Dentist, Island Sky, Antarctica…
News today: I’ve been to the dentist and ‘Remotely’ should be available on Kindle today – the two things are not related. Going to the dentist at 6.30 in the evening was a new experience, it’s great how, here in Greece, services are available ‘after hours’ as it were. Back in the UK it would be a nine-to-five situation (it may have changed now) and you would have to take time off work to get seen to, but not here. The same goes for our doctors and the shops. More ‘official’ places close earlier such as the town hall and schools, though children then go to private classes until quite late in the evenings, and utilities tend, on Symi, to only be open certain hours, usually so the guys working there can go out and fix phone lines and do repairs. But it’s still so much easier to be able to visit the dentist after ‘normal’ working hours than take time off. It’s also great when he says, after making another appointment, ‘I’ll call you if I have to attend a council meeting and can’t make it.’

It’s also great that you don’t feel any injection, you can have a good chat (as much as you are able, considering), it’s all very laid back and not at all expensive.

As for ‘Remotely’, this has now been tidied up and a new printed version is available. It’s exactly the same except we found a couple more of my famous typos and took them out while working on the Kindle format. If there are yet more, they can stay there. The Kindle version will be at a reduced price for a while so you may want to grab it now and store it away for later when they may put the price up. Try the Amazon UK page ‘Remotely’ to see if the Kindle link has been added yet, if not come back in a day or so. You can also find it on various other Amazon country sites within the next week, or so I am told.

We had a cruise ship in the other day, the MS Island Sky, a Nobel Caledonia ship with 57 suites all done out in wood and bras. (I left that typo in just to amuse you.) It looks very swish inside and nicely old fashioned. I see that they are doing a ‘In the Wake of Shackleton’ cruise to the Falklands and Antarctica in December if anyone fancies joining me. It’s only ‘from’ £10,495 so I will have to sell a huge amount of ‘Remotely’ before then, but you never know. (I do actually. It’s a dream destination for me which will have to stay as a dream. Ah well.)

Off to check out other impossible holiday destinations I know I shall never go to now, have a good day.

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The dreaded All Inclusive Holiday
The children are back as school, from yesterday, after their long summer holiday. They break up around June and don’t go back until a week or so into September – it would be impossible to work in the heat of July and August, so it makes sense. I expect there will be a few grumpy faces around for the next few days; I don’t suppose the children are enjoying it much either.

There was a lot of boat activity in the harbour yesterday, with plenty of pleasure yachts coming and going, the ferries coming in and the gulets from Turkey. The taxi boats weaved their ways in and out between them and there were quite a few in Harani and also heading around to Nimborio. Looking at the amount of day trippers coming off the boats in the morning, the season is showing no signs of slowing down on Rhodes either.

Apparently Rhodes has had one of its best years on record for tourist numbers. However, I also read that there are more small places having to close down because of lack of business, plus all the austerity measures and extra taxes. So how do those things match up? More numbers and less business. Well, it’s pretty clear and was explained to me by the chap at Napoleon’s restaurant in Rhodes a while ago. The blame, if you want to call it that, lies at the feet of the All Inclusive Deal (AID). People buy a holiday that includes accommodation, all their meals and certain drinks; the quality of which will vary according to where you are staying (see the TV series ‘Benidorm’ for the worst of the worst). Not that I am suggesting there’s anywhere on Rhodes like that! There certainly isn’t on Symi.

One thing that gets me about these AID users, I mean some of the holiday makers who take up AIDs, is that they miss out on things. Okay, so some people have no choice but to take a cheap deal – family, children etc. – and that’s understandable. They spend two weeks on a sunbed looking at the sea, they have daily excursions to the bar, buffet and bathroom. Fine. And I know that some people do go off-resort and explore the local areas too and everyone says ‘We’ve done Rhodes’ when they mean they’ve spent two weeks on a sunbed in-resort, or they’ve paid a quick visit to the Old Town. And some folk come over to Symi and other places for the day so that’s all well and good too. But it is still having a poor effect on the smaller hotels. My friend at Napoleon’s tells me each time I visit of another family-run hotel going out of business because of the AID style holiday. Let’s hope things get better for them next year.

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The master returns
Regular followers of the blog will be pleased to learn that Jack, the Alarm Cat, is home again after a nine-day holiday. Justine and Lyndon were passing our old house when they saw him on what used to be the terrace. Thanks to them for calling us with the news, and for Lyndon for the photo.

We set out in the late afternoon armed with a Symi Animal Welfare cat box and arrived at what is now a building site shortly afterwards. The house is being completely renovated, the land in front is stacked with building materials and bits of old house, the walls are all rendered, there’s concrete everywhere and the old balustrade has now gone. Luckily the gate was open so we didn’t have to disturb our old neighbours who were on their steps in the side lane. Last time we had to snaffle the cat away from his old home we had to go through their house and up their back garden steps onto our old flat roof and catch him there. This time it was much easier. I walked up the steps to the garden and there he was. He started to dash off when he saw me and then changed his mind and came to me. I was able to pick him up and pop him in the box with no injuries.

He made quite a fuss on the way home, much the amusement of our old neighbours who knew exactly what we were up to… again. Back at home he was straight to his food bowl in traditional fashion and only spent a few hours shouting the place down before settling in on Neil’s lap to watch a film. The following day, Sunday, he was a bit ‘clingy’ but otherwise his usual self and he looks quite well and fit. His ears even seem a bit better, though that’s temporary and his black nose is spreading. Nothing is yet too nasty in that department and a slight weight loss seems to have done him good.

The house where we are now is the third house in his life, he was born up at Ag Triada and lived there for a year before moving to Ag Athanasios; he never went back to the original house from there, but this is the second or third time he has tried to get back to the last house. Maybe because there’s a garden there with his familiar smells, he was there for eleven years and he does have some descendants there from a quick-fire round he got off before he was ‘done.’ For now, though, he’s going to be staying in, with the courtyard door closed, much as he might want to go and explore he clearly has no idea of how to look after himself while he is away. I hate to think who he had been annoying with his noise, or where he got his food and water from, but like I say, he looks fine and is home again. And I was just getting used to the peace and quiet too.

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An evening at Mythos
I’m sorry about this Elaine, but I hear there are wild times to be had in Maidstone as well as on Symi, and if you are ever here I can totally recommend a dinner at Mythos in Yialos. A party of 20 of us went there for Neil and Justine’s birthday on Thursday night, separate bills all-round – no problem, brilliantly handled by the friendly and efficient staff – great food, lovely view (rubbish photos on my part, so not a lot to share) and all a very reasonable price, which included a shot and desserts on the house. There were even taxis and lifts back up to the village afterwards, apart from three of us who walked up. That seems to be a recurring event for me, on Neil’s birthday; a wonderful dinner and a slow, sweaty walk up the ‘lazy steps’ (misnomer) afterwards for a nightcap at Rainbow. Before you know it it’s the next day and there’s a bunch of wonderful presents for him (and one for me, thank you Jenine!) and Friday feels like a Saturday as not much got done.

But it was a good day for reading and thinking up ideas of things to write – thank you to Ann again for taking the time and trouble to read the screenplay and the book. The book, as you probably know, is ‘Remotely‘ my latest comedy. So far all the reviews have been good, people have been laughing along with it as far apart as New Zealand and Tilos, Penzance and Perth, I am told and I have even seen it being read on Symi. All good stuff.

Over here the heat is back, yesterday was definitely warmer than the day before and it’s a good time of year to be at the beach. Maybe one day, as Liza sang in ‘Cabaret’, I may get to the beach, but the trouble is, each time I go for a few hours off I lie down and promptly fall asleep until it’s time to go home again. I can do that quite easily here.

But Saturday and Sunday now stretch ahead with writing to do and ideas to play around with. The first draft of The Saddling arrived – it actually arrived one hour after I emailed the printers to ask where it was and they wrote back saying they would send another copy; I replied, later, that there as now no need. I hope they got that message in time. So, there’s that to be read as well, when I am in the mood to return to a ‘Rural Gothic’ frame of mind. Well, you have traditional Gothic with castles and claustrophobia, wild woods and storms, and you have Urban Gothic, the same kind of thing but in cityscapes, so why not Rural Gothic where there are creepy characters and settings, mist and marshes? (There is actually, ‘Wuthering Heights’ etc.) That’s what I am aiming for in this new thriller which should be out next year. Meanwhile, have a good weekend.

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Symi, off and on
I have started putting together some ideas for my next book of Symi based stories, ‘Symi, off and on’ but there’s a distinct lack of ‘Symi’ in them. They are mainly about travels before moving here and then since living here, so they often start or end at Symi, but I realise I am short on amusing Symi stories. If anyone has any ideas of what they would like to read about in the next volume of ‘Thoughts From a Greek Island’ please feel free to use the email address at the very bottom of the site here, or contact me on Facebook or in person in the village. All ideas welcome.

Meanwhile, it’s actually yesterday today and Neil’s birthday. I’m rushing this off (on Thursday) so I don’t have to worry about it in the morning and also, he’s planning to come back from Yialos (where he is currently making me an appointment with the dentist and doing other alarming things) and we may take the rare opportunity to have lunch at Georgio’s. We are booked into Mythos for tonight, so it looks like it is going to be a day of festivities and feasting.

The sun is out, there are no clouds around now and only a slight breeze, though it’s noticeably more comfortable temperature-wise. Jack the AC is still off on his holiday; we think it was around this time last year that he went on a field trip so we suspect he has a visiting family or person who he goes and stays with at this time of year. September is a good time to visit Symi as it’s cooler, the walking is good, there are migrating birds coming back and forth so some bird watching to be done, and all the bars and tavernas are still open. They start to close up around the middle of October, depending on when the final charter flights come and go from Rhodes.

I’m planning a short holiday of my own, a couple of days on Rhodes doing some bits and pieces, but not until towards the end of October. Until then, though, it’s the same routine but with the added attraction of many returning visitors who come at this time of year. This is also the two-week period we used to come when holidaying here, so there are several returners who we got to know then and the friendships have continued over the years. It’s that kind of place.

Anyway, I should go and prepare for the rest of the day now and see if I have a shirt and pair of shorts that will expand as the day of festive feasting goes on. Hopefully tomorrow I will be in a reasonably fit state to prepare a post for Saturday, we shall see.

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