Mixed blog

Let’s go up the Kali Strata… A couple of years ago one of these blog posts was about ‘Let’s all go down the steps (‘ ave a moussaka)’ sung to that old music hall song (which never originally had ‘have a banana’ in it, by the way), and today I thought we’d go up the steps in photos. Except I can’t find a song to mess with that fits, apart from ‘Let’s all go up the steps (‘ ave a souvlaki)’, but there’s nowhere doing souvlakis up here, you’d have to go down to Yialos for that, and if you go down to Yialos today, you’re sure of a big surprise. (Repeat first part of line and end with ‘you’d better go in disguise.’) You’re not, actually, I’m just being silly. But if you want a souvlaki, then there are now places open in the harbour. In fact, over the weekend, there were visitors using the cafes and tavernas, busses and taxis.

These were Greek visitors from other islands coming to celebrate Pentecost at Panormitis, and elsewhere. I don’t have photos as I was at home all weekend and haven’t been out very much at all of late, but I am popping out this afternoon (Sunday) because it’s Yianni Rainbow’s birthday, and it’s one with an 0 on the end. So, basically, my news for Monday, written on Sunday, is that I’ve not been doing much, but Symi has had some visitors for the first time in ages, and I’m showing some random photos of the Kali Strata. A bit of a mixed blog, if you ask me, but it’s 6.00 on Sunday morning, and I want to get back to writing my story.

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Into the weekend

And here we are heading off into another weekend. To celebrate, here’s a collection of shots taken from the balcony mainly at sunrise, and others to keep you in touch with the island, from our point of view, at least. There is definitely an air of ‘Empty chairs at empty tables’, as noticed when I called at the bar the other day for an ice cream. By the same token, however, the music was playing from Lefteris’ kafeneion, so it was a case of ‘And the band played on,’ keeping spirits up and providing background atmosphere. If you’re still not sure what may/may not be happening with your trip to Symi this year, and you want a well-written and informative update on current restrictions to and from Greece, you should read Adriana’s article Covid confusion and Empty Cafes. This explains everything you need to know as of June 3^rd. The situation is still changing from day to day, and last I heard, Greece’s measures can revert to strict lockdown at any time to prevent more cases should the need arise. And talking of arising, here are the photos of the sunrise and other things to see you through the weekend.

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Symi 85600

I just went to my Amazon Author page to look at something and noticed that a stray book had slipped in unnoticed. These author pages are where Amazon customers can see an author’s complete listing of publications, so mine has the four Symi books and my thrillers, plus some older things that occasionally make me €0.70 when sold or read in Kindle Unlimited. I know I’ve written a lot in the past few years, but my skills don’t run to German, sadly, and “Zauberberg für Anfänger: Roman” is not by me. Apparently, the title means ‘Magic mountain for beginners’, and after a quick Google translate I learned that the story concerns a man meeting the love of his life on a plane between NY and LA, but then loses ‘the precious side.’ I thank that’s a mistranslation of something vital, I assume he lost her phone number and goes looking for her – you can read for yourself if you read German, and whether you like the book or not, it is not by me.

Nor is a book about learning Greek which has nothing to do with actually learning Greek, but has something to do with America. This was written by another James Collins, and I once got a load of his publicity stuff delivered to Symi by mistake. Not by my mistake, but the publisher’s. I tried to raring to send it back, but no-one was interested.

Anyway, the point of all this was to say I noticed I’d sold a few more copies of Symi 85600, the first of four books about moving to and living on, Symi. The early ones were put out there during the very early days of indie-online publishing (we were are pioneers back then), the second one ‘Carry On…’ comes with photos, the third ‘Village View’ is a diary of a complete year on Symi, 2013, and ‘Stuff and Nonsense’ is a bit more autobiographical and made up of old diaries from early and pre-Symi days, other travel stories and some bits and pieces. Maybe it’s the lockdown, but Symi 85600 remains popular and, it seems, is bringing a little bit of Symi to distant readers who, perhaps, won’t be able to get here this year. If you know of any, send them the link; all my books are available on Amazon in Kindle, print and Kindle Unlimited.

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Slightly wet

Monday was a slightly wet day. We were down in Yialos for a while, and it had already been raining. Luckily, we were able to take a taxi back up the hill, and later, when Neil was at work, we had more rain. No problem there; the courtyard plants enjoyed it despite the watering I had given them earlier, and the only thing we suffered was a drip into the bathroom as we’ve not repainted the roof with that special paint. That’s a job for another day, and it’s only a small drip into what is a wet room, so we’re not too bothered.

Tuesday dawned slightly cloudy but already, by 7.00 as I write this (yesterday), the clouds have cleared. The air is chilly but should warm up later, and apart from the weather report, there’s not a lot else to tell just yet. Oh, we did notice a few more people arriving from Rhodes on the Spanos catamaran the other day, a few with suitcases, but we got the impression these were army recruits or possibly teachers coming to take up their posts, rather than the first signs of tourism. Still, it’s a cautious start and that, I feel, is what’s needed.

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Poco a poco

As you can imagine, the island is still very quiet, but some of the bars are open, as are some of the tavernas. We’ve yet to see many visitors from other islands, presumably, everyone is in the same boat; little spare cash, working where they can, and staying home the rest of the time. The government have released their list of countries from where Greece will accept visitors after specific dates, and according to certain rules, and it’s a start. A cautious start, which is good in one way (not so good for people needing to make money), and it will be monitored. Keep your eye on the reliable news outlets, if there are any left, but expect restrictions such as one week’s quarantine if you test negative on arrival, and two weeks if you test positive. Arrival, so far, is limited to Athens and Thessaloniki, and the government are to pay for the quarantine in hotels. Sounds to me like these first measures may benefit those who come for long periods, have holiday homes or can afford to take several weeks off work for what would end up being a one-week holiday of freedom on a near-deserted beach, with little in the way of day trips. But hey! Early days.

There are still things to see from one’s seat at the village café when having an ice cream in the afternoon. The Tilos Veg Man, for example. He was here the other Friday selling five kilos of potatoes for a few euros, plus hordes of other organic vegetables grown on his land on Tilos, and he is a regular visitor through the better weather months. He’s known locally as ‘The Tilos Veg Man’, and that’s how I’ve always known him. I was on Tilos a few years ago (I was there this time last year, but that’s another story), and while sitting in the square one afternoon, heard his familiar cry of ‘Potatas, kremithia…’ ‘Ah,’ I thought. ‘It’s the Tilos Veg Man. I wonder what they call him here on Tilos?’ Just the veg man, I assume.’ Anyway, it’s good to hear the familiar sound of his voice, and the cries of the pedlars who tour the islands, sleeping in their vans and selling their wares. So, there is some kind of returning normality to be found, but it’s early days. Poco a poco, as they say.

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