Jason and the Sargonauts

(Kalo mina! Happy month.) Today’s blog post is actually me (writing on November 7^th). 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.

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.”

John Manuel (author of Tzatziki For You To Say)

Jason and the Sargonauts
Amazon UK click here
Kindle (and original cover) click here

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So, I am off for three weeks now and am handing you over to some guest bloggers. Before I go though, here are some recent photos from Neil. Winter on Symi is not just about being cold and wet, there are always celebrations of some sort going on: name day festivals, birthday parties (as below) baptisms (as below) and other festivals too. So, for this Monday, as I pack up and leave the house and cat in safe hands, here is a collection of photos to start your week. And remember, you can also keep in touch with Symi twice a week via Adriana’s Symi Blog which you can find here.

And, from a few days ago – a few of the baptism photos.

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A kind of quick’n’lazy blog today. The photos were taken from home as the Blue Star came in on Friday morning. As you can see, there is a little cloud around.

And then, as I was watching the boat and having my morning coffee, I noticed something else in the water. Recently we’ve become much more aware of the sea out there and we’re always looking out for small craft, refugees in trouble, that kind of thing, though our coastguard are very vigilant and there is often a navy boat out in the bay anyway. But this morning, this caught my eye:

It was too far away to see what it was but at first I thought it was a fisherman’s marker, except it wasn’t in a very sensible place for that. Later on I noticed that it was slowly drifting towards the shore, but what was it? Anyway, while that was going on, I was also thinking about the next few weeks and being away, and I prepared a guest blog post. I’d originally set the first one up for next Wednesday, and then I’d filled in all the other gaps for while I am away, and then a last minute one popped in so I have put that in for next Tuesday, which is when the guest blogging will start. I now have something for every day from next Tuesday to the 12^th December, by which time I should be back.

But I thought I would think ahead in terms of weather as well as we have to go and arrange our boat tickets (and stock up on Jack Cat food for his agency care worker to deal with). Checking out one weather site I found that the forecast I had last seen had changed; no longer sunny with only one day of rain, it looks set to be a bit miserable when we are in Rhodes next week; maybe I won’t get to Ancient Kamiros after all, I don’t fancy a long walk in the rain. At least the wind looks to be fine for the boat on Monday afternoon and the temperature is not too low. And as for the weather in the places we are going to visit… Well, ‘Showers of rain and snow’ seem to sum it up along with temperatures of five and six degrees, showers and ‘an afternoon thunderstorm.’ I think we will be buying umbrellas when in Rhodes.

But before then… What was it? Ah ha! As it floated in towards the Nireus I was able to get a better photo and blow it up. Not sure where they came from but they seem to have travelled as a pair.

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Symi Dream Calendar
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 12^th 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.

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!

Symi Dream Calendar 2016.

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Quick news roundup
Here’s some other news to catch up with. It was all happening in Yialos on the afternoon of November 16^th. First of all a chicken went shopping…

It’s one of those things that you see every now and then. You’re just walking along the backstreet towards the post office, passing the Xatzipetros supermarket when from behind the flower shop comes a small chicken. This is being followed at a polite distance by a curious young cat. The chicken crosses your path, you grab a quick photo and then it heads into the super market (sic) to, I assume, pick up a few essentials. The cat loses interest and wanders off somewhere else and you go to the post office.

Later you attend a meeting organised by Solidarity Symi, the refugee and island charity newly set up to help those in need. Attending are a group of interested observers plus the hosts, the island doctors, the head of the port police, people form the Rhodes charity ‘Helping Hands’ and members of the UN. A good two hour discussion with questions and some answers follows.

Later, having a glass at Pacho’s, you see a red flare being set off and wonder if that’s got anything to do with incoming refugees. It doesn’t, on closer inspection, seem so as the person holding it was on the quayside. The Dodecanese catamaran was leaving so maybe someone was saying goodbye in style. It did remind me though of a time in the summer when we were on the balcony and saw a flare, red, over by Nimos which did turn out to be a refugee boat in trouble. Red flares in the sunset.

And that’s my news for today, except to remind you that if you haven’t already put in your order for a Symi calendar or several, then now is the time to do so. You can find the order page here: Neil Gosling at Lulu. Or you could just ‘Google’ “Neil Gosling Lulu” and, surprisingly, you won’t find Neil singing ‘Shout’, but will find links to where you can order a copy, or several, of next year’s calendar. Well worth shouting about.

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