Sunday morning

Early Sunday morning on the balcony looking at the stars, listening to the people turning out after a late night at LOS in the harbour, planning the day ahead… A walk to Nimborio and back is planned for this morning, setting off at 9.30 to meet a friend over there at 10.30 for a couple of hours before walking back so Neil can be ready for work at 15.00. Looks like it’s going to be a lovely day, though it’s still dark outside so I can’t say for sure, but I’m looking forward to the walk and the time in the next bay along.

There was a wedding in the village last night (a couple of photos today of people on their way), and a concert in the square for the Symi Festival. We said goodbye to some friends who were leaving after a seven-week stay on Symi and then stopped for one or two more in the square. I managed to get some writing done on Saturday morning, another two draft chapters for ‘The Eastling’ which is nearing the end of draft one. I am still hoping to have the book ready in time for Christmas, but there’s a fair amount of work needed on draft two and beyond to bring it up to scratch.

And backtracking further, I was able to collect some papers on Friday which, with others I had been working on, were put into an envelope and sent to Spain. This is all to do with my private pension arrangement, so I am hoping that everything is in order and I’ve filled in all the forms correctly. I sent the envelope with the courier, paying a little extra for the speedy delivery option, and I hope to hear from Marbella in the next few days, saying they have received them safely. After that, I reckon about six weeks before everything is in place and I can officially say I am retired, or rather, semi-retired as I will still be writing and working where necessary as it’s not a huge amount, but enough to take the edge off the monthly bills. So, that’s another milestone done with. I will also feel a lot happier when it’s all done as my investment will no longer be in the UK, but in Europe and Euros. I hope they transfer it all out before the pound slumps completely against the Euro – if it does – but whatever happens, it will all be European, as it were, and I’ll feel a lot happier for that.

And so, on with the week and (looks in diary) a birthday party for godson Harry today, a dinner invite for Thursday in Harani, and another for Saturday along our lane. Apart from that, I intend to get to the end of my first draft of the next Saddling story so that I can rest it for a couple of weeks when mother is here.

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End of an Era

As we know, things are tough in Greece at the moment, and many small businesses are suffering. The downturn in the economy, the rise in taxes and VAT, the fall in tourism in some places… Well, sadly, another old Symi business will soon be closing.

Yiannis took over the whitesmith business in Yialos from his grandfather a few years ago. This is the workshop/shop in the backstreet that runs parallel to the sea. You can find it at the end of the lane that runs from Pacho’s to Taxas, but you will only be able to find it there until the end of September. We chatted with Yiannis and his wife, Honnie, the other day and they have sent me the following message:

“It is truly a sad time. Giannis is feeling sad, as the business was passed down from his Grandfather with the promise to keep it alive. So many of the older men come and sit here for hours reminiscing about Patsakis and their times, and the older woman leave their shopping, so they don’t have to carry it. The tourists and their memories of Giannis as a young boy and his Pappous and the dark and dingy workshop. When he is working it takes him somewhere safe, somewhere familiar in his heart.
I would like to send you a link to look at, click here for a Vimeo video of the workshop.

I will send you photos. I am not a photographer at all. We are asking if there are any orders they should be placed by the last week of September. All stock excluding Giannis’ work is 30-50% off.”

I have included some more of the photos below so you can see that the shop not only sells the homemade, crafted traditional metal items that Yiannis makes but jewellery and other wonderful items. If you go there, you will find a friendly reception and be able to see one of the few remaining artisan shops that Symi currently has to offer. Times are changing, though, and these kinds of craft workshops are dying out. It looks like you have until September to make the most of it before it goes the way of many others and becomes only a memory.

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Repairing the school

Thanks to Jean for alerting me to the progress of the nursery school kin Yialos. As you may know, this was critically damaged in the storm last November. Now, it seems, work is progressing well, and the building looks, on the outside, almost as good as new. (Assuming I have the right building!) I believe the work is funded by your donations received from an appeal – and possibly by national and EU grants? It’s situated by the basketball court at the back of Yialos if you want to walk by and take a look.

In home news, those who were following my trip recently and the cancelled flight business here’s the update on my claim with EasyJet. I first tried a site that offered to do it all for you for a %, which was fine by me as I am lazy and wasn’t expecting anything back anyway and didn’t take out travel insurance as a) I never bother on short/cheap flights, 2) I already have medical cover on my health insurance and c) once a thing is paid for the money’s gone as far as I am concerned. Still, in his case, I thought I’d give it a go. The first company took all my details and a couple of days later got back to me saying they couldn’t help. This made me think that EasyJet has already found a way of saying the delay/cancellation was not their fault, even though they must have known it was going to happen before the cancelled plane took of for Rhodes on its previous trip.

The second company I tried, after loading up the info, told me their site was broken and please call back later. Hm, maybe. Meanwhile, I’d contacted EasyJet themselves and a day later, someone rang me to talk me through how to do the claim online, which was a bit surprising. So, I’ve done that, and it’s now with them. They will take a good couple of months to get back to me with some excuse. After that, I’ll try to find some kind of European Union ‘claim your delay’ thing as I am sure I have seen such a service/right advertised.

And that’s it for today. Have been up since 3.30 (no idea why) and am off to walk to Yialos and back for some gratuitous exercise.

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Carry On Up The Kali Strata

Which is what I did yesterday. I just popped down to the post office and the bank, not that popping back up again is much fun. Actually, it was, and I am still able to manage the walk without being out of breath. Mind you, I do tend to lose half my body weight in sweat which is a bit embarrassing if you stop off at the top to buy something from a shop. It’s not the time to try on clothes, that’s for sure.

So today, I thought I’d share some of the photos I took on that trudge up the hill (which I enjoyed). A tip is to stop now and then to take pictures, as that gives you an excuse for a pause without anyone thinking you’re shirking your exercise. Another tip is to have a bottle of water with you, and a third is to stay in the shade as much as possible. You hear people say that they copy the locals and zigzag up the steps to make it easier. I’ve never been sure about that. Yes, people do, but maybe that’s because the mules do and thus folk think it’s better. I reckon the mules have to because of the way they walk, and I don’t find it any easier to zigzag than to go straight for the direct route which must surely involve fewer paces. I go where the shade is, so some tacking is unavoidable. However you do it, remember that there’s also a book by the same name, ‘Carry On Up The Kali Strata’, and it holds all kinds of info and stories and articles which are often fun to read.

And now, the walk:

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Let’s hurry this along

I’m aware that I’ve been back nearly a week and still not much news from Symi so I will end my UK trip story with a few photos to bring it to a close today.

I left you on Romney Marsh yesterday, and that’s where I was for three days. During this time, I met up with four other old friends from school days, had lunch with my old deputy headmaster, and there’s another coincidence there, a couple actually. He lives in a house we lived in 50 years ago, so I was able to see inside it again after a long time. I also briefly played their piano. It stood three feet away from where my first piano stood and where I had my first piano lesson. Also, in a revue at school in 1980, not long after we did ‘Cox and Box’, Box and I dressed up as the ugly sisters in a panto sketch where the headmaster was portrayed as Cinderella. Box and I were dressed as the two deputy heads, one of whom I had lunch with in my old house. He remembered it fondly, I am pleased to say.

I also took a long walk along the beach, and out into the marsh to see places and fields I used to play in with my farmers-sons friends, took photos of wildlife for research purposes and had a couple more hearty meals and pints of Old Rosie (cider). The next highlight was seeing my brother at Dungeness for the first time in 14 years.

On the last day of my trip, my nephew came down from Folkestone to pick me up. We visited his grandfather’s grave, drove to Ashford to see two of my nieces I’d not met before, and then spent the afternoon and evening in Folkestone behaving badly. I was able to take a look at the theatre I used to work in back in 79 to 81, now derelict and awaiting its fate. We had a ‘sesh’ at a Champagne bar stuck out at the end of the harbour arm, and the next day, the boys drove me to Stanstead. Here, Jet2 were on time until a couple of passengers got lost, and then we were delayed for 20 minutes. Ha! You should try 20 hours, love. We arrived in Rhodes only ten minutes late where the Angela Suits upgraded me as a returning visitor, and I had the biggest bed ever invented. The room was also spotless, unlike the hotel on the outward trip.

And so, back to Symi on the Blue Star 2 where, after I arrived, I was resolved to walk up to the village with my case but was rescued by Adriana’s husband who gave me a lift. I arrived at the Rainbow around 17.30 but didn’t get home until 22.00, and home is only fifty yards away. We had dinner at the taverna where I was welcomed back with two main dishes, water and a litre of wine for €20.00. About the same price as I paid for a bowl of lettuce, a trace of wine in a huge glass and a bottle of water in the Travelodge in Covent Garden. Mind you, I’d also had a glass of wine at Stanstead for €11.00 – the cheapest they could manage.

So, that’s it. No more travelling for me for a while, apart from a trip to Athens in winter, Scotland for a wedding, New Zealand in a year or so… Perhaps.

Scroll down for the rest of the photos.

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