Smile

I couldn’t think of what to tell you today, except the square was again busy yesterday evening, and the temperature in the courtyard was up to 36. So I thought I’d have a look and see what odd photos I have on my OneDrive. The sheep thing was funny, though it’s not easy to see them in the picture below. I was coming back from the hillside, and just before the path joins the main road, this small flock came running into the lane, saw me, and stopped dead in their tracks, as did I. The leading sheep, centre, front, had its head tipped down, glaring as we faced off, playing chicken to see who would move first. After a few tense seconds, I took a step to the left, they a step to the right, and we circled cautiously until they scrambled off towards the hill and I carried on down, chuckling.

I found a couple of other images on the drive. The one about coats is research, the courtyard as it looks with the light on at 4.30 in the morning, the biker boys gathering in the square, and a couple of Neil’s from when he took Paddington for a morning walk to Pedi the other day. Enjoy, and smile, ‘cos that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

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Just a thought

It was good to see the square busy yesterday evening, although it was a double-edged sword because there were empty seats to keep some people distanced from each other. Empty seats that could have been filled by other punters. Not that everyone is taking the distancing advice as seriously as they should. Symi is only safe for as long as people remain unselfishly aware of others. Just because you’ve filled in a form and are prepared to quarantine when you get home if necessary, doesn’t mean you’re not passing along the virus you might have caught on the plane. In the same worrying way, it was also good to hear the sound of cheering and laughing coming from one of the harbour bars at five the other morning. Quite a few people were having fun down there and, by the sound of it, had been all night. I assume they were standing several feet away from each other and not touching.

The double-edged part is, of course, that businesses are desperate for custom, but don’t have enough. A few week’s of semi-reasonable trade isn’t going to cover the overheads already owed and the debts that will be accumulated over the winter with no hope of paying them off for some time, if at all. I imagine that for those who don’t own their own premises, the rent is one of the biggest bills. I happen to know one business up here whose rent was €700 a month, 12 months a year (€8,000 p/a), and that was about eight years ago. Another was €1,000 per month or €12,000 a year. That’s in the village. I hate to think what they are like in the harbour. Add on the other overheads, tax etc., and you start to see how one or two ‘good’ months in a season isn’t going to be a drop in the Aegean compared to a ‘normal’ season.

Maybe not the cheeriest way to start the week, but I just woke up with that thought in my head and wanted to share. Some readers might find it of interest.

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Friday Photos

Here’s a collection of shots that Neil has taken during his morning walks and swims. He puts some of these on our Symi Dream Facebook page which you are welcome to view, like and share, but not all of them go there, which is why I have added them here. Have a good weekend.

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Strange lights

I have three incidents of strange lights to tell you about, none of them suspicious, I don’t think, and I’m not advocating UFOs or anything. I think I’ve mentioned the first one before, though some time ago. From our balcony, you can see across the water to the Turkish mountains. Looking at the map and taking a rough bearing, I’d say I am looking at the part of the peninsula with nothing on it apart from a road from Datca to Marmaris. Google Earth shows nothing but hills and bays. At some time during the early morning when it’s still dark, I see this light rise up from behind or between the mountains and hover over them. It rises in a straight line, hangs around a while and then descends again. Imagine one of those fairground rides that lifts you up a central pillar, waits at the top and then plunges you straight down again. Well, it’s like that, but slower and only one round, bright light. I am assuming a weather balloon or similar.

The second strange light I saw yesterday morning just before dawn. Again, from the balcony, though this was in the sky over in the east. At first, I thought it was a plane because it was a flashing white light, but then I realised it was hardly moving, but when it slowly turned, it had a red light beside the white one. I’d have thought a helicopter, perhaps, but there was no sound, and again, I’d guess it was miles away over the Turkish coast. Strangely, it then moved to the north, not quickly as a plane would, but slowly, and only for a short distance. It stopped beneath Venus, turned and headed back to where I’d first seen it, still moving slowly. That could only have been a helicopter, and I wondered if it was looking for refugee boats. If it was, it was very high up, there was no searchlight and no sound, so it was a fair distance, and usually, when helicopters go by, I hear them long before I see them.

And the third was far less intriguing and a bit of fun really. I went out for a walk yesterday and hadn’t gone far when my ears turned into the cicadas. Walking under a streetlamp just before the square, the lamp went off when I was directly beneath as if I’d caught it out, and at the same moment, the cicada’s stopped their racket. I just thought it was interesting how the cicadas stopped when the light changed. Or maybe it was me, and they fell to whispering about me as I passed. Anyway… Today’s photos have nothing to do with any of that except they have light in them. Have a good day.

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The best view of Yialos

Often, when I’m hanging out in the square, a passing visitor will ask where to find the best view of Yialos. These are usually day-trippers or yachties who have made it up to the village out of curiosity but who don’t have much time to go searching. Many of them are drawn up here to visit ‘the church’, and we always ask ‘which one’ as there are something like 13 parish churches in the village and many more chapels. There are three within the Castro grounds alone. Or is it four? Anyway… With little time, I often suggest they follow the lane towards Lemonitisa because a) it’s easy to find, b) it offers views of the harbour, and c) you can also see the church with the dome that more than likely enticed the visitors up to the village. It’s not open, by the way, not unless there’s a service taking place, but it does offer views of its own.

So, from the top of the Kali Strata, you go into the village square which, being higher than the path you’re on may not look like the village square… You go up the steps and double back into it, or walk alongside the long white wall and take the first steps on the left at the end… Or just ask someone. Whichever way, you then exit the square via the only road, making sure the badly cracked ruin on your left doesn’t fall on your head. Follow the path around the S bend and keep going. It’s a slope, but apart from the corner, not a bad one and the path itself gives you lovely views as it’s overhung with trees.

Pass the bins (not the best landmark but an unmissable one), say hello to the chickens, cats and goats, and keep going. After a little while, you’ll come to another bend where the road is fenced on one side. There’s your view. From there, you can see the back of the harbour, the new amphitheatre being built and the hills that surround Yialos. While on that path, you can also stop and look between the trees to see down to Yialos, and if you follow the sloping path towards the sea, you should find the church. If you keep going on the road, though, around that corner, you’ll get a good view of the back of the village, and if you keep going, past more bins, past another church, straight on into the stone-paved lane to the steps at the very end, and turn right… (phew), you can then walk back down the Kataractis. Whichever way you go, you’ll get a view.

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