Symi spring photos
Sitting here in the heat with my mind drifting back to the spring made me think that I would put up a few more photos taken a few months ago when the flowers were out and the sheep were lambing. I’ve also been working on ‘The Saddling’, my novel for next year which is set in a very rural, closed community, and I’ve still got the characters’ voices in my head. (I still be ‘aving folk a-talking in me ‘ead.) There is a lot of rural speak involved, including words that I vaguely remember from my youth on the marshes, and plenty of others I have discovered from by book of Kent dialect. It’s a far cry from Symi, though also similar.

Symi has its own dialect and one I don’t pretend to be an expert in; why, I can’t even get my tongue around Greek, let alone anything else. It’s also similar in the use of words, in that some are ‘island words’ and then there’s the rural element, the sheep and lambs of spring and the agriculture. I am sure if I returned to the marshes now I would find some things very different, but other things still the same.

Like when people return to Symi after several years and chat, asking how things have changed over time. They can see some changes quite easily: the street lights on the road, the road itself in some cases, the widened harbour, the increase in traffic and the newly restored houses. But essentially it is still the same underneath with the hospitality, the choice of places to eat, the beaches, everything a bit laid back, the friendliness and the heat of summer. The more things change the more they remain the same and all that.

I’ve no idea where this post is going, I just opened up a new sheet of virtual paper and started taping away – a good exercise for anyone aspiring to be called a ‘writer.’ If in doubt, don’t feel blocked, just open a page and start putting down your thoughts. It keeps the fingers and the brain active if nothing else and every now and then you might put something down that you can use later.

And that’s how I got from spring to writing tips in one quick movement. Now I am going to make a slow movement towards the kitchen and get some lunch ready, and then make an even slower one towards the sofa for a cooling sit down before getting on with the rest of the day. Enjoy the Symi spring photos.

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Symi day out idea
A few more recent photos for you today and not much to talk about. Although the photos of Yialos might make it look almost deserted, they were taken in the morning before all three day boats had come in. Things start to fill up after 11:00, depending on the day, when the three ferries come in and unload their passengers.

A lot of day-trippers head off in large groups, following umbrellas and listening to their guides speak through microphones that they now hold; I’m not sure where the sound comes out. Maybe through the umbrellas? I assume what the guides are saying is accurate otherwise it’s possible that they are talking out of their … Well, you can fill that in for yourselves. There are all kinds of nationalities represented and you hear all kinds of languages being spoken when you are out and about down there at certain times.

Another way to take a day trip to Symi is to go it alone and, if you get the right boats on the right days you can have longer here, though you may miss Panormitis. If you come over on, say, the early catamaran on certain days you can be here just after nine, in time for breakfast at one of the cafes, and then have time to wander up to the village before it gets too hot. After that you can take the bus down, or walk down and then have lunch in Yialos – though there are places to have lunch in Horio as well. Then you still have time for a swim at the town beach, a ride on the train around towards Nimborio or on the horse and carriage for that added romance. And there’s plenty of time for an afternoon shop and drink before the catamaran comes back around 5.30, again depending on what day. Meanwhile, the larger ferries come via Panormitis, or return that way, so you have about one hour there, three hours in Yialos, and three or four hours on the boat in a leisurely cruise across and then around the east side of the island.

Obviously the best way to see Symi is to come and stay for at least a week, two is ideal if you can manage it and longer is even better.

See, not a lot of news today but life goes on, which is always a good thing to write. Talking of which, I have books to see to and so will get on with them.

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Hungry Hippo bank style
Well, that didn’t go according to plan, and it’s a plan that’s been in the making for a while now and now it’s… well, it’s recoverable but still a real pain in the kolo, pardon my Greek.

Neil is off to Rhodes on Wednesday to pick up his new pairs of glasses, much needed as he is now at the stage of bumping into walls and saying ‘Good morning, madam,’ to the local priests. So, off we trot to Yialos to do a few odd jobs and take some money out of the ATM. Except the money didn’t come out of the machine; it said, ‘please remove your card to complete the transaction’ and we could hear the mechanism working and the things whirring around inside…. But no card came back out. Cancel. Nothing. Wait and listen… nothing. Eventually it said he’d run out of time to complete the transaction and please take your card… nothing. So, slightly worried (I knew where this was going to go) Neil went inside the bank and told them what had happened. The card had money on it, it wasn’t out of date, he hadn’t entered the wrong pin three times or anything like that, it was exactly the same kind of transaction as he’d done a few days ago, etc., etc.

The teller in the bank was very helpful, went to the machine, retrieved the stuck card and brought it back to the desk. But, unfortunately, the bank was unable to hand the card back to him even though he was two feet away from it, they know him (he probably photographed their child’s baptism, or their wedding, or at least their ID cards) and even though he’s been using the bank for around 14 years now. It’s not allowed for the folk at the bank to hand the cards back that the machine swallows. Understandable in some situations and I’m all for security and all that, but how many Neil Goslings are there using this machine who look like him and are, in fact, him? He had his passport with him, his bank book, half the customers in there could have vouched for him and so on, and so on; but it’s a head office policy.

But all is not lost (apart from his card) as I have been saving up for my health insurance payment which is due in a few weeks’ time, so at least he can use that and get his much need glasses on Wednesday (as long as the machine doesn’t swallow my card). I’ll then have to find some other way around paying for my insurance while we wait for his card company to issue another card. And that’s going to be a trial I can tell, as they always ask for proof of address when issuing cards and that has to be written in English, and it’s obviously not – phone bills etc. are in Greek of course. So, we’ve started that process and meanwhile after Wednesday he should be able to see properly and we’ll be fine as long as I don’t need any hospital treatment until my insurance is renewed.

So, the message here is; if you happen to lose your card to a hungry ATM machine don’t expect to get it back. It happened to a visiting friend of ours a few years ago (at a different ATM) and he was left destitute on the day before he returned home – we lent him three shillings and sixpence so all was well there. If this banking variation of the Hungry Hippo game happens to you, do go in and report the mechanical theft but don’t bother making a fuss or causing a scene – not that Neil did, annoyed though he was – as it will do no good. There’s nothing can be done but phone your issuing bank and hope for a quick resolve.

Meanwhile, I was able to get a few snaps in the harbour while wandering around in the 40 degree heat, and here they are on the blog today. I’m off now to see what change we have down the back of the sofa so we can get some shopping, and so, as they say in Mapp & Lucia, ‘Au reservoir!’

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A taxing subject
Here’s a Rhodes story (with some photos taken very early in the season); something to make you think: ‘Rhodes tax inspector dives into sea to catch masseuse.’

That’s not a logline for a new short story or anything, it was a headline in Ekathirerini at the weekend. It seems the tax inspectors were checking workers on the beach when a Chinese masseuse saw them coming, ran into the sea and swam out 10 metres to avoid being caught and fined. The female tax inspector went after her but couldn’t arrest her in the water as that comes under the coastguard’s jurisdiction, but she was able to get the lady back to shore where, I assume, all hell broke loose. If you were wondering what the reason for the dramatic action was, well…

Apparently (and I’ve not checked this up, it’s only what I’ve heard) you can be fined up to €10,000 for working illegally in Greece and the person employing you can also be fined the same. I know people joke about how many businesses close when the tax inspectors are on an island, and you might think with good reason – but really, people should be employing others legally and doing it right, for their own good, the good of customers and of the workers of course. But it’s not always that cheap. I know that Yiannis pays Neil’s Ika contributions and wages through the bank as should be done, so he is all legal, as I was when I worked there. But obviously this masseuse wasn’t and she was probably trying to make some kind of living without having to pay the huge costs that having a small business now entails.

There have been other posts on this subject here in the past, but for certain jobs and business you can expect to pay (after start-up costs): a building rental, an annual ‘I have a business so please tax me’ tax of several hundred Euros, an accountant to do your books each month (between €80 and €150 per month or more), a certain amount of income tax in advance each year on top of your actual income tax for the previous year, our last one was €400 towards the following year, and then your 35% tax on whatever you earn (if freelance) with no allowances, there’s the VAT to charge on and hopefully get back which puts up some items to above affordable-to-buy levels, and then you pay your health insurance which was, when Neil had TEVE several years ago, starting off at around €200 per month (twice the price of my private insurance, which doesn’t cover pension of course) and then you have to pay your staff, buy your stock, pay for insurance (allegedly) and there are probably some other things too, oh yes, often there’s a payment to the local authority for space outside your business, some kind of local business tax too and any contributions for IKA (health cover) for your employees. And all that (and more expenses I’ve not thought of) is one reason there are so many small businesses closing down and so many tax-avoiding masseurs diving into the sea off Rhodes.

Have a nice day!

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Symi boat excursions
Friday was a bit of a non-event in our house, mainly due to a late night on Thursday, but a great late night. We were invited aboard the Poseidon for a birthday party involving a trip around to Agia Marina island and supper on the quayside, and what a lovely evening it was too.

There can’t be many folk who have been to Symi and not taken one of the boat trips. We now have the Poseidon and the Diagoras (the Triton and Nikolaos have not been used here for some years now) and they both do trips. You can find them in the harbour in the morning and evening where there are stands selling tickets for boat trips and taxi boats. Or you can visit one of the travel agents in Yialos and ask them about what trips are available. We have been on several in the past; around the island with stops for swimming and a barbecue lunch at Sesklia island, sometimes stopping at Panormitis as well, and also to St Emilianos for the day with swimming stops and lunch.

It was 17 years ago now that, while on holiday, we decided to take a walk to St Emilianos. It was the last day of our holiday, and Neil’s birthday. We set off and were doing really well until we took a wrong path (it’s much easier to do it now what with the maps and guide books available). We ended up off the beaten track up on the top of a hill, the wrong hill, as it turned out. It was very interesting: signs of settlements of the past, great views and so on and we could see our destination down below. The problem was, getting there. Thanks to some rock climbing experience of my youth we were able to carefully scramble down the side of a cliff to reach a bay. But it was the wrong bay.

It was a hot day, being early September, and we were running out of water. But one of those large yachts had called into this bay, Maroni, for a pit stop of some sort. It was one of those boats with waiters on it and how nice it would be, I thought, if they sent some water across or invited us on board, or even gave us a lift back. We staggered onto the beach, hopefully, but there was no lunch invitation, not even a wave. The idea then was to find the path back from St Emilianos and so we started walking around the bay to get into the next one. We came across a fisherman on the ‘beach’ by a small hut and asked if he could take us back to Yialos, but he was unable. He did tell us, however, that the boats were in at the next bay and, if we hurried, we might be able to get a lift on one of them. The pace picked up as they were due to leave in about 45 minutes. It’s not easy scrambling around a rocky bay with no path but we got there in the end, and just as the boats were weighing anchors.

We had a choice of two boats, one was rather full, the other was not so and we were invited to hitch a ride on either. We opted for the less busy one which turned out to be a private charter (I think it was the Diagoras – it was a long time ago). Nevertheless, we were made welcome, fed and watered (ouzoed) and soon the guitars were out and the singing had started. On discovering it was Neil’s birthday, people were dispatched to the depths and returned with the gift of a shell or two for him, we stopped in Maroni bay for a swim but the yacht that had been there had left nothing behind apart from a mild oil slick so we stopped elsewhere. By the time we got back to Yialos, friendships had been made and we were invited to go out with the party again the next day. Sadly, we were leaving so couldn’t. And no one wanted any money from us for the ride either.

These are the kind of people you meet on these boat trips; not the sweaty, scratched and rather desperate English couple that was us, but the lovely folk who helped us out. I expect some are reading this today, so to you we say, thank you! Maybe see you next time we stray from the path and turn being lost into a party.

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