Coincidence?

Well, here’s a thing that’s got very little to do with Symi. I’ve been in contact with an old school chum, and we’re meeting up in London when we’re there in a couple of weeks. We were in different years at school, I’m two years older, but were thrown together because of the annual school musical. First off, he was Rolf in ‘The Sound of Music’, and I was Uncle Max (I was always the comedy relief), then we appeared in a revue I wrote, and in one scene we were dressed in drag playing our two deputy headmasters. Our greatest triumph though was ‘Cox & Box’ that creaky old, Victorian parlour three-hander, one-act piece of… musical theatre we all know and love so much. I was Mr Cox, he was Mr Box and in the second half of the programme, ‘Trial By Jury’, I was the Judge, and he was the Defendant – again I got the comedy relief. Anyway… (Pause for a vaguely Symi-related photo.)

Anyway… yesterday I was checking through some old photos and things and found a copy of the cover for that school show and discovered that it played for three nights, finishing on July 19^th, 1980 – exactly 38 years ago today (I’m writing this yesterday). So, Mr C and Mr B will be reunited 38 years and 11 days after bringing down the house (and bits of the scenery) in a triumphant performance – considering we were 17 and 15 – where we sang duets about buttercups and bacon, discovered we both nearly married the same woman, and turned out to be long lost brothers. Which is kind of how it will be when we meet (apart from the singing) as we’ve not met for 37 years. All very interesting for me, but what I can’t help worrying about is that revue scene we did in drag, satirising our deputy headmaster. I’m still friends with his daughter, and she and I will be having lunch with said deputy-head, who lives in a house where I was brought up, and although he’s not young anymore, he may still remember that sketch and put me in detention.

That was just a personal ramble. If you’re wondering about Symi news, well, there’s not much that I know of, though I expect there’s masses. It’s windy today. That’s blown away the humidity but also brought lots of dust in the house. There’s live music at The Secret Garden tonight if you’re on Symi, 9pm. And that’s all for now.

Season of Mist and…

It’s all a bit grey and misty today (Wednesday). The air is thick with humidity, parts of Nimos are in cloud, there are more clouds above us, and the coast of Turkey is receding into what, in my Saddling books, they call a ‘grey-hang’. That’s one of the words I invented for ‘mist’ in the dialect. I’m currently writing the third in the quartet, and the element behind this one is Air, the season is Autumn, and so the main feature is Mist. But how many words for mist are there that you can legitimately use within the context? It’s too easy to keep talking about ‘the mist’ or ‘the marsh mist’ and over-using ‘brume’, and words like vapour and condensation don’t work more than once, haze isn’t too bad, but cloud is a bit dull… Anyway, that’s why I invent my own words.

Here are a few shots from the house. There have been a lot of boats in latterly – we can only see the north-east end of the harbour but it’s an indication of what’s going on further in, and that’s good to see. Already today we’ve had the Blue Star and the Dodecanese come in, the day boats are expected later. I don’t know if you picked up on yesterday’s’ blog where I mentioned the Sebeco making a trip to Panormitis? As I understand it, you can get there and back by boat, from Yialos, in the afternoons. You won’t have much time there but what you can do is take the bus over and the boat back – just an idea. You can also walk too (approx. four hours), take the bus both ways, or, if coming from Rhodes, take a trip there on your way to Yialos.

Waffling now, so off to do some typing-waffling and invent more words for ‘mist’ – if anyone has any obscure dialect words they know of (English) I’d be fascinated to hear (and maybe use) them.

Travelling From/To Symi

I’ve wittered on about this before when I have been planning a journey, but it still entertains me to prepare travel arrangements. I think I should have been a travel agent as I love checking timetables and schedules, researching hotels and journeys. One of my ambitions, one day, maybe, is to travel across Europe by train having planned and plotted all the routes and journeys in advance. These days you can do that with the internet, and you don’t need a copy of Bradshaw’s Guide which is just as well as they stopped printing it in 1961, about the time the train service in the yUK last worked according to a schedule, from what I hear.

So, the story is that I’m going to England for a few days from 28^th July and will be staying in several different places. So far I have been able to book: Flights from Rhodes to Gatwick and back from Stanstead to Rhodes, a night in a hotel in Rhodes for the return journey, a hotel at Gatwick for one night, one in Covent Garden for one night, one on Romney Marsh for three nights, and I have two nights staying with friends and one staying with my nephew. This round rip will also involve five train journeys, all booked with tickets waiting for me at my first station, Gatwick, three lifts with friends and, so far, three booked lunch or dinner appointments. All within nine days. The only thing I’ve not booked yet are the boats to and from Symi, and there are I am almost spoiled for choice.

I say almost because of the times of my flights. I tried to tie them in so I could come back to Symi from Athens on the Blue Star/Hellenic Seaways, but I couldn’t get the flights to match up with the schedule, not reliably enough at any rate. So, leaving here on a Saturday for a 21:00 hours flight from Rhodes, I can now opt for one of four crossings.

08:00 Sebeco (ANES)

16:30 Panagia Skiadeni

16:45 Sebeco

17:35 Dodekanisos Pride/Express

All of them will get me into Rhodes in time to take a taxi to the airport in good time, though I may get the early morning Sebeco to a) support the Symi company, b) see what it’s like, c) have a day hanging around Rhodes and take the cheaper bus to the airport, maybe having a meal at the taverna opposite before I fly. I think I’ve just talked myself into the 08:00 sailing and a restful day exploring the fleshpots of Rhodes Town.

On the way back, however, I land at nine at night or something and so will have to stay over. I have booked the Angela suites hotel where we stayed in March because it was the cheapest. Prices in August are not exactly in budget when it comes to some of the other hotels we regularly use in the winter, and the Angela is basic but fine and only up the road from where we usually stay. The boats back though will be a Monday morning 8:30 Dodekanisos, a later morning 09:30 Panagia via Panormitis, the 10.00 Sebeco, or the Blue Star in the afternoon at 17:00. I think I’ll go with the Sebeco as that gives enough time for a decent breakfast (get your money’s worth) and a slow walk to the harbour.

Anyway, that’s today’s open musings, all I need to do now is arrange the paperwork, filter what’s actually needed from the reams of other pages you are sent with a booking and use that as scrap and then think about packing – something I will do half an hour before leaving the house. This is all 12 days away, but I was just thinking about it, and so you had to read about it. Sorry about that and thank you to those folks who suggested I print boarding passes etc. in black and white to save my colour ink. Brilliant idea – never occurred to me that you could do that. I wouldn’t make a very eco-conscious travel agent.

Quick post

I didn’t intend to go to watch the cup final on Sunday, but Yiannis asked Neil to come to work in case he was needed. He was, for a while. There was a crowd outside Lefteris kafeneion and a crowd inside the Rainbow Bar. One café has the TV outside, and the other has two of them inside. It was a good atmosphere with supporters of both teams together cheering their own and the opposition teams in appropriate places. Shame Croatia didn’t win. I’m not really bothered by the whole thing, but we were there in March and liked the place and people. Ah well, they did very well.

I’m not stopping long today, it’s rent day, so I have to fly to the bank and then get back to carry on with my next book. So, a couple of random photos will have to do.

Sweeping Into The Wind

(I always thought that would be a good book title.)

I have a quieter week planned this week, but as you know, plans don’t always last for long around here. We were planning to have a farewell lunch in Yialos on Saturday, to see off Neil’s visiting brother, but that didn’t happen on account of said brother not visiting home until after 5.30 in the morning. That followed a successful (for him) night out at a drinks party on Friday night, then an evening of music at The Secret Garden, followed, so legend has it, by more drinks at The Jean & Tonic bar. He had just come home as I was getting up to start my day.

So, instead, I had a day at home to do some reading, and think about sweeping the courtyard. There was no point. It’s been windy of late, with the wind up to four or five on the Beaufort scale, and that’s blown off all the dead and dying leaves from the vine. I’ve got a potential bag full swirling around the courtyard and slowly finding their way into the house. I have set about sweeping up in the wind before, but it’s a bit pointless, like herding cats, as they say. It’s Sunday morning at the moment so I may have another go. The wind is still about but in less frequent gusts. It’s all nice and calm for a while, so the windows are open and the doors and a gentle breeze is… And then a sudden burst of enthusiasm from Boreas, Eurus or Apartcias, or whoever, and there’s a great slamming of doors and rattling of shutters, the paper light shades swing overhead, canvases fly from the walls and, although the wind is blowing through the house and out into the courtyard, the dead vine leaves somehow blow against it and into the hall.

As far as I know, the wind hasn’t affected the shipping, though some boats don’t run if there’s too big a swell. I’ve seen the larger ferries running in a force seven, and we’re nowhere near that – and there are no predictions of that in the forecasts. So, if you’re heading Symi-wards this week, you should have nothing to worry about. I’m heading in the opposite direction in two weeks, and I’ve printed my boarding passes. I’m running out of ink, so I hope EasyJet don’t mind that my boarding pass is puce rather than orange, and Jet2 are happy with pink rather than red. I reckon some of these companies are in cahoots with Hewlett Packard who make my printer. “Here, HP, we’ll do a deal with you to have our boarding passes plastered with unnecessary red ink if you give us back 50p on the pound for…” Or whatever. I mean, these swathes of blood red on a jet2 boarding pass, apart from being overly dramatic and not the most settling of colours, are completely unnecessary, and we the customer pay for our own printing now, so a simple black and white would do. (Could someone drop them a line for me and let them know? Ta.)

And off into the week I go. Well, I will tomorrow as it’s Sunday now, early, the soldiers haven’t yet sung the national anthem at the war memorial which they do at 8:00 every Sunday. Gosh, I am about my tasks early. Which means I’ve got plenty of time today to go and chase leaves around a courtyard.