Let’s go on holiday (Day one)

I’m not going to have much to talk about over the next few weeks because we’re lockdown again here on Symi. We can only go out for a few essential reasons and only then with permission, so I shan’t have any new photos. If I hear of anything suitable for the blog, I’ll put it up, but otherwise, I thought it high time I took you on holiday. Over the next however-long, we’ll be travelling from Symi to Athens, London, Canada and back on a journey that began in early March before the world changed. Basically, I’m going to tell you what we did on our last holiday and share some of our photos with you, and it might take a couple of weeks to get through, but hopefully, it will see us through our lockdown, and take you away from the pressures of your own.

Background

Last year, Neil and I, decided we would take that ‘trip of a lifetime’ and journey across Canada by train, something we’d always wanted to do. We were booked to leave Symi at the beginning of March, and when the time came, were faced with a dilemma. If we cancelled, we would lose a substantial sum of money because everything was, more or less, open, and there were no travel restrictions. If we went, we might find ourselves having to turn around and come back. Our insurance and travel companies were not paying out for cancellations at that point because things weren’t so bad, and the countries we were visiting were operating as usual, but under the ‘wash hands and be careful’ guidelines. Airports were open, nothing was cancelled, it was all going to pass us by as long as we were nowhere near Italy, and there were no cases in Greece, the UK or Canada. Things didn’t look too bad.

Day one

The first day of the much planned and anticipated trip started at the new dock on Symi waiting for the Blue Star to Athens. The ferry is much our preferred way of travel to the mainland (rather than flying), and we had booked a berth on the Xios for the 17-hour, overnight journey. The boat was very quiet, as it often is in the out of season months, but operating normally. We found our berth, dumped our bags and headed to the stern to wave goodbye to Jenine and Harry who had come down to see us off, and when the tailgate lifted, the adventure was underway.

The itinerary was set. Two days in Athens, a long weekend in London to see a couple of shows and catch up with some old school friends and family before meeting our tour at Heathrow. We then had 10 days in Canada including Toronto, Niagara Falls, five days on the train, and Vancouver. The journey home was to include another two days in London to see the Tutankhamen exhibition, and two nights in Athens to chill out before the boat back. All in all, about three weeks of travelling.

We were not travelling alone, of course, and you’ll see more of this chap as we go…

The first stop, after dinner, was Tilos, as this was a Friday night sailing. After that, we were up and about long enough to see the docks at Nissiros in the dark, and then Kos, but were asleep in our forward cabin by the time we reached Kalymnos. I have difficulty sleeping when on the move but managed a couple of hours in my bunk before waking up, creeping around and out so as not to wake himself, and watch the sun rise over day two. Which we will get to tomorrow.

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Back to lockdown

I don’t think there will be many new Friday photos for a couple of weeks. If you haven’t already heard, we’re back into lockdown from tomorrow. Only seven viable reasons to leave home, and a form or SMS is needed before you go out. Bars, cafes etc., all shut, so today is Neil’s last day at the bar (it was going to be Sunday anyway). As far as I know, those traders and pilgrims already at Panormitis will have to leave as that won’t be happening, and there will be fewer boats.

Meanwhile… I must prepare a blog post for my other blog ready for tomorrow where I will be showing off the cover of my new book for the first time. Check in and take a look here for a regular Saturday post about all kinds of writer things.

I’ll keep slogging away here, but once again, the posts may simply be morning thoughts and photos from the balcony when we have the shutters open. And talking of photos, here are a few from the files. Have a good weekend.

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Wind

The wind is blowing in the wrong direction and sending the smell of the drains into our laundry room via the sink… somehow. I’ve taped up every join in the pipes, the trap is working, the plug is in, I still don’t understand how it’s possible, but there you are. Somewhat unpleasant but one of those things, like when the wind blows in any direction, it blows the dead leaves into the porch. They rush into the house as soon as you open the door as if there’s a sale on and they’ve been queuing all night. It’s also rattling the balcony doors where the latch/lock mechanism only fits into the top fastening, and to keep out the draughts, we have to close shutters, fill the gap between shutter and door, and then hang a thick quilt over the whole thing. In other words, we’re gearing up for winter.

That gives me an excuse to remind you that you can have a Symi summer all year round simply by buying one of Neil’s calendars. This year, the photos are all of sunrises at Pedi and were taken during the summer. You can only buy these online from one outlet, and all you have to do is follow this link to Symi Sunrises 2021.

And here’s the kind of image you can expect to find on the calendar. There is one like this for every month of the year, and the calendar is one of those that has boxes (about one-inch square) in which you can write notes and reminders.

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Panormitis Festival

In case you were wondering if the annual Festival at Panormitis is going ahead this year (7^th to 9^th November), the latest I heard is, yes, it is. But…

Church services with mask-wearing supervision.
No feast in the refectory, but take-away only.
Market stalls only for traders from within the Dodecanese.
Stalls to be distanced (I heard 5m.)
Food stalls, take-away only.
There will be extra ferries running as usual.

I’m not sure how accurate that is, nor what I feel about it, but we’re not planning to go. In fact, when Neil finishes work on Sunday, we’re planning to stay in as much as possible for two weeks just to make sure nothing nasty has been left behind on the island by summer and other visitors. That’s a personal choice.

Now, back to some random photos…

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Preparing for winter

What’s happening today? Well, not a lot really. As you can see from the photos, the square was quiet (on Sunday), although the image of the light on the chairs is misleading. The other side of the bar, out of shot, was busy with the family having a barbeque. It was All Saints Day. There was a baptism too, and the party was booked into the George and Maria taverna, so I assume that was busy later in the evening. The nighttime photo was taken around six-thirty, although it felt much later because of the shorter days.

The Nikolaos, one of the day boats, was in on Sunday, so there must still be some holiday-making activity on Rhodes, but I’ve seen fewer and fewer visitors on Symi these last few days. We’re preparing for the winter. Sam painted the flat roof, another part of a roof which also leaks, and the bathroom ceiling, all in an attempt to keep out rainwater when it next rains. We’ve also put the fans away and have started the hunt for the heaters with ‘I know I put it somewhere safe… It’ll be somewhere.’ That kind of thing.

I am thinking of turning my computer desk into a modelling station for the winter and moving my writing paraphernalia over to the big desk instead. The computer desk is a corner thing with shelves I can put the paints on so everything is in easy reach. Also, I won’t have to clear it up every time I’ve finished. Last year, I did my winter hobby on the kitchen table, but you get that kind of tutting and ‘Can you clear the table so we can have breakfast?’ thing going on when you do that. I’m making Aurora horror model kits, in case you were interested. These are figures of classic characters from Universal and other studios horror films. I’ve only done Dracula and the Witch so far and started on The Invisible Man earlier this year, so he’s first to be done. Then, when I have some spare pennies, I’ll look around for another one. I do have a couple of originals in my cabinet, but these are collectors’ items and not to be made. Instead, I’ll hunt out the remoulds and go with them if I can afford them. You can get them at a reasonable price, but from America and pay just as much for the postage as you do for the kit, so I am trying to find somewhere closer to home to buy them from.

Anyway, you didn’t need to know all that, but some people do ask ‘what do you do in the winter’, and there’s one of your answers.

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