Opening

I don’t know what your weekend was like, but ours up here on the north side of the village was a bit blustery. The wind was from the north-west, pushing the smell of drains back up the pipes in the laundry room (nice), blowing all kinds of things over the courtyard wall, and forcing us to shut the shutters and keep warm. It reminded me of October or early November with the fresh smell of cold in the air, the sea whipped up with white crests, and the harbour empty of tourist boats. Still, not complaining as when I say cold, it was actually around 20 or 22, it just felt cold after the heat earlier in the week.

I spent my time beavering away on yet another new story, as I do, while Neil had to go to Rhodes to get his paperwork ready to start work at the Rainbow this afternoon. I’ve heard (from people in the yUK) that ‘Greece is fully open for tourism as of the end of May…’ Well, I don’t know about ‘fully’, but when Neil popped over to Rhodes for the day there were restrictions in place, so even if you live in a country that Greece accepts visitors from, you won’t find it easy to get around, not at first. A medical form to complete when you buy your boat tickets, a check before you get on the boat, social distancing, specific seats only, half capacity, only one person per cabin on longer journeys, and so on. So, check the Greek news and websites for information from on the ground, rather than hearsay on Fakebook. All I can tell you so far is that Dominic Cummings has not yet been seen breaking his government’s own rules about travel to Greece, but if he does, there will be a good reason why he can break them and the plebs can’t.

But… Apart from all that, today is the day Neil starts work again, which will be helpful for us, but possibly a bit boring for him, and hopefully, successful for Yiannis and the bar. Lefteris Kafeneion is also reopening today as are other places, bit by bit, but until we have visitors… Well, it’s still just wait and see.

Share on Facebook

Changing weather

Woke to cloud yesterday and lower temperatures. Went for a short walk up the road and back down through the village, just go blow the cobwebs away, and just in time to see the sun coming up.

The news from here is that bars are reopening on Monday, or at least, they can if they want to, and Yiannis intends to open the Rainbow. I believe, but am not sure that it’s outside seating only, and with tables at certain distances, only so many people only per table, and households can sit together, but not others. The question is, who will be there to have an afternoon drink during the siesta hours that Neil works? The next question is, will he be able to get to Rhodes tomorrow to have his medical paperwork signed off? The tests were all done before we went away in early March, but the doctor has been unable to get to Symi since. These are papers that bar and café workers need to work with food; nothing to do with what’s going on now. But all that’s for next week. I am heading off for a weekend of what look like changeable weather and will leave you with a set of photos taken yesterday. I’ll be back on Monday.

Share on Facebook

Wednesday Morning

No great news from me today. Yesterday, the Blue Star came in and went again in the early morning, and the swallows were on the line chatting, as the slightly dodgy phone photos today show. The temperature remains high though we were due could and possibly rain, and some high winds later in the week or early next. The schools were due to reopen on a limited basis this week, but I’ve not noticed any change in the peace and quiet during to and from school time. The new road is progressing, and we can see part of it from the front of the house, way over beyond the new harbour which it will one day link to. I wonder if there will be a traffic light needed, or possibly a roundabout? They would be firsts for the island if they are necessary, and I’ve not heard any rumours. Apart from that… we’re carrying on carrying on. I am trying to write a new story, but something always gets in the way of a whole, clear day of typing time; emails, blog, Neil’s laptop needs cleaning out as it’s so slow, the housework, shopping and other equally shared chores, reading and the occasional trip out of the house… One thing I can tell you, it’s very odd to be in this heat, at this time of year, but with no visitors. The bars should be reopening soon on a ‘see how it goes’ basis, but as to who will be using them, well, that’s anyone’s guess.

Share on Facebook

Aegean Airlines

Yesterday, I received an email from Dimitris Gerogiannis, the Chief Executive Officer of Aegean Airlines. He’s not a personal friend or anything, the email would have gone out to thousands of people, but I thought it might give readers an idea of what’s happening with the airline, in case you wanted to know. Many people are worried about pre-booked holidays and wondering how and when they might get here and to other places in Greece either for a break or to visit their holiday homes, and this email doesn’t exactly help. But it’s background information about one airline from a horse’s mouth (no offence, I am sure Mr Gerogiannis is in no way equine). I’ve included the opening blurb as I thought it was rather cosy, the meat of the matter comes later in the text which is interspersed with random shots of Symi to break it up a bit.

Here’s the email:

First of all, we hope that you and your family are in good health.

For all of us in the family of AEGEAN and Olympic Air, 2020 started on a high, with optimism and vision for the new year and our next steps.

Unfortunately, the unprecedented situation we have all been faced with during the last three months has forced us to give up doing what we love most, flying with you. We have had to stop flying with you, but we never stopped flying for you, stepping in to be by your side every time we were asked to, no matter how far we had to fly, to bring back to Greece whatever was needed.

Greece has successfully tackled the first phase of the health crisis, making us all very proud of what we have achieved together.

In keeping with the successful national efforts made so far, we are working diligently to face the new challenges raised by the pandemic. Having as absolute priority the health and safety of our passengers and employees and in close cooperation with the authorities, we have already modified the procedures in place for boarding, both at the gate and for aircraft access, and our inflight service. We have also reinforced the protocols for cleaning and disinfecting our aircraft. The use of a face mask has become obligatory for both our passengers and our crews, and from now on, only one personal item will be allowed in the cabin. Furthermore, the last 3 rows of seats will be kept vacant in case we should need to isolate a passenger with potential symptoms. During the week, you will receive detailed information of all the protective measures and new procedures that we will be putting in place within the framework of new protocols for safe travelling.

From today, as travel restrictions to the mainland and the island of Crete have been lifted and from next week to all the Greek islands, we are ready to fly together on our domestic network.

We are getting ready to gradually restore international operations in the coming weeks and months. Initially, we plan to restart operations with a limited schedule from Athens to Munich, Frankfurt, Geneva, and Zurich. At the same time, we shall increase flights operating to Brussels, which is the only international destination that we didn’t suspend. Soon, more destinations will be added.

As we adapt to a new way of travelling, we are adjusting our tickets accordingly so that you can travel with more flexibility and confidence. All new tickets issued between 18th May and 15th June 2020, and regardless of flight dates, will have the benefits of the FLEX fare category so that you can have one piece of checked luggage free of charge and also the option to change your ticket without rebooking fees.

In conclusion, please be assured that we shall be constantly monitoring developments and learning step by step how to successfully and carefully progress to the next one. After all, this is what we have been doing for more than 20 years at AEGEAN, always guided by our values and having you, our passengers, as our main focus.

We look forward to travelling together again.

Share on Facebook

The sequel

Just to finish off the spider story… The creepy visitor had been carefully removed from the sitting room and rehomed outside, and still wary, I settled back in to watch whatever film we had on. About twenty minutes later, during a pause in the action and a sudden, quiet passage, I heard what I thought was the cat trotting up the corridor. The sound of claws in need of clipping, I thought and then remembered we don’t have a cat. Maybe a moth caught in the paper lampshade…? But the light was off. Obviously, the film went on pause as I was convinced we were again being invaded. Neil was up, searching the passage and the kitchen at the other end, and I gingerly poked about the stack of DVDs we’d brought down to watch and never did, convinced I’d heard something nearby. I had. There was a second beast a foot away from where I had been sitting, hiding behind the heater that was waiting to go into storage. Luckily, the man of the house was able to pick it up (the beast, not the heater) and hand it back to its accomplice outside, but I’ve not been able to relax in the evenings since. I’m constantly on the lookout for something dark and fast heading towards my bare feet. So far, however, so good.

Perhaps that’s the invasion over for a year as we’ve only had these great big spiders in the house in April or May, and then, only for one visit. They are out there though, and growing bigger, and I have to say, I am getting better with them, I no longer throw up at the thought of finding one. Perhaps I expect to see them at this time of year and when I do, it’s less of a surprise. Anyway… No photo as that was the last thing on my mind, but that’s the story. On Sunday night, we did have another fast and shady visitor through the open window; a little lizard came in to have a nose around. We have one or two of the transparent-style ones living in the hallway, but I don’t mind them at all, and I can even cope with the snake who pops into the courtyard from time to time. If only they would learn to eat the tarantulas. Ah well.

All peaceful and quiet on Symi yesterday morning. Calm, clear and 28 degrees by six in the morning. It’s like July and August but without the breeze, and going from a pleasant 26 to a stuffy 38 in the space of a few days was a shock to the system, but we’re adjusting.

Share on Facebook