Health Holiday, Greek style
Hello! We’re back. I’ve enjoyed me week off and we’ve done loads during it: coursework, furniture removal, health checks, lots of eating, walking, boat trips… But where to start catching up? Let’s go through in order…

Sunday, we took the Dodekanisos afternoon boat across to Rhodes. It was fairly busy with a football team coming down from Kalymnos, or Kos, to Rhodes, and day-trippers from Rhodes to Symi, but there were, as always, seats and the journey was quick and comfortable. A short walk from Kolonoa harbour took us to the Lydia Hotel where we were given a decent room. Room 312 in this case, it’s one at the end of a corridor, so you only have one other room next door and not one on either side, and it also has a larger bathroom than many as the shower area extends across the corridor. Er, behind a wall of course; it’s not that kind of a hotel. The price is reasonable and the staff are friendly, the breakfast is a good mix of everything from healthy stuff to cakes, with a hot buffet and a cold one, and it’s very handy for the local shops and things.

On Monday we had to meet our private health insurance agent at 8.15 at Euromedica. This is out of town near Koskinou and you can take a bus, but we didn’t fancy it at that time of day so we called a taxi. It was a beautiful sunny day on Rhodes and our agent, Tsambika, met us dead on the appointed time. We had to be early as my blood tests were to be done in Faliraki so our agent drove us there and we caught up on news and gossip en route. She did all the talking at the medical places we visited and, though I’ve done these things many times before, I didn’t have to worry about a thing: sit there, do that, hold this, thank you and goodbye. And we were whisked back to Euromedica so Neil could have his various check-ups done.

We walked in to the health centre at nine and were out by nine forty-five, again with Tsambika doing all the paperwork negotiations (there were very few) and taking us to the various places. I only had the chance to read half a chapter of The Return of The Native while I waited. Tsambika had set up appointments so Neil was whisked straight in for blood test, cardio and chest and we were on the road to Kanada Street for my next appointment 90 minutes early. But that wasn’t an issue either and, again, Tsambika asked if they could see me early, they could, and 15 minutes later (not even the chance of a paragraph of Thomas Hardy) and I was out in the sunshine with a picture of my perfect chest (internal) in my hand.

The rest of the day was ours and so we opted to walk back to town. Our agent would have driven us, but there was no need, so we said goodbye and agreed I would call her the next day after my cardio appointment. So, after some wandering back through the Old Town where I had a coffee and Neil a very dodgy frappe, we did some shopping and found ourselves completely free from the to-do list by one. So, we headed to Indigo in the Old Fish Market at Mandraki. Now then, here’s a place to go and eat! It’s Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking, each chair or seat has the name of a Greek island painted on it (I sat on Kalymnos, Neil on Tilos), the lampshades are made out of hats, each table has its own quirky teapot for flowers and the food is to die for. Neil had a beef stew with the best risotto either of us had ever tasted, and I had a gorgeous chicken dish. We were treated, by the owners, to a starter of bread and homemade dips, and a sweet of chocolate fridge cake and cream. I can’t find a web page for the bistro but there is a Facebook page.

So, that takes us up to Monday afternoon. There is more catch-up to come and I will set about that tomorrow. The one thing I didn’t do was take photos. Neil might have taken a few but we felt that we were having a whole week off from photographing and writing and so you will have to make do with some images, from Symi, taken in recent days, rather than our ‘holiday snaps.’ Oh, and I just realised, it’s Jack Cat’s birthday today: He’s made it to 14 years old! Will try and get some snaps for you.

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Symi websites and a short break
Friday was all go on the boat front. The Blue Star Diagoras came in at the same time as the Dodekanisos came in, there were a few private sail-boats coming in and out so it must be good sailing weather, and there were several fishing boats coming and going too. The patrol boat was out in the bay and the sea was mainly calm and flat with rivulets of silver in and out of the blue of the sea; different currents, or different water temperature perhaps, I’m never quite sure.

But the weekend starts here and, for me, it is going to carry on all week as I am going to take a week’s holiday from blogging and will be back with you the week after next. Just a quick break so I can get some other projects seen to. We’re editing ‘Remotely’ and I have several kind folk reading the MS and sending in typos and feedback, so I want to concentrate on that for a while. It will also give me time to replenish the photo stock folder for future posts. But while I am off line…

Don’t forget your other Symi resources. You can find out all kinds of info about life on the island from blogs and Symi websites, you can check out your holiday accommodation, the boats and other things you might want to know, and you can do it in various ways.

Adriana’s Blog comes out twice per week and gives you updates and great photos of what’s going on and how things are.

Symi Visitor will give you ideas for holiday accommodation and there’s also a chat page you can get involved in, ask questions and find answers from Symi fans, professionals and regular visitors. That’s at the Symi Visitor Symi Forum. (The other Symi chat page is now redundant and has not been used for a few years, so this is the definitive and only place to chat.)

The Symi Webcam will give you minute by minute shots of Yialos and the comings and goings of harbour life.

Kalodoukas Holidays will let you see what accommodation they have around the island.

Symi Art will give you a wealth of photos to view.

Blue Star Ferries have their site where you can check out the timetable and also book ferries – it’s in Greek with an English language option.

Dodekanisos Seaways will do the same for their craft and schedule, which now includes almost daily sailings from Symi. Again, English is possible and there’s a flag symbol to click on to change the language. (Top right.) There’s no Symi boat on a Tuesday or Thursday, but you can do the Rhodes – Symi journey at 8.30 on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, returning on the 17.35 from Symi to Rhodes on the same days, with the Express coming into service from April 11^th.

For more travel info try the Symi Visitor Travel Blog. It’s always wise to check boats before boking independent flights so that you can arrange to get to the island on the same day as you arrive in Rhodes.

And there are loads of other good Symi info sites (apologies for not being able to mention them all here, there are just too many). These sites cover individual accommodation and eateries, hotels, things to do and so on. You can find them if you do a ‘Google’, or use other search engines, and there are plenty at Symi Best. So, your homework, while I am off, is to do your research and check out as much as you can about Symi and spread the word to your friends that this is going to be the best season ever to visit the island. But I want you back here on Monday 11^th bright and early and ready to read. Have a good week.

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Sunny Thursday chit-chat
Well, summer returned on Thursday; or at least, spring did. No wind to speak of, pure sunshine, warmth, heat even, and very calm. A lovely day all-round and it bodes well for the weeks to come.

Already some house owners and visitors have started arriving, thanks to Easter abroad I expect. Perfect weather for checking on your house after a winter that’s not been so wet; throw those windows open and dry the walls out, air the place and start sweeping up. I did some home work yesterday (as in work at home), finally getting around to varnishing the bedside cabinets. It’s only taken me a year. But it was such a nice morning that I was compelled to stroll to B&Q (the hardware shop) and search out a tub of varnish and a new brush, take them home and set about cleaning the cabinets and then painting them up with clear varnish.

Not long after this the cat threw a wobbly and wouldn’t stop shouting for a good half an hour. The varnishing was done outside and the stuff didn’t smell, so it wasn’t that. Neil had gone out to take some photos in the old Symi library and I think the cat was demanding to know where he was. He hadn’t a note for his absence. He went from room to room, then into the workhouse, and then up on the roof, and back again, twice, and all the time stopping to make a low meow-growl type noise that he usually uses after some other cat has been around the place. Or after he’s used his litter tray, like he was singing some kind of anthem to a well-covered hole. But there had been no other cats and his tray had not been used since first thing. Sometime I wish I knew what he was trying to communicate. He finally settled down up on the flat roof after I had opened the gate for him, in case he wanted to go further afield.

While the gate was open our landlord dropped in our water bill. We’d not had one for a year for some reason so we were expecting a fairly large one; it works out at around €10.00 per month – in case anyone was wondering how much the water costs around here. But then we have a large sterna that is usually at least half full with winter rain water, so we don’t have to take in too much ‘paid’ water. That comes on top of the phone bill, last month’s large electricity bill, a trip to Rhodes for health checks and all the expense that that entails. April could be a very quiet month on the spending front; Neil should be getting back to work at the bar, which will help, and once these bills are out of the way, they won’t come round again for a couple more months.

Anyway, it’s Thursday afternoon and still sunny so I am off to make the most of it.

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Boat bits
Yesterday, Wednesday, was a bit wiped out for me thanks to another bout of vertigo. It’s Thursday now and first thing in the morning. I’m out of the habit of posting things this early and my brain is not quite in gear, so it will be brief. I did take some photo yesterday, from up here as I wasn’t feeling up to going out, so sorry if you’ve seen it all before. I love watching the boats coming in and out, and yesterday we had two at once.

This sometimes happens on a Wednesday, or Friday, if the Blue Star is late. There’s often a chance of it being late as it has several other ports of call to make before reaching us and Symi is at the end of the rout, bar Rhodes, so there’s plenty of sea time for things to go awry. It only takes one short hold up at each of the several ports on the way down for the delay to accrue. So, sometimes, as happened yesterday, it is in the harbour while the Dodekanisos is waiting to come in on its more punctual morning route.

The Blue Star comes back in the afternoon and you can more or less set your watch by it on a Wednesday, when the weather is good. It leaves Rhodes dead on three and calls in here, its first port of call, punctually at four-forty – at least, I hear it doing things down there at that time.

So there you are, a little bit about boats and only a little as I have things to catch up on that I wasn’t able to do yesterday. (Apologies for any typos, things haven’t quite settled down yet.)

This shot will give you an idea of the size of the Blue Star Diagoras

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What quay are you in?
Another quiet day up here in the village. I took a quick walk down to get some food for the Alarm Cat, who is a vociferous as ever, and then came straight back up via the western, steep steps and the slope. This is more direct but harder work as there are few flat areas to recover yourself on – as there are on the winding Kali Strata. I didn’t really see anyone, a few chickens on the path, a couple of cats, and some local folk out and about in the harbour. Also in the harbour yesterday was this:

I had to get the long lens out to see what it was and it looks like some kind of floating concrete-pouring device, perhaps for the new jetty that is being built on the south side of the harbour. This work is still going on, and will be for some time I guess. I’m still not sure how large trucks will get around the hairpin bend at Petalo but have heard that once the jetty is complete, funding can be sought for a road to link it with the main road to the village. This may have to turn out to sea and curve upwards, which should be an interesting building project to keep an eye on.

It should make a big difference though. We saw last week, when the wind was up and the sea was rough, that boats like the Blue Star Diagoras were only able to dock at some ports, namely Kos, which has a dock directly onto open sea. At Symi, and other places, the boats need to manoeuvre into a tight harbour, albeit a deep one, and this is sometimes not possible. The new jetty, or landing stage, or whatever it’s called, would mean the larger boats could back in, in the same way as they do at Kos, without having to negotiate the confines of a harbour. In theory, this would mean boats could dock here in rougher weather than they currently are able to dock in.

It will also mean that most supplies come in on the south side of the harbour, and this will mean fewer trucks grinding around the narrow quayside, something which can be tricky. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen shop owners rush out to pull their awnings back in, or seen groups of day-trippers have to part like the Red Sea to let a lorry through. And then there’s the noise and fumes from the vehicles, and the congestion that a landing boat causes. Hopefully all that, or at least most of it, will go once the dock is ready and connected to the road. Meanwhile, Symi will carry on as normal and we’ll all put up with the disruption of large lorries and visiting cars as they are bringing in supplies, building materials and things needed for folk to make a living, tourists included. (It doesn’t last for long and it’s quite entertaining to watch.) But for now, if arriving at Symi, you’ll most likely still arrive on the north side near the clock tower, both on the Blue Star and the Dodekanisos Seaways boats. The ‘Sea Dreams’ is pulling in on the south side near the bus stop, when it comes in.

And all that talk of boats reminds me I need to arrange tickets for our trip to Rhodes. If you are a regular Dodekanisos Seaways or Blue Star user, you can pick up loyalty cards and receive bonus points and benefits from regular sailing. I’ve had one for ages, but I keep forgetting to take it with me when I go to book tickets. This is mainly because I don’t use a wallet. I’d rather leave one or two things here and there than lose a wallet with everything together all in one place. So, I’ll leave myself a quick reminder to self to take my loyalty card when I go to book the boat. You can probably find details of the loyalty schemes on the websites for both the Dodekanisos Seaways and Blue Star Ferries. Both sites have English language options too.

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