Some things to do on Symi all year round
Today I have a few photos taken on Tuesday while I was waiting for Neil to finish his Pilates class, and afterwards as we walked down into Yialos. You might get an idea of how grey and misty it was that morning. Today (Wednesday) is sunny and perfect; just the right temperature, no wind, flat sea, fresh air… Perfect. Mind you, the forecast was predicting a storm tomorrow but, as I look out on the tranquil scene below, it’s hard to imagine a storm coming across right now. Perhaps it will just rain a bit. Time will tell.

Neil did a bit more than his Pilates class on Tuesday, it actually followed on from his hour-long aerobics session, more than enough jumping around, followed by lying around stretching, for anyone if you ask me. We’re lucky to have these things organised during the winter, and all year round in some cases. As well as what is organised through the Yialos gym, and at the Symi Women’s Association building up by the high school, we also have Eu Znv, the Symi Wellbeing Centre should we want to use it. It’s open to all, as are the other classes and things, and you can find the website for it right here. This is also open all year round too, so if you’re thinking of coming for a Symi holiday, then you can take some relaxation there with massage, yoga and other activities organised.

Of course, that’s just one of the many things you can do on Symi while you are here. See a post from a couple of weeks ago, where I started to list some of the things the island offers you.

As I was waiting at the Symi Women’s Association building on Tuesday, it also struck me how much there is to get involved with there, should you want to. The organisation arranges Greek dance lessons and has its own dance troupe. I saw the traditional costumes stored away under their plastic protective wrap, and the books, the dance shoes and the equipment like the music players, as well as their awards. It’s a great building for dance as it has a wooden floor and full-wall mirror – we used to do tap dancing there. There are also jazz and ballet, and other dance classes for children and adults and, again, anyone can join in; you don’t have to be a resident. They used to organise dance evenings for visitors through the summer, and I am sure a word in the right ear when you are here, would at least get you in to view a rehearsal or even get you invited to join in.

I did notice, also, that the pianos were missing. I assumed that they have been moved to the reopened cultural centre in Yialos where the private music lessons and concerts are held. You see, a lot is going on all year round, it’s just that folk have more time for it all in the winter. Having said that, there is a fair amount of summer preparation work going on in Yialos. The Herb & Spice corner was getting a makeover the other day, the road is being paved in places, there are boats in the boatyard being prepped for their season, and some business are already washing down chairs, varnishing them and starting to prepare their tavernas, bars and cafes in the run-up to Easter which is only 40 days away now.

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Still and silent Symi
Kalo Mina!
I didn’t manage a long walk on Monday after all, but I did pop out to the village for a short one. It was so quiet! I guess everyone was at their family barbeques, flying kites, down by the sea, up in the mountains…

Both bars in the square were closed, but the corner shop was open. I felt like whispering when I called in there, it was so quiet. The square was empty, no boys playing football, no children gathered on the steps at Syllogos, nobody passing by. Only one old man was sitting on one of the benches in the square looking wistfully down at his house next door, contemplating life, or perhaps wondering when he would be allowed back in; once the floors had dried, perhaps. I heard no birds singing, there was no breeze to worry the trees, nothing passing by, not even the sound of a church bell or a motorbike. It was as if the whole world was on hold for a while. Someone had pressed the pause button.

The sky was clear and the day as warm. I could smell the new season in the air, which was clear and still. The sea was as flat as I had ever seen it, reflecting the hills like ice and, when I reached home and looked down from the roof, only a few people were wandering the quayside. Later in the day, the Blue Star came back and went just as the Dodecanese was coming back in, collecting a group of visitors from Rhodes, it looked like. Later, the evening settled in, and things took on a different sound.

There was a party… somewhere, on Monday night. We could hear (and at one point, feel) the music from down below and, with lights on a some of the harbour-front cafes, I assumed it was coming from down there. The music was still playing, though much more quietly, when we got up at 5.30 the next day, so it sounded like the party had gone on all night. The sound wasn’t at a level to disturb but, with everything being so quiet during the day, I was aware of it. Maybe it was a mix of music from the taverna, Yialos and perhaps even a private party. Wherever it was, it sounded like everyone was having a grand time.

Tuesday, and the outlook has changed. The sea is still calm, the air still, but today it’s grey and flat. Nimos is hung with a low cloud, the air is misty and dripping with humidity, though it feels colder than yesterday. I have heard a few cars passing by the house today, a sign that the world is turning out there, and soon I am heading down into to town to pick up my new keyboard; a proper Qwerty one in English and Greek. This is the one I should have bought before I got clever and ordered from Germany. That one is sitting over there, waiting to be used as an emergency measure, but hopefully, the new one will serve me for another year or two.

And that’s the no-news for today.

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Clean Monday
It is Clean Monday morning as I write, the start of Lent in Greece. There are lots of traditions associated with this time of year, the diet being probably the most famous. Rather than regurgitate the information from elsewhere, I thought I’d direct you to a site, Greek Reporter, which is in English and which tells you all about the diet, traditions and other things in a short article, with photos. If you are interested, click here.

The day started off damp after some overnight rain, but now, nearly midday, Monday, the sky is clearing, and the sun is out if a little diffused. That’s good news for everyone planning a barbeque today and for us, as we may be taking a walk later. That’s after I’ve finished my day’s work, or my morning’s work, as I try not to do too much in the afternoons in winter. I am still working on edits for ‘The Saddling’, and we are nearly there. Once that’s done, I can let the editor do his thing and double-check through each chapter word by word, poor thing. This will take him some time, and while that’s going on, I can turn my attention to something else. Not sure what yet. I still have an idea for ‘Symi, Stuff and Nonsense’ and lots of short pieces in the style of ‘Carry on up the Kali Strata’ with a bit of ‘Symi 85600’ mixed in. I found an old diary with entries written before and during our move to Symi back in 2001/2002 which might be of interest and which fills in some gaps left in stories in ‘Symi 85600.’

Apart from that, though, it’s been a quiet weekend. We cleared up the courtyard and on Sunday went for a drink in the square where it was just warm enough to sit outside if wearing a coat. The kafenion, Lefteris, (also known locally as Bulmas) is now the new home of the Symi cinema on a Sunday evening. I’m not sure how it went last night, but I am sure it was well attended and that everyone enjoyed ‘The Blues Brothers.’

In other news, the Blue Star was running a slightly different, Clean Monday, schedule and Neil is now cooking fish for lunch, so I can’t hang around. There’s still post-weekend tidying up to do. How is it possible to have a tidy kitchen one evening and a cluttered one the next morning when all we had to eat last night was a simple curry and rice? And as for the state of the sitting room after a Sunday night in front of the televisions… Where did all that come from? So, better go and mess with my mess and tidy the place up. It is, after all, CLEAN Monday.

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Symi Saturday photos
As is becoming a custom, there are a few extra photos for Saturday readers today.

The send off for our friend went well and was well attended at the Sunrise café. The bells of nearby Agia Lefteris were rung for him too, causing a flurry of enquiries on the bus, apparently; Who has died? There was a children’s party at Mandeio’s, so we didn’t stop there in the end, they had enough on their plates. Instead, we sat in the square for an hour, just for one on the way home. Then we were invited to the Rainbow Bar for a drink with and on Yiannis. Time to catch up on local gossip and chat about his third grandchild who is on the way in Rhodes. She is expected in a few months, but, as is often the case over here, the doctors have put Yianni’s daughter into what I call ‘confinement’ so she can rest and be waited on for the next three months. There are no problems with the baby, it’s just a thing that happens. It does mean that Yiannis’ wife will be away in Rhodes looking after the family for a few months, and he has been here too. The baby is going to be called Ioanna, the female version of Yiannis, after him.

We also caught up on other gossip which can’t be relayed here. But no more about hearsay, it’s on with some more photos for you to have a quick glance through before I head off into a weekend with no writing planned. What will I do?

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