You remember how yesterday we were heading off from Rhodes to Kos for the second of our ‘two centre’ holiday? Well, before we get on that boat I just want to add a correction; thanks to Trevor from Rhodes who kindly sent in this message:

“Hi from Faliraki. Just read on the blog you have been to Saffron again. In the blog it says there are just 2 Indian restaurants on Rhodes. There are 4. One In Pefkos, only open in season. Likewise the one in Lindos. The 4th one is in Ialyssos & is called Sartaj. www.sartajindianrhodes.com – It is open all year.”

Very useful information for everyone visiting Rhodes who, like us, fancies an Indian meal. While we’re talking about meals, if I listed everything we had during our holiday you’d think me very greedy (I am) but I thought it might also show what variety there can be found. It’s not all Greek to me if you know where to look. For example, on Rhodes, we also ate at an Asian fast food place, opposite the Hondas Centre, where a huge plate of noodles was only €2.50; good stuff if you are on a budget. We also ate at Koukous where you can find Greek plates and some unusual mezethes, which make a nice change.

But, because the boat on Tuesday left at 08.00 we didn’t really have time for our all included Lydia Hotel (€40.00 a night for a double room) breakfast, so we ate on the boat, a ‘Dodekanisos Express toasty’ and some coffee (coffee only €1.20). The route we were taking took us to three islands we’d never seen before, apart from when standing on the top of a hill on Symi and seeing a slight smudge on the horizon. We called into Halki first.

That was some kind of magical experience: the weather was calm and the sea flat. The approach to the island was smooth and there was such an air of calm that the tranquillity of the scene smothered the sound of the boat, it was like gliding in on silence. The population had come out to meet the boat, all seven of them (I’m only joking) and there was a brief exchange of ropes and gossip and the provisions were unloaded (four cabbages) before we glided out again.

Next to Tilos where a similar welcome awaited us, a few more people this time and a crash barrier to hold them all back (15) which was a good safety measure. Still the sun was shining and the air was warm. And, as you can see from one of my snaps, the boat was not exactly busy. At one point there was more staff than passengers.

And so on towards Nisyros. The arrival here is not a picturesque as the ferry doesn’t pull into the main port, but still, nice and calm and only the faintest whiff of volcano in the air. And then, about three and a half hours after leaving Rhodes, we pulled into Kos, which was slightly busier, but only very slightly. A walk with our back backs around the harbour to our pre-booked hotel, more about that another day, and checking in to our harbour-view room, and it was time to stock up on lunch.

Actually, we sat in the sun and had a pre-lunch snifter first, to celebrate finally arriving at our holiday destination; something we’d been looking forward to since the start of the summer. And then a wander around the centre of town for somewhere to eat and a stumble upon the Museum Restaurant that has an extensive menu and everything (apart from asparagus sauce) available and a wonderful lunch.

And so, the holiday really kicked off. We were a bit full from lunch still but managed to share a pizza in the evening after plenty of wandering around including a visit to some of the ancient sites that litter the town. Again, more about them another day when there should also be, I hope, some decent images from Neil to share.

We should be getting back to normal now, blog-wise, kind of. We took last week off and went on a short holiday to Rhodes and Kos; we’re back now and the rest of this week is probably going to read like a ‘what I did on my holiday’ session like we used to do at school a long, long time ago. But bear with me and you might find some of what’s to come of interest.

So, just over a week ago, bags packed, and including six kilos of dumbbells as Neil was determined to carry on his weights while away, we set off down the Kali Strata for the afternoon boat. Pausing outside the old Symi Gallery to wait while Neil went back to collect the jacket he’d forgotten, I saw only two people; it was a quiet afternoon. But, as it turned out, not a quiet boat. Lots of day-trippers from Rhodes, mainly locals, and a few tourist, had come over for a Sunday on Symi, making the ‘Express’ a busy boat on the way over.

In Rhodes the Christmas lights are already up, and the hotel had a tree in reception; obviously ordered in a moment of wild abandon and no regard for size or proportion, they’d had to cut the top off to get it in, but it looked festive. Sunday night involved a trip to Saffron, one of only two Indian restaurants on the island, and, as we were the only customers, a long and interesting chat with the people who were working there. All family run, the nationalities involved included Japanese, Egyptian and, on our last visit, Greek, German and (I think) Iranian. The chefs are from India and the food is very nice thank you.

Monday: a walk around the town and up to the Acropolis and stadium in the sun, and then on (and on) to the hospital to visit Yiannis (Rainbow) who was there waiting for an operation. It’s one of those strange quirks of town planning that you can see the hospital for miles around, as it’s right up there on the cliff top, but walking to it is a bit of a gamble and, if you’re not careful you might end up arriving in an ambulance: no pavements along the main road, only in the areas where there are shops and turnings and where cars have to drive more safely.

We were back and forth across the path of incoming traffic trying to find somewhere safe to walk. But we got there, took the family by surprise, said hello, handed over a couple of his favourite sports newspapers and then, feet aching somewhat, caught a taxi back to Mandraki for lunch.

The boat to Kos was Tuesday morning, so we’ll talk about that tomorrow, but the rest of Monday was spent in wandering around the usual sites of the new town and having a light supper at ‘Koukous.’ There, that’s days one and two dealt with, tomorrow it’s on to Kos via a quick look at Halki, Tilos and Nisyros.

And finally in our week-long advertising campaign, if you’ve missed anything, if you would like to order one of my books but also want to order some other items at the same time, you can use our Amazon store.

Just click to the page and there you will see all of my books and novels, a list of those by Anne Zouroudi, other books about Greece, or set in Greece, maps and guides, holiday reading, all kinds of photography stuff and loads of other ideas for gifts. Every item bought via our store benefits us by a tiny-weeny per cent and every little helps!

Simply click here for our Amazon recommendations.

Or, why not check out some of Niel’s photos at his new Photobox gallery where you can order prints and mugs and other things. Click here to explore (still in its early stages). http://www.photoboxgallery.com/4073451

And today’s advertisement is not for a book, it’s for Neil’s 2015 Symi calendar.

These are now only available from our shop front at Lulu.com, as they say on the TV adverts, ‘You can’t buy them in the shops,’ and that’s quite true, you can’t. If you are a calendar user, or know someone who is, then this is what you want on your wall, or theirs, throughout next year. We use one, we have it in our kitchen where it is ‘kitchen proof,’ not exactly ‘wipe clean’ but it’s survived a steamy environment for this year so far. There are 12 images of Symi, each one, usually, taken during the month it represents.

So, rather than describe the thing to you I’ll just supply the link and then you can head to Lulu and order copies; there is an online preview to flick through if you want to see all the images. The process is easy, you may need to register but that’s quick and simple, and the payment method is very secure. We’ve been using them for years and have had no hassles.

So, you can order Symi calendars online by clicking to Lulu here.

(You can also find our books at Lulu.com at the Symi Dream storefront here.)

Welcome to Thursday and today’s featured book is ‘The Judas Inheritance.’ Regular readers of the Symi Dream blog will already know something about this book, but there us some background to it that you may not be aware of. It started with a look in the desk drawer for inspiration…

Looking around to see what I had available here that could be used in a story I opened my desk drawer and saw a coin. My grandfather found this coin when he was in Palestine during the Second World War, where he was Naval Chaplain with responsibility for parts of North Africa and the Middle East. The coin dates from around 2,000 years ago and shows the Athenian Owl and a head in prolife. It could be from as early as 400 B.C.

Ancient coin, Palestine, Greek coins traveling there and back, silver pieces… Connections were made and, as often happens, a great big ‘What if?’ presented itself. What if the 30 pieces of silver used by Judas to betray Christ found their way along trade routes to Symi, bringing with them a curse of betrayal?

And that’s how the story started.

As anyone who has read my ‘Jason and the Sargonauts’ will know, I am rather fond of using local ‘clues’, tying them into a story to bring an air of possibility to the proceedings. Here there were several clues ready and waiting: Symi has been occupied by the Romans, Venetians, the Knights of St John, the Ottomans, Italians, Germans, British and finally Greeks. All, apart from Greece, have risen to fail. Why? What if each downturn in fortune happened at the same time these cursed coins were found, greedily used and brought to life again? When would the last time have been? Around 1912 when the Italian occupation, over fishing of sponges, World Wars and increases in taxes led to a mass migration from the island dropping the population from an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 to just a few hundred.

Just around the corner from my house is a square with a kafeneion opened in 1909, when the island was at the height of its prosperity and just before the great decline. What if the owner was able to build that new kafeneion because he had come into the possession of the cursed coins?

There is also an up to date tie-in which I felt was needed and poignant. In recent years, due to the economic downturn in the country, the suicide rate in Greece has increased. There has a curse on the country; the curse of bad government you might say. What if that curse was actually the curse of the Judas coins? I wondered, how would 30 pieces of cursed silver affect everyday folk? And the simple answer was suicide, the way they had affected Judas. This suggested to me that the coins were cursed even before Judas came into possession of them. (On this score, see the end of the book for a final twist that didn’t make it to the film.)

I could go on, but I know you have other things to do. As I write, the film version of ‘The Judas Inheritance’, titled by me as ‘The Judas Curse’ is still in post-production. From what I have seen of the rough edit it looks great. As happens in films, other people were involved in the project and a lot of the book story was changed to the extent that what I feel are the main elements of the story are missing – the modern day tie in, the clues, the history of the island, the progress of the curse and even, to a certain extent, the coins! But that’s how things go and I am sure – I hope – we will all see something in film form based on my novel at some point in the future.

“Brilliant storyline. It hooked me from the first page and I didn’t put it down until I finished and then only reluctantly. It had everything the more traditional thriller should; mystery, intrigue, heart stopping moments, even the odd tear at the sadness of it all.” Amazon review

You can order copies of ‘The Judas Inheritance’ here.

The photos are from the filming of ‘The Judas Cures’ and all are by Neil Gosling © all rights reserved