Haralambos Name Day

Sunday was the name day for Haralambos (Aγιος Χαράλαμπος), and the festival is held each year at Agios Athanasios in Horio because that’s where the icon is. It’s our godson’s name day, so I went up to the church while Neil stayed home with the other godson who had come round to help put a desk together and do some odd jobs. I arrived at the church just as the service finished, making me feel like I’d only turned up for the cakes, but I was made welcome. I stood in the sun accepting various sweet things to worry my sugar levels including rock cakes made by Harry’s mum and passed around by the man himself and his friends, chocolate and coconut sponge, biscuits and coffee, but I politely declined the doughnuts -you can have too much of a good thing.

Afterwards, we went for a souvlaki BBQ in the garden and, as there’s no such thing as a free lunch, picked lemons for the world famous Olive Tree homemade lemonade. It was a sunny and calm day once the wind died, though a cold one and us adults finished off with a drink at the Rainbow and a good old ‘put the world to rights’ chat.

I’m not sure where it came from, but I woke up at three this morning with a stinking cold and a sore throat so I’ll be staying in and keeping warm today. I’ll be moaning a lot because that’s what men are meant to do, but I also plan to churn out another few thousand words of a story during the day. Sorry, can’t speak any more, throat hurts…

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Symi Saturday Photos

Here are a few recent photos including one from the Rainbow Bar, Thursday. We know how to enjoy ourselves in the winter – a weekly visit to catch up on football, reality TV and the news. It’s our godson’s name day tomorrow so we will find him at church before going for souvlakies, and that’s after the coffee and cakes at Ag Athanasios. Whoops, there goes the diet. Have a good weekend!

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In a rush

Clearly, I’m not the best person to ask what day of the week it is. Having thought Wednesday was Tuesday I did wonder why we had water coming in and it usually only does that on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but then again, the weather has been all over the place and perhaps the man who turns on the mains wasn’t working on Monday but was on… And so on. Anyway….

No great news today. I am busy working on another story, we’ve not had a storm for a couple of days which makes a change and…? Oh yes. I had a lovely email from the Village Hotel about mother’s booking. We’re arriving from Athens on the Blue Star at 5.30 in the morning, and they have offered to come and pick us up, which is very kind and saves me all kinds of hassle. It does seem odd sending email to a place 100 yards away, but its that time of year and I don’t like to disturb people when they are not at work.

The photos are from a quick walk to Pedi the other day. How long has that bus stop been there? Probably months or even a year, I just don’t notice these things in the same way as I apparently don’t notice what day of the week it is.

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My Monday

EDIT: For Monday, read Tuesday! It’s a winter thing. I spent all day on Wednesday thinking it was Tuesday, and what I say I did on Monday I catually did on Tuesday… Oh dear.

As you can see from today’s photos, the sea was somewhat rough on Monday when I went down to Yialos. The wind was blowing across the top of the waves bringing sheets of spray landwards, and the water was invading the road somewhat. We’ve seen worse. We had a blustery night with a brief thunderstorm, but Tuesday dawned calmer. Boats were cancelled, and the timetable is currently a bit off, but things will return to normal.

I had a successful trip to town. I took all my paperwork to the KEP office and the lovely ladies there filled out my application for a Greek driving licence, straight into the computer system, printed it off, I signed it and they sent me to the bank with the correct form to pay the fee. The National bank was popular, so I went to Alpha and paid the additional €2.00, which was worth it as I was the only customer. That done, I took the receipt to the KEP office to complete the process, and they will phone me when the licence is in. If you are interested, this is what I took:

Old yUK driving licence with a translation stamped by my solicitor who also did the translation, my tax number, proof of my address – in my case an affidavit as I have no bills in my name, and a copy of my birth certificate which explained why the licence was under the shortened version of my third name and not my first name. Also, a stamped copy of my passport and, for good measure a tax return form which I don’t think I needed. I also supplied the asked-for folder and that receipt from the bank.

After that, I paid our annual post office bill for the PO Box we have – it’s not necessary but we’ve always done it, and there’s something exciting about opening the box and seeing what you’ve won. In this case, it was a phone bill and a birthday present for someone. I also picked up a curtain from the bookshop (a delivery point for certain couriers) and as that was an awkward size to carry, took a taxi back up to the village for a bit of shopping, sorted the washing which had dried very well in the warm wind, and made lunch, leaving me free to write in the afternoon. All in all, a successful day. Oh, and I also booked mother a hotel room for September. I tried the Village Hotel but there was no-one around, so I grabbed the offer via booking.com. It would have benefited them and me had I gone directly to the hotel, but I didn’t want to miss the room. There, that was Monday.

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Finishing the Rhodes trip

We are still wandering around Rhodes in our catch-up today. On Saturday, under a clear sky, we sat outside in the sun for an orange juice after buying our boat tickets back. Sadly, Plaza Travel has closed, but there are several other travel agencies nearby where you can buy boat tickets. There’s a Blue Star office around the corner from the hotel and another agency at the end of the pedestrian street not far away, as well as all the others you see around Mandraki. That done, and some more light shopping taken care of, we had a wander and chilled out.

In the evening, we went to the newly opened My Thai restaurant. This was in the old town but is now next to the Casino, and the location is much better. Eunice, the waitress we know there, was telling us that they have been especially at the weekends. I guess that being so close to the casino it offers the chance for a special night out. Something different from the usual fare and only a stone’s throw from whether goes on at the casino – I’ve never been in one, so I have no idea, but I am sure it’s fun. The food was lovely, as were the staff, and the setting is rather posh, but the price not so. We had a bottle of wine rather than our usual jug, a curry each and a large special rice, and the bill was just over €40.00, half of which was the bottle of wine. We were also treated to a free sweet of fried bananas and ice cream.

To finish the trip, on Sunday after breakfast, we took the Spanos catamaran homewards, a few bags heavier than when we left Symi. The crossing was smooth and quick, but we lucked out on taxis and so walked home up the Kali Start bags and rucksacks and all. That’s often quicker than waiting for a taxi and with the bus currently off the road, was our only option. We returned to find the next-door ruin more cleared out than before and work is still ongoing there, and the house exactly as we had left it. We aired it and set about unpacking and doing some washing before the next storm (due today) washes in.

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