in their football tournament in the UK. I have a weekend of writing planned and, apart from some shopping, that’s all I have planned. Enjoy the photos, and I’ll be back next week.
Waiting for the boatsThis is actually Mandraki harbour in RhodesSaturday shoppingGuarding the harbourGone fishingA wintry viewOverlooking YialosAg. AthanasiosSymi shadowsout at sea
Here on Symi, yesterday started a little damp, but by half ten the rain had gone and the sun was back, with a few clouds around. There’s a strike going on and so the Blue Star will not be in this week, I heard. This doesn’t affect the day boats or the Dodekanisos though, so if you’re coming this way with them, you should be okay.
I’m pleased to report that my latest novel, ‘The Saddling’ has received its third five-star review in a week. I’ve done a little tidying up on the Kindle version as there were some odd things happening there – as there often are with Kindle – and we’ve changed a couple of stray typos that got through my various and many readings of the manuscript, the editor, the beta readers and the edit-check programme we use. Thanks to Penny for finding them; there were only a few. We’ll change the interior files over at the weekend. If you have a Kindle version of the book and want the new one (without the odd typo – everything else is the same), then once it’s up there, you can go to your Kindle library and download/replace it for free. I’ll let you know when that’s ready. If you haven’t bought a copy yet, don’t worry, there are only a couple of these odd words and they should be gone by Monday. It’s a ‘me’ thing, you know how badly I type and spell. Anyway: Here’s the link to the book, please do leave an Amazon review if you can, I only need another 96 to start registering in their publicity lists! Lol. And after the link is a couple more random photos from the files. My camera is currently having a day off in Lincoln ahead of being on call for a wedding tomorrow, so these will have to do as your ‘Symi fix’ for today.
