Symi Dream Calendar
I did warn you back on November 19th: Okay, early and advanced warning that I will be repeating this post in a few weeks as if by magic when I will be away. On the day I am planning to copy this post I should be back on Symi, actually, if all goes well. But still, there is one gap in my scheduled posts list and it’s December 12th so this will still give you enough time to order and receive your Symi Dream Calendar for 2016. Here’s what you have to do:
Head to Neil’s page on Lulu and find his Symi Dream Calendar 2016. (Just click that link.) Then click ‘Add to basket.’ You will need to register for Lulu if you are not already registered. This is quick and isn’t hard to do. You can change the shop you are buying from by using the drop-down up at the top in the menu next to where you see your name (once registered and logged in). Buy from a country near you for a faster delivery. In Greece, I use the Irish site as it shows in Euros. You can change the number you order as you go through the purchase process and postage is then added on. You can pay by card or PayPal.
Calendar page at Lulu
There, now you have no excuse not to order a little piece of Symi sunshine to brighten up your winter and every month through next year. The following photos are not from the calendar, but they are Neil’s and from Symi and a bit of a photo bonus for you – they will also reappear on Saturday 12th December (if all goes according to plan) which will probably be your last chance to order a Symi Calendar before THE day. Enjoy!
The Symi Visitor forum has been at its new home of http://symiforum.com for almost a year now and is as popular as ever with regulars chatting about their Symi holidays, and prospective visitors looking for information about the island.
Some posters on the site have taken the trouble to write a full report of their visit, sometimes in retrospect after they return home or, more recently, while they are on the island as a kind of holiday blog. Now, with WiFi being so widespread and the advent of smartphones and tablet computers, posters include pictures in their blogs too.
The Symi Island chat page
Most of the trip reports are written by regular visitors to Symi but earlier this year we had one from a first time visitor and it was fascinating to read his daily blog as he was seeing the place for the first time. He was, of course, smitten by Symi’s charms and has already booked again for next year.
According to the statistics on the forum these ‘Trip report’ topics are by far the most popular with our members so we have moved them to a dedicated area of the site to avoid them getting lost beneath more recent posts:
A Night at the Monastery – from Janet
Prior to the completion of the final part of the road to Panormitis, we walked the spinal road, a mix of tarmac and dirt, between Yialos and the monastery. Rather than retrace our steps we decided to take the soft option and return on the ferry. When the ticket seller learnt we had walked from Yialos he was most generous and insisted we travelled back for free.
On that first visit we were enchanted with the tranquillity of the area and vowed that if we returned to Symi we would spend a night at Panormitis. And so on a later visit and after the tarmac had been laid, we boarded the bus in Yialos, along with all we needed for an overnight stay, including ingredients for our pasta supper. On arrival, it was just as serene as we remembered. We made our way inside the monastery, where after being presented with holy oil, we paid for our accommodation and with the linen provided, made our way along the first floor to a room overlooking the bay.
We bought tiropittas from the bakery for our lunch and the afternoon was passed with Peter fishing while I perched on a rock and worked on my Greek language homework. In the evening, we sat on the balcony; ate our pasta supper and drank wine whilst overlooking the soporific bay, with just a few boats and small yachts bobbing up and down. Before we retired, we took a walk along the harbour front, taking photographs of the imposing monastery with its ornate bell tower illuminated against the night sky.
Ready for a good night’s sleep we settled within our room and then ‘they’ started. ‘They’ were mosquitoes; a veritable invasion! We had always been prepared on visits to Greece for mosquitoes but with no presence in Horio, where we were staying; we assumed the rest of the island would be the same. So we arrived at Panormitis with no mosquito repellents; we were totally ill-equipped. After Peter spent time swatting, in an effort to reduce their numbers; we spent the night, fully dressed with the sheets firmly tucked round our bodies and over our heads, virtually mummified! All night we listened to the ceaseless buzzing of these midge-like flies that had made their entry via a hole in the window net. Sleep was impossible. Never has dawn been so welcome, when finally the buzzing stopped and it was safe to remove the sheets.
Stepping outside onto the balcony, red eyed from lack of sleep; the sun was shining the sea blue and all was calm. With a fisherman out in the bay, casting lines from his boat, it was difficult to imagine a night here could have been so unpleasant. Did we dream it? No, the irritating bites on our bodies, from the mosquitoes that had managed to penetrate the folds in the sheets, was evidence enough that no way had this been a dream.
The moral of this story is – take care about the assumptions you make, especially when in a mosquito frequented country!
Eleni wrote: Hi James, I’ve attached something that you may like as a guest blog post while you are on holidays (up to you). I have spent many, many years on Symi and food was always a highlight! Thought it might be nice to share my passion. Cheers from a distant (and cold & wet at the moment) Sydney, Australia! Eleni Kyramariou (Kymos)
A holiday on Symi is as much about the food journey as it is about seeing old friends and family, swimming in crystal clear seas and visiting places where memories are engraved and new ones will be etched! Food is intrinsically entwined in the fabric of all human interaction on this tiny jewel in the Aegean.
Island breakfastMisokofti – breakfast delight!Prickly pears
August 2015 – This was my second trip back to Symi after my seven year stint teaching English on the island. Just prior to my departure from Sydney (Australia), an intensive diet and exercise regime achieved its goal of providing the scope to gain a few kilos during my short holiday – an inevitable outcome of a Symi stay! So, the two week safari began and every day was full of flavour!
My days were greeted with simple breakfasts of Greek coffee in a mug (Symi meets Sydney) and island delights such as ‘ misokofti’ (a prickly pear jelly) which is made in nearly every household and often shared in the neighbourhood spurring friendly rivalry on whose is the best creation. These taste sensations, against a quiet Pedi Bay morning backdrop makes me not want to leave the courtyard of the house, but time is not on my side…
Lunch was often determined by what the local fisherman had on offer – brought to, weighed and sold on your doorstep! This day was fresh red mullet, a Mediterranean Slipper Lobster (I had to Google the English name for this delicious creature) and a Greek salad all washed down with a cold Mythos! An island feast by any standard!
Lunch feast
Next stop – sights, sea and a smorgasbord! A visit to Symi is never really complete without a round island day trip on the Poseidon. A fabulous opportunity to tickle all the human senses! With the wind velocity checked to the point of delirium with the captain, seasickness tablets taken and distributed where necessary and we were off! Beautiful, raw coastal scenery for the eyes, lovely sea aromas for the nose, the sounds of the boat motor and cheerful holiday banter for the ears and the feel of the cool, blue-green sea on the skin. The plentiful array of flavours laid out at Seskli sent the tastebuds on a fantasy journey that made this part of the safari complete.
Lunch at Seskli
A visit to Panormitis is a must and, believer or not, there is no doubt that the monastery and its surrounds have a beautiful, if not haunting, energy that is hard to ignore. Church visited, candles lit, ‘promises’ to the Archangel delivered and it’s off to the next ritual stop at Panormitis – the bakery! The intoxicating smell of fresh, wood-fired oven cooked bread, cheese pies, koulouria and a variety of pastries induces weight gain even before any of these little delights are eaten! It is not a place for those with little or no self control and as I fit into that category, was seen leaving with a number of bags full of all my favourite goodies!
The Bakery at PanormitisNatasha & me with our goodies from the Bakery
(Kalo mina! Happy month.) Today’s blog post is actually me (writing on November 7th). It’s one of those adverts I warned you about, this one though is for ‘Jason and the Sargonauts’ a perfect Christmas gift if you have run out of ideas for what to buy certain people. It’s a comedy set on Symi past and present, a mix of historical facts and hysterical acts – well, maybe not hysterical, but it’s light-hearted. And if you look closely you will see that it does follow the Jason myth too. Here’s the official blurb and the links to where you can order copies and Kindles.
Jason and the Sargonauts
A mysterious iron chest arrived on the island of Symi, Greece in 1882 and was immediately hidden for its own safety.
121 years later and Jason is working as a holiday rep for SARGO holidays. When his grandmother turns up as one of his guests she brings with her a locked cigarette case, left to Jason by his recently departed grandfather and given to him on Symi in 1944. The case is opened and reveals a piece of music, but the music is not what it seems and Jason and his small group of pensioners soon realise that they have stumbled on a secret that has been kept hidden on Symi all these years. A secret both dangerous and valuable.
Jason and the Sargonauts is a contemporary comedy adventure full of fun and mystery, ‘A comic, camp and musical romp.’
Reader’s review:
“This is Dan Brown meets Whitehall Farce with a bit of education about Symi’s history thrown in for good measure. Set on the Greek island of Symi, it’s a fast paced whodunnit with lots of laughs and loads of page turning moments. Yes, it was hard to put down.
This book deserves a large audience and stands up there with the best novels about contemporary Greece.”
