A quick chat
So, no more news since yesterday… Oh there is! We’ve found (well, Julia found) the museum of musical instruments. Jean has also told me where it is and there’s a big sign up now. Head to the basketball court: At the back of the town square, turn left past Nireda and OTE and walk along the edge of the court towards the school, and it’s there, on your left. Or go through St John’s Church courtyard and out the other end and turn right. Have fun!

Desperately searching around for any interesting photos for today, I found these three on the camera. It’s the thing I was talking about that brought parts of the new jetty over. I’m putting it up so that people will know there is some work still going on there. I don’t know when it was meant to be finished, but I can hear the machines clunking away quietly and there’s often activity down there.

We had an old friend turn up unexpectedly on Sunday, probably the first person I met when I came to Symi 20 years ago. So that was an excuse for a meal at the taverna. Great chops, fun service and a lot of catching up, both with us and the locals. Somehow I managed to get an early night as well, a bonus, as I was up at six to start my daily routine of sitting at a desk. It’s where I’ve been for the last six and a half hours and, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll not hang around, but will hopefully be out later today to take some more interesting photos.

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A quick catch up after the weekend
A few updates for you: Watch out if you are planning to use the Blue Star on Friday 23^rd – there is currently strike action planned. Best to check with a travel agency or the shipping line first.

Secondly, remember the Symi salt I mentioned the other day? Well, apparently the salt pans are just north of Sarpes Bay, after the Nimos gap, opposite Plati island. They have a Facebook page if you would like to go and look and like it: Symi Sea Salt.

Meanwhile, there has been more work going on to the new jetty. There was a meeting recently and it was hoped, at that meeting, that the work could get back on schedule and be completed by the end of the year. The huge barge that came in the other day looked like it was carrying half the Parthenon, with large blocks with columns. I’ll see if I can get some photos.

The World has come and gone, the day-trippers remain plentiful from Rhodes each day, the temperature is back up (I am topless as I write this on Sunday afternoon, oh vicar!) and everything is still ticking along towards the end of the season in mid to late October.

In home news, The Alarm Cat is recovering from his field trip/holiday, he’s getting his voice back now after several days of silent bliss and he’s a bit more lively. We reckon he wore himself out over the ten days and it’s caught up with him. He looks to be on the road to being his usual self now though.

I’ve spent the weekend writing; various projects are on the go at the moment and there’s a lot I want to get down, and get down properly, but in the meantime, Remotely has been doing well on Kindle and in print and has got some great reviews. See the links on the right, as usual, where you can head straight to the books, some of which are about Symi.

And that’s it for this morning, back to the working week with a dentist appointment and one dinner invite in the diary so far.

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Symi, The World and other matters
The World was at Symi yesterday (see Neil’s snap below) so I went and had a quick look at the website. I have to say, what you get inside looks nothing like you see from the outside, which, to my mind, is a bit bland. But you can buy your own three bedroom apartment, there’s a chap playing a baby grand piano in the foyer (a job for me?), there’s a gym, all kinds of eateries and even a golf course. Oh, if I had the money… But then again, would I? It would be great to cruise around the world watching the scenery change but you never know who you are going to be rubbing padded shoulders with and you could be trapped on board with… well, with anyone (who owns more than a few million a year, I guess, imagine if Donald Rump came aboard). So I think, if I am ever going to take a cruise, I’ll do it on a smaller boat.

The journey looks nice though. It starts in January (but I expect you can hop on an off at any time) down at the tip of South America, so you’d have to get there, and then cruises up the Atlantic, around Brazil and into the Caribbean before heading across to the top of Africa, around Spain, France, the bottom of the UK, a few fjords later and you’re back again and into the Med – stopping for a day at Symi – and then on through the Suez Canal, down the east coast of Africa and in Indian Ocean, then that straggly bit with lots of islands (Indonesia?) and around some of Australia in time to end the year somewhere near Sydney. Wot? No New Zealand? Not going on that then.

While The World was making her leisurely way around Rhodes the night before, we were part of a party of partygoers who went to Georgio’s and then the Rainbow – I’ll leave you with some photos in a moment. As you can see it was a busy night and that was on a Thursday, so that was good to see. Lefteris the star waiter of the season was working very hard as usual and still had time to laugh with the guests and pose for a photo before finishing his shift and getting ready for school the next day, poor chap. What was really nice, apart from everything else, was the number of people meeting up with old friends, Greek and otherwise, and the festive and friendly atmosphere. It got to the point that Noufris (the owner) was bartering Neil for his shirt (which is actually my shirt) but drew the line at swapping shirts there and then. It was a fun night that included bacon candy and a lot of laughs. Just how a Thursday night should be in our little world.

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Some Symi things you might not know
I had a couple of very helpful messages in the other day (thank you Jean!) with a couple of interesting facts about Symi that you might not be aware of, so I thought I would share them here.

I know that some people will know this one already as I have seen people with the item in question; Symi salt. Symi now has its own salt beds, just past Tolis beach and the endeavour is being run by Christos Volos and his Czech wife, Irene. Irene designed and organised the packaging and, as far as I know, still packages the salt herself from home. She is also selling her salt in Rhodes – both to shops and hotels. I know that you can buy it at the herb shop on the Kali Strata, just before The Olive Tree and the taverna, I saw someone with some from there the other day. I expect there are other outlets on the island as well.

The second piece of information was more of a surprise to me as I’d never heard of it after 14 years of living on the island. Did you know that Symi has its own museum of musical instruments? Apparently there are santouri on display (not sure of the plural) and possibly other instruments as well. There is a plaque on the wall outside stating that it is a museum (I am not exactly sure where though it’s in Yialos, we will investigate) and it cost €1.00 to go in. A santouri (Σαντουρι) is the Greek word for a cimbalom, a form of dulcimer, originally from Hungary. A series of metal strings, fixed across the sound box by pegs, are struck by sticks held in the player’s hand. I tried one out once at an event at The Olive Tree where Michaelis from the Hotel Fiona was playing the background music. I should try and find myself one as, when I was’ having a go’, it all made sense to me, I just needed to practice a lot more.

‘Excuse me officer,’ the lady said as she asked for directions. ‘How do I get to Carnegie Hall?’

‘Lady,’ the officer replied. ‘You gotta practice, practice, practice.’

Old joke but new information. Track down some genuine Symi salt when you are on the island, then hunt down the musical instrument museum when in Yialos. If I find it first I will let you know where it is. Thanks again Jean for the info., and if anyone else has any similar snippets of useful info, feel free to share them!

[Santouri photo from MusicHeaven.gr]

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Greek City Times
Yesterday, Greek City Times published an article that I had written for them called ‘Why Symi?’ As you will see if you read it, this is one of the most oft asked questions of people who choose to live here and I hope the article goes some way to explaining this hard to answer question. When I was putting together ‘Carry On Up The Kali Strata’ I attempted to answer it and found the only real answer was ‘A lot of things.’ A great combination of things draws people to live on Symi and I don’t think there is one simple aspect of the island life that captures people. Have a read and see what you think: Why Symi?

Meanwhile, ‘Remotely’ has now filtered through into Amazon and should be available in Kindle format there – it is, I just saw the page: Remotely Kindle. If you are a member of Kindle Unlimited you can get it for free, or else it’s currently only £3.76 to buy and download immediately. It’s the same format as the paperback, same layout, and has been checked to work fine on all platforms.

Here no Symi the weather continues to be ‘just right’ as people say. Not too hot, not too breezy, not too humid or cold, it’s ‘just right’ for walking and swimming and doing all those things you want to do on holiday. For me, I still have the window open beside the desk during the day, but other windows that have been open all summer are starting to be closed one by one. I’m thinking of getting the top sheet out in case the nights start to feel cooler and the fan is no longer needed in the living room or by the bed. I still have one in the ‘Workhouse’ as it’s a flat-roofed concrete block and stays hot even after the sun has gone down.

There have been more boats in and out of late, Wednesday was busy with the ferry leaving the Blue Star coming in, many sailing boats and some larger yachts, and then the day boats so there’s no sign of the season slowing down as yet. Everywhere is still open as Symi enjoys a longer summer season than islands further to the north.

So, all is well, and ticking along and things are getting done: pieces for a new ‘Symi’ book, a new novel for next year, a script to be submitted to Amazon TV and a new idea for a set of short stories. So many words, so little time – I’m looking forward to the winter when it’s cool enough to work through the afternoons, there will be more time for typos then. I mean more time for typing. No, maybe I was right the first time.

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