It looks like the tourist season has well and truly started, or at least, there are visitors here enjoying their Easter break. Things may quieten down after Western Easter, but for now, we have warm weather, calm seas, day-trip boats and visitors staying on the island. It seems too close to winter, as though winter shouldn’t have finished yet (and maybe it hasn’t, and the cold winds will return), but it’s good to see, and good for those who have businesses.
The King Saron has been calling in, and the Sebeco is up and running again, offering daily trips to and from Rhodes. Tavernas and shops, bars and cafés are opening in the harbour, and the next thing you know, people will be swimming in the sea. Mind you, the beach tavernas don’t usually open until later in the season when the taxi boats start running. I heard, but I’m not 100% sure about this, that they apply for six-month licences, rather than annual ones, so they make their six-month season from, say, May to October. Mind you, May is only a month away, yet it only seems like last week we were in Athens celebrating New Year.
Still, life in this house continues as normal. Yesterday, I worked on chapter five of my next book, did some publicity admin for the others, had a look around for some new freelance writing or editing work, and the godson came for his piano lesson in the afternoon. After that, he worked on his Yamaha kit while I began on a Book Nook puzzle. They’re not really puzzles, not once you work out how the instructions work and that only takes a second. They are model kits and very detailed they are too. It took me two hours to build the front of a bookcase.
Not my one, but this kind of thing.
Today, under another clear and calm sky, I have an online meeting with my pension people, chapter five to finish, the new Mozart piece to bring up to scratch, and I’d like to go for a ramble, but I’m not sure yet whether my online meeting is at 11.00 my time or there’s, which would be Dublin, though it could be Madrid depending on who is phoning, so I might be needed at 11.00, 12.00 or even 13.00.
Whatever, it’s a lovely day.
Thanks to the increasing number of people using Facebook groups such as Friends of Symi, I’ve noticed more and more enquiries about what to do on Symi when on a visit, so, I thought I’d put up some of my ideas. These came to me while I was on a walk on Saturday morning when the temperature was 24 degrees, it was sunny, and I was wearing shorts before the end of March. Eek.
As and when I a) remember, and b) have the time, I will add these thoughts to a new page which I’ll link in the top menu. The page is called Things to Do. Anyone who’s looking for ideas of what to do when on a trip to Symi, can browse and see what I suggest.
Before we start, I must stress that I am not a travel agent, my information may not be up to date, and not every idea will suit every person. Still, it might give you some ideas of what to do depending on how much time you have, and I’ll do each post according to the length of time visitors have. First, I’ll give my thoughts on a short day trip, then a longer one, then an overnight, and so on. Today, we’ll start with…
Symi in Three Hours
Actually, it might be a tad longer, but I’m thinking of those who come from Rhodes on an organised day trip calling at Panormitis either on the way here or on the way back. Some of these trips give you Yialos (aka, Symi Town, or the harbour) for three hours or thereabouts. If you are with a pack and obliged to follow the guide to various shops and have all that business going on, you will have even less time on your own in the wild.
If, however, you want longer and you are more independent, you can make your own way over for the day. In that case, it’s possible to spend up to eight hours here in one day, or even longer if you come from Kos on an early morning Blue Star, but that’s another story for another day. I’m thinking of a day trip from Rhodes, mainly, and you can come on certain days with the Dodekanisos Seaways boats which are more expensive but faster than others, and have an arrival-here time around 9.00 and leaving-here time around 17.00.
Anyway, for now, you’ve arrived on a Sebeco boat or King Saron or other, and you have a few hours to do things on your own, so what do you do? You probably end up staying in Yialos, although it’s more than possible to take a taxi or bus up to the village, have a browse, walk down and still have time for lunch before shooting off. I’ll cover that excursion in another post when you have more time on the island. For now, I’m assuming three hours in Yialos.
Don’t go Swimming. That’s my first piece of advice. Not because the water’s bad or anything, far from it, but why spend all that money to come over to the most beautiful island in the Aegean and do what you can do within yards of your hotel on Rhodes? Anyway, the last I heard, both town beaches were closed, though one is open as a free-for-all, but without facilities, though that may change this year (2024). So, forget the beaches, and enjoy the town. Here are some things to do:
Walk around the harbour and the boatyard.
There are plenty of cafés and tavernas at which to sit and drink, eat, and people-watch.
Wander the few back streets.
Take the children to the new fancy play area.
Ride the little train along the coast and back (I think the journey is less than one hour).
Check to see if the private museum beside the basketball court behind St John’s church is open – you’ll have to ask for directions but it’s worth it.
Do the touristy things with sponge shops and craft shops, the local food shops where they sell Symi products like honey and salt. I can’t name them all as I’d forget some, but it’s not a huge place, so you won’t miss them.
Harani (the boatyard)
You can also start an assault on the famous Kali Strata, the steps that run up to the village, but keep an eye on time and heat.
Sitting with a drink and watching the boats and visitors is one of my favourite pastimes, and it’s something to do once you’ve had a walk around. So is lunch, and in the height of summer with up to nine day boats a day of one sort or another, you might want to book a place as soon as you arrive and come back to it later.
Shopping is another excellent way to pass the time and help the local economy.
If you want an adventure, you could take the bus for a round trip to Horio (the village), Pedi, back to Horio and back to Yialos. It will cost you €2.00, and the bus leaves on the hour. You may not have time to get off, but at least you will see some more of the island and get a great view from the road on the way up and down. Tip: sit on the righthand side of the bus for the best view.
Harbour view from the bus
With only a few hours, during which you may want to sit down for lunch, it’s not possible to get the best of the island, so try and come for longer if you can. Also, if you do check in to one of the Symi groups on Facebook and ask for ideas, you will receive loads, possibly to the point of bamboozlement, so be prepared.
Look out for future posts of this nature all of which will end up on the Thing to Do page which is now live in the top menu.
I’ll be back tomorrow with another post about something or other, and in the meantime, I will leave you with a couple of images from Saturday morning.
Well, that was blustery. Yesterday, according to Windfinder, the wind was up to force six. Felt more like force 16 at our house, with the roof tiles rattling in new ways, the aircon unit vibrating up on the roof, and the windows shuddering as though a freight train was coming through. Strangely, the shutters didn’t come away from their moorings and start banging about, but all kinds of things were flying through the air. Across the water, the sea was smashing against the rocks at Nimos and along the coast, and I didn’t see any boats venture out. My phone camera doesn’t do it justice, you; need the sound to go with the sight, but it’s better than nothing.
The spray was blowing inland across the top of the water in great gusts, and there was plenty of white blown up and about. Among all this wind was half the Sahara Dessert, apparently. [It’s made with whipped cream, sponge and custard, a little like a triffle. Of course, I meant to write Desert and trifle…] There’s a great big cloud of very fine dust being blown across Europe as far north as the top of Italy, and although it happens every year and more than once, this year apparently, it’s bigger than before. The government have issued health warnings for anyone sensitive to fine dust, I guess, and the next time it rains, we’ll probably get what they call ‘red rain’, where the sand dust washes down from the atmosphere. It might mean you have to clean your outside surfaces afterwards, but at least it gets the stuff out of the air.
Today, though, it’s as calm as you like at, at seven in the morning, already 18 degrees. It’s hazy out there, but a good day for a short walk which I will do later before continuing with chapter four of the new book. That’s after I’ve done a little publicity to try and sell the others, and after I’ve posted my last photo of the week, the neat line of bikes on the top of the Pedi road. Made me wonder what was going on, except nothing was going on, it was simply where local folk park. Have a good weekend.
I’m talking about myself here. I’ve just published the latest Victorian mystery in my ongoing series of novels set, in this case, in 1892. You can find ‘Follow the Van’ by following that link. [Btw: the link is to Amazon.com, if you’re in the UK, then change the .com to .co.uk, otherwise it will tell you the book isn’t available. The same goes for other countries, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Denmark, Spain… wherever you are.]
The first of the three series starts in 1888 with the hunt for the East End Ripper and the characters and story develop from there through 11 books and into series two. There, you find seven books, new characters coming and going but the core team remains strong, and that series then ends with a massive treasure hunt. Meanwhile, series three has been set up, and now, I am starting to write book four of that series. These are all fun mysteries under my pen name, and you can find all the books on my second Amazon page here.
I’ve got another Amazon author page under my real name, and that’s where you can find much earlier books and my Symi collection, as advertised over there on the right of this page. I’m lucky in that many people who go to read both authors are people who’ve been to Symi, who we have met and who I know, but I am also pleased to say I have many readers from all around the world. That might make me sound terribly popular and doing rather well, but that’s not always the case – being popular I mean. Or doing rather well, come to that, but now, my 40 + books pay for their own publishing, so at least I’m not losing out.
I’ve often been asked how I publish my own works on Amazon, and it’s surprisingly simple when you know how. However, the process takes too long to explain in any one article or blog post, or even conversation. If you’re interested to read about the basics, and see a quick summary of how I go about publishing, then check out the article I wrote for my other blog:
Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with the above random photos of Symi which don’t reflect today’s weather, which is cloudy and windy, though not overly cold. Still, a day for staying in and feeling lazy. Once I’ve written the next chapter.
It was something of a lovely day yesterday. A little writing, a walk, a birthday dinner with the boys, much eating and making merry, perfect. And now, back to normal and onwards, except a few pounds heavier, and with a volume of Schubert sonatas to work through, to go along with the Chopin sonatas I collected in Rhodes recently. Plenty of piano work for me to be getting on with. Thank you everyone who sent birthday wishes, and thank you to my glorious husband for making a grand piano out of chocolate and putting it on a cake first made for Franz Joseph of Austria (who appears in one of my novels), and to Jenine and Sam for cooking me a pie that had mashed potato beneath the crust (no, honestly, and it was delish), and to Harry for the endless entertainment at my dinner last night.
Yesterday’s walk
Meanwhile, I’m, hearing more about who is getting ready to open for Easter (which isn’t until May 5th) and for the season, there are rumours that this might be happening and that definitely will, and she’s going to be doing this and he’s not going to be doing that this year, but will be doing the other instead, and so on and so forth. What I do know, because I read the sign on the door, is that up here in the village, Taverna Zoi is looking for staff, so if you fancy a summer job…
Pre-mayhem
Mind you, you’d have to be from an EU country as Brits can no longer work in Greece without a specific and hard-to-get visa, and the days of working your summer in return for a party life when not at work are over. Makes you wonder how the clubs of Faliraki — and other places once popular with the late teen early twenties crowd who came to give out flyers all summer, drink cheap booze and cackle their way to a good vomit — will manage. Ah well, it must be that now they only employ casual staff from other EU countries. I have no idea how I got into this subject, but I’m getting off it now as I have some typing that needs to be done and it’s already a quarter to eight.
