One successful day follows another! The new television arrived on Monday, but Tuesday was too wet to go out and collect it and we were away on Wednesday, so yesterday it was. A march down to town, a few shopping things attended to and a visit to the courier was followed by a taxi home with a large but relatively light box. Out with the old and in with the new, all connected to this and that in a few minutes and bluetoothed to the new speaker, so every programme sounds like a cinema performance.
The second success was my piano student battling heroically through the first page and a half of his own, new copy of Mozart’s Sonata in C Major (K 545), not only the first several bars of the first movement, but we also started looking at the second, so I was very happy about that. Then, we tried to rig the Marconi telegraph cables ready to go on Titanic, but I have to say, it almost had me swearing because it was so fiddly, but we managed a rough draft.
The photos today are today. The sight just as I opened the shutters in my office for the first time in several days. Looks like it’s going to be a cloudy morning, though sunshine is promised for later and over the weekend with the temperature due to rise later next week. That’ll be interesting as we’ve had just about every kind of weather except snow this winter so far, a winter which has, as predicted, flown by. Sam’s already at work, the Kali Strata restaurant is already open (as are many other places, including Trata and To Spitiko), and some, of course, have never closed. Which, though, is what I must do for the weekend – I’ll see you back here next week.
Yesterday was one of those days that went well. Despite the roaring wind and cold blasts, we were up at four and out of the house by ten past five to walk down to the harbour. The Blue Star was only a few minutes late, but Neil decided the day was going to be a good one and everything was going to go just as it should. With that decided, we knew we were in safe hands. The boat was busy to say the least, but we were second in the coffee queue and found seats in the stern café for the hour-and-a-bit crossing. Here’s a tip: when you hear the announcement that you’re about to arrive at the port of Rhodes, there’s no need to pack up and hurry to the exit (unless they’ve called for drivers to return to their vehicles). We sauntered around, stood out on the back and watched the docking which I’ve known to take 20 minutes or more, and only when both drawbridges were down and the mooring men were inviting marauders did we bother to stroll to the exit, by which time the human traffic was flowing. This avoids being stuck on the steps for all that time among coughs and sneezes. It doesn’t always take so long, but the tide was high, and we weren’t moving on.
This was my only photo of the day.
From there, it was a gentle walk around to the New Town where we arrived at Kokoraki (the place for breakfast these days) at eight, just as it was opening. Neil had his first appointment over in Ag. Nicholas at 10.00 so there was no rush, but as we finished breakfast just after nine, he set off to find a taxi, while I called into the optician to see if his glasses were ready – to save them having to post them (no, not yet, but we weren’t expecting them to be). Then, I took a wander around and did some window shopping, and bought two bays, a set of French, and a skylight, before plonking myself at the Plaza for a cup of black tea and honey. I had a couple of hours before my appointment over the road, so I was just about to start on some story planning when Neil returned, all done and dusted, and five minutes before his ten o’clock appointment was meant to be. Quick journey, great GP who signed him fit for work, and a chatty cab ride back, half an hour, sorted.
This is a closeup of my only photo from yesterday.
After that, we made our appointments over the road (annual cardio check), and all was well there, but the Dr wanted an extra blood test that wasn’t included in our usual health insurance set, so we toddled off to a nearby microbiology lab, bundled in, explained what we were after, gave our details, were taken straight into the bloodletting room (where you could watch the waiting room while you were dealt with (and vice versa)), did the biz, left our and Dr’s email addresses and were out within ten minutes and only a few euros lighter. Those results will be sent straight to the Dr who will contact us if anything else is needed.
From there, it was a walk through the Old Town, fighting off the taverna Kamakia trying to drag everyone into their establishments in a jovial way (give it a few months), stopped at our usual place for a drink before continuing on to Nimmos to see Aris, Dimitris and Michaelis and have lunch at a very reasonable price, thank you very much. Thence, to the boat which left on time and was a lot quieter on the return trip. The cheekiest ending of the day took place when, with a walk and a climb ahead, Neil thumbed us a lift in the back of someone’s truck, and not only did they take us to the village, but because it was a slim truck, they also dropped us right outside the front gate.
So, that’s what I call a successful daytrip away. Today, we have a TV to collect from ACS, and we’re hoping there will be a taxi on hand who will drive round and help us load it into the car, as we’re not going to be able to walk up with it. I aim to have that installed by lunchtime. If not, I have a teen coming for music this afternoon, so I’m sure he’ll know how to sort it out. Before all that, though, I have research to do, so it will be more of this…
As I am not here, I thought I’d leave you with this list of promotions. You’ve seen them before: no cost to you unless you want to buy a paperback, a Kindle or add a book to your Kindle Unlimited, but good exposure for indie authors, myself included. If you see a genre you like, click through to see who’s got what available. All being well with weather and ferries, I’ll be back online tomorrow.
One of the things about having apps and galleries that supply you with memories is that they also sometimes supply you with ‘This day two years ago…’ type stuff. Well, today, I have news that two years ago I was in Prague on a culture tour with Godson #2, and, having seen the cathedral of St Vitus, and attended a concert at Lobkowicz Palace, we walked down to Charles Bridge and, nearby, had an encounter with a coypu. We first mistook this for a beaver, which would have been more appropriate because April 7th is, apparently, International Beaver Day. Yay! However, for the purpose of this vaguely Symi-based blog, I have gone back a few further years and discovered that on this day X years ago, we were walking at the other end of the island.
This is towards Faneromeni, which is the area behind Panormitis. There’s a lovely wood to walk through to a large olive grove, a church, and views over the inlet/bay. Across the water you can see Sesklia Island, though you can’t in my photo.
As you can see, the pine wood was carpeted with green, and parts of the track are easy under foot. I’m not sure what it’s like now, possibly concreted as seems to be the fashion in the countryside these days, but we could only get so far by car back then. Hopefully, it has remained unspoiled.
Looking at other ‘this day over time’ photos in my gallery I discover that, having been to the music museum, the Petrin Tower, the observatory and on various trams, I am off to see the Magic Flute at the Estates Theatre with my music student godson. Five years ago, it was so misty/wet outside we couldn’t see Nimos (the same is predicted for today), and, in 2006, I was photographing the harbour. So, there you go. Remember, no blog tomorrow, but I will be putting up a shameless promotion you can help with.
Actually, it wasn’t all wet, it was a case of rain one minute and sunshine the next. I’ve always said April weather can be changeable, and it’s certainly been that this year, as was March. There’s more rain to come, apparently, and it’ll be colder, but then warmer, then cloudy, windy… You know how it goes.
Since we painted the bathroom flat roof and had the ceiling replastered, we’ve not had any problem with rainwater coming through. Instead, the leak has moved to the porch, and can I find it? Can I buffalo. When it rains and there is no wind, the water runs down the wall, but when the wind is in the right direction, there’s no leak at all. Odd. Then, there are no obvious cracks in the stonework and rendering, though we’ve painted them with ‘plastic’ paint anyway. That only leaves the tiles on the sloping roof, and they seem okay, but I’m not a roofer. Possibly, the rain’s getting in elsewhere and running along to the wall only to find no way to go but down, but… Well, it’s a case of putting down an old towel or two and not worrying about it, as it’s outside/inside and not inside/inside. Anyway, that’s what happens here when it rains as it has been doing a lot of late.
Because of that, I didn’t go far from home over the weekend, favouring instead to stay in and research dentistry in the late 1800s, trawl some newspapers of the time for prices and adverts, and continue with my next mystery. I have no plans for anything different today, either, though Wednesday will be a day for lots of walking because we will be in Rhodes, and it’s so much easier to walk around there than it is here. (No steps and not many hills in the new town.) Hopefully, it won’t be raining.
