It’s Monday morning, and I’ve not yet opened the shutters, and I can’t hear the wind. I’m heading out for a stroll soon, aiming to be back by 7.30 or eight so I can cut my hair, go shopping and be back in time for a day doing battle with a story I am working on. We have started Great Week here in Greece, and have a long Easter holiday weekend coming up, one week after Western Easter.
At the house, our eldest godson came to do the cleaning on Sunday morning as he has been doing for a couple of years now. It’s all money towards his school trip to Santorini later this year, and if anyone needs a regular cleaner, odd-job chap, painter, whatever, I can heartily recommend him. The class from school have been raising money towards their trip and here on Symi, and elsewhere I dare say, the young people have a positive attitude to fund-raising, encouraged by their teachers. We have been at the taverna in the past when one of the classes has organised an event – others have done this in other cafes and tavernas too. The class arrange the evening, from booking and paying for the singers/musicians, to buying the supplies and then being on duty in the restaurant. Here, they assist in the kitchen or wait at the tables, take the money for the tickets, serve the first free drink and look after you. It’s wonderful to see the tavernas working with the schools and the teenagers working with the tavernas and, most importantly, each other. These events are usually around €10.00 for the ticket which covers the music and your first drink, and then you buy your dinner on top. A kind of fund-raiser dinner and dance like I remember going to back in the old days when my dad was running the local cricket club, only not quite as bawdy and a lot more Greek.
Okay, I’m off for a walk now, so expect more of these rural, green countryside images over the next few days. The island is very green right now, and I must remember to take a bag and fill up on free, organic herbs from the hillside.
Well, a few results, and all good. I am wittering on about our recent health check-ups here. As you may have read, we went too Euromedica the week before last to have our annual MOT’s done under our AXA policy. The results were ready a couple of days later, and our insurance agent friend called in to pick them up for us. She and her husband came to Symi on Friday for a visit to Panormitis on Saturday, and we met up first on Friday night, where she gave us our large envelopes at the bar.
Saturday morning in the square, a chilly but bright day for painting
Yiannis had been away that day, so Neil was there for an 11-hour shift, and we’d stayed behind for a swift one before heading home – but that’s another story. Yiannis had his results from his check-up with him, and the three of us sat and went through them all comparing numbers. He was also able to explain what each one was, although, having been through these things so many times before, we had a good idea. One of the handy things about the blood test results is that they not only show you what your levels are, but what they should be. There’s a lower and a high number to the side of each one, so it kind of reads, ‘This result should show between 78 and 120’ or whatever is appropriate to that test. All of ours were well within limits, my sugar and cholesterol were lower/better than last year, our PSA results are good and low, as are other kinds of fats and acids, the chest X-ray is clear and we’d have the A-okay from the cardiologist at the time when we were wired up to her machine. Of course, if we were unsure about anything, we would take the information to the local GP and seek a professional opinion; we might do that anyway.
Plenty of ready for an 11-hour shift at work
I have to admit, I was surprised mine were so good, after the excesses of Christmas which seem to have run on until at least yesterday. I blame the cold weather; it’s not the weather yet for regular walks (I managed three last week), with strong, cold winds, and it’s more like the weather for staying in with ‘one last bar of chocolate before the diet’, a practice which has been running since about last November. Oops. I reckon it’s because we drink so much water – I know, wine is also involved, but even that is counteracted slightly by the three + litres of water we each drink per day even in the winter, and sometimes four or more litres each day in the summer. So, there was good news on the health checks, and that was followed on Saturday but further good news.
Instructions on how to crack your red eggs
I hope I’m not boring you; I know people find these kinds of living-in-Greece details interesting. Our wonderful agent, Tsambika, from AXA, Rhodes, had told me that if I had a second policy with the company, I would receive a discount on my health cover, so we discussed contents insurance. We’ve been thinking about this for the last 16 years, but it’s one of those things that slips your mind, especially when you live in a place with hardly any crime, but it’s still something we ought to have. Long story short: our rented property is 100 square meters (the insurance is worked out according to square meterage whereas in the UK we’re more used to talking about number of bedrooms as the defining factor), and the cover will cost €75.00 for the year. That’s for every kind of cover you would expect apart from loss of cash and jewels, which can be insured too if you have a fixed, secure safe to keep them in. You can also add items over a certain value (which we don’t have, our most expensive thing is the piano, and that doesn’t come up to the limit). The point is, any day now our contents will be properly insured, it’s not going to cost much, and the discount against my main health insurance bill works out around 50% of the cost of the contents insurance. So, finally, peace of mind for my knickknacks and it’s only going to cost €36.00 for the year, in effect.
The non-cracked victor lives to fight the next round
There you go. That’s the update on that. There will be more news during the week, but a few highlights: the Painting Group are here for their early season stay, the wind has been from the north, and it’s been bloomin’ cold – but it will soon be at least 35 degrees for a few months, there are more day-trippers about now the Panagia Skiadeni has started trips again, and from today we are in Great Week, building up to Orthodox Easter this weekend.
ANES have produced their timetable for the early part of the summer season. (The Easter timetable, I guess.) I’m not sure when a longer timetable will be available, but there are some sailings if you are coming from Rhodes to Symi between 22nd April and 8th May. (The 8th May is a big parade day in this part of the world.) Timetables can change and be added to over the Easter period with some of the regular Rhodes/Yialos ferries only going from Rhodes to Panormitis, so, as usual with travel advice, I suggest you look at Andy’s travel blog as he is the expert; I’m just a messenger.
Here is the link to the site (in English) where you will find the links to the Itineraries. https://www.anes.gr/en
And here are a few random Symi shots to top you up for the weekend.
Most shops/businesses are ready for summerThe ‘Judas’ plants are flowering.
We have local elections coming up on Symi, with voting day coinciding with European elections, as you may know. There are three candidates for Mayor of Symi, and here at Symi Dream, we offer to publicise each one’s manifesto without prejudice. The first to send us their information is Ilias Tsavaris. If you follow the link below, you will find his introduction and manifesto published in English. You can also see the full site in Greek.
I am told that Ilias’ team is looking for a representative from the foreign (i.e. non-Greek) community, so if anyone is interested, or if you know of someone who might be, you can tell them to contact the team through their site. Or, if that proves tricky, you can contact me, and I will pass along your contact details. You don’t have to speak Greek fluently; he and members of the team are bilingual.
That’s enough of Rhodes, now we’re back to Symi which has been sheltering beneath a grey and cloudy sky for a few days. The sky is now clear, but the breeze if from the north, so it’s not that warm. Yet. I’m sure that in a few weeks people will be wandering around saying, ‘It’s hot, isn’t it?’ as we do suddenly at the beginning of June, or sometimes earlier.
I’ve been out on a couple of my self-enforced walks, only up to the monastery on the hillside (three-miles round trip), or up to the old cantina (2.6 miles), but once the legs have adjusted and the body recovered from the shock, I may go further afield as I did last year. I’m trying to fit those in after I’ve done my admin and messages, and before I then settle in for the rest of the day at one of my desks, so this week, I’ve set out at around seven-thirty, or earlier. I am again saying hello to others who are out and about at that time, mainly ladies heading to church or the cemetery, the workers waiting at Campos for their lifts, farmers coming down from the hills, our hard-working refuse collection team and, if I go that way, the goatherd on the path to To Vrisi. I’ve been past him and his flock so often now, when he is not there they come down from the hills expecting me to feed them. I had a very close examination by the handsome Billy goat leader of the pack the other day. He’s got massive horns which I keep an eye on as I pass; I don’t want to get head-butted and butt-butted off the side of the road.
Oh, with no connection to the above whatsoever, I must point your attention to an interview that’s just appeared. It’s on a blog from Lynne McVernon, ‘Guest Writer James Collins’ – just click that link if you want to read it. It covers both my author names, the real one and the pen name (inserts smiley wink).
