A week of Symi Photos

This week I will be posting photos. I have a busy week ahead with family visiting and other things, and so I thought I would spend a couple of hours this Sunday morning loading up a series of images from Saturday. They can then post themselves so that you, dear reader, have something to view and I, dear writer, don’t have to worry about a blog until next week. Hope you don’t mind.

First, though, I’d just like to point you in the direction of an author interview I gave to fellow author Kay Macleod. You might be interested to read my replies to her questions which take us from Romney Marsh to Symi, via Bill Bryson and others. Here’s the link: James Collins author interview. Please do take a look and share it around, I need all the publicity I can get!

And now onto the story behind the photos. Manolis invited me, Mother and her friend to attend the name day festival of Agios Anthimos. This saint’s day is actually September 3^rd, but as this was a Sunday, the event was held on Saturday. This was explained to me by a young man I met at the church who is a partner in the Symi Train business. We found our lift up to the church of Kokimedes at 9.00 in the morning and clambered into the back of a pick-up truck for the ride up the mountain and across the island and up another mountain, which we reached at 9.30. We watched the service, parts of which were held in the courtyard as the 16^th Century church is quite small. There then followed coffee and cakes, the specially blessed bread and, after this, a lunch of lamb and salad. Our ride back was just as much fun in a crowded pick-up truck, but we made it safely. There should be a full report in my next book of travel tales, ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ when it comes out in November. During this week, I will put up more photos from this day. I will put them up in a varied order to make the collection more interesting. Have a good week, and I will see you either next Monday or Tuesday.

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Symi Saturday Photos

And a quick note. If you are on Symi next week, Charlie Cash, the Sport Injury Therapist, is coming on the 5th & 6th of September to the EY ZHN Centre in Yialos. Click that link for more info about the centre; the menu will also give you contact details.

And so, here are some photos for your weekend – I just grabbed them from my ‘to post’ folder, so they are a mix.

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Quick trip to Rhodes

I found myself on a very busy boat on Wednesday morning. Many Symi folk were aboard, the mayor, priests, waiters from our taverna, lots of others too, and also all the other passengers who were travelling to Rhodes from further afield. Mind you, with the Blue Star boat we have now, it didn’t feel cramped or busy, and there were plenty of places to sit, drink coffee and chat.

The walk around from the harbour in Rhodes to the bus stops at Mandraki took me 25 minutes (I was going fast and ended up a bit sweaty-wet), and I arrived just as a bus to the airport was pulling in. I grabbed a quick ticket and was onboard with a couple of minutes to spare. This meant I was at the airport an hour before mother’s plane was due to land, the bus journey only took 30 minutes.

The EasyJet flight arrived early, and we were straight into a taxi and off to the Plaza for lunch before heading home on the Blue Star at 3 pm. It is possible to get from London to Symi in one day, but only if you get the 5.30 a.m. flight from Gatwick, or land at Rhodes before, say 1 pm in the afternoon. As usual, if coming independently, check your boat connection before you arrange the flights if you can. Anyway, the photos today were taken in Yialos early on Wednesday morning.

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Off to Rhodes

We have decided to call the owl Eric. Why? It was Neil’s idea. There’s a song by The Alan Parsons Project called ‘Old and Wise’ and owls are supposed to be wise, and the song was partly written by Eric Woolfson, so there you go. I didn’t see him yesterday (the owl, not Mr Woolfson who, sadly, is no longer with us) and I doubt I shall see him today as I am in Rhodes, and I don’t think I saw him on the boat coming over. He may have flown… Actually, I am being silly, I am writing this on Tuesday, so I haven’t gone yet but, all being well, I’m in Rhodes today collecting mother from the airport, and Neil is at home tidying the house. I’ll be back this afternoon.

This means that there won’t be a blog on Thursday and, as I mentioned before, there may be fewer posts than usual over the next couple of weeks. I am taking a week off from work and other things from next Wednesday, but I will put up some photos and things if I can. We have various family members coming to visit and some to stay, so things could a get a little hectic.

The photos today, by the way, were taken at a concert in the village square a couple of weeks ago, maybe last week, I can’t remember. I only just found them on my camera. The concert was part of the Symi Festival, which is still going on. And, on a vaguely related note, I am told that the next screening of ‘The 13^th‘ the film shot on Symi, will be on September 24^th. I know some people wanted to see it again and others for the first time. I think I have that date correct. So, if you are on Symi on that date, then pop along to the venue (to be announced, but I assume either the sports’ centre in Horio or at Lefteris kafenion) and take a look.

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Boats, Islands and Owls

Sorry about yesterday’s blog, the weekend all got rather out of hand, and I realised I hadn’t had time to write anything suitable for a Monday. So, instead, here is some blurb for a Tuesday, including photos of our newest neighbour.

We were treated to a speedboat ride on Sunday, to go across to Nimos and have a look at the venue for our party on September 8^th. It’s all rather barren and does, in places, look like a bomb site, but it will be our bomb site for the night. The bay at Taviri, around the east side of Nimos, has a derelict house on it and a broken down path from the jetty to the beach. It’s possible to get to the beach if you are careful, but you’ll need to wear sensible shoes. This is a bit of a pre-warning to our guests, who should be receiving an update at the weekend with final instructions. However, the jetty/landing stage itself is flat concrete and reasonably comfortable. It’s surrounded on three sides by water; the boat will be moored on the seaward and. The inland end is up against the rocks. Guests will have to be careful not to fall off and land on the rocks or the water, but that’s up to them.

It should do. No, it will have to do, and it’s plenty big enough for 70 people with seating also on the boat, as long as we are careful. Not sure how our tap shoes will cope with the concrete, there may be sparks flying off the taps, but that will add to the fun. We can always replace the metal taps later if we ever need the shoes again.

While travelling over to the island we were stopped by the coastguard on one of their routine stop-and-check duties. If you have a boat there are so many things you need to have with you at all times at sea, I had no idea: Papers, of course, to show it’s yours and registered and taxed (or whatever), fire extinguishers that are up to date, flares that are up to date, and life jackets enough for all passengers. These checks are carried out for the safety of boat users, so that was no problem and our friends had everything in order. It’s good to know that seafarers are being kept an eye on in this way. It’s also fun to be stopped at sea by one of your neighbours, but you have to remember that they are doing their job, so personal chat is best kept for another time.

Back on land and our other new neighbour, the little owl that today’s photos are of. He or she has recently moved to the area and has become less nocturnal than you might imagine. We often see him now on the next-door roof, keeping a close eye on the trees and bushes below. There are a few cats around, but I reckon he sees them as being too big for him. He watches though and can stand there for hours just keeping an eye out for dinner. We also see him at night or, rather, feel his presence as he swoops past silently, a grey blur in the dark. Friendly chap though, he was talking to Mr and Mrs Patterson, our two pigeons who use our telegraph pole, they were having quite a decent chat, probably about us.

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