Here’s this morning’s Symi sunrise for you. We were up and out by 6.20, walked fast up to the Kantina and then down again, Neil ran back along part of the road and I stepped it down through the village.

When I say we were up by 6.30, I mean I was up at 3.30, 4.15, 4,57, 5.30 and 6.10 all thanks to the cat sitting on my head, and a mosquito, but I finally gave in around 6.15 and got on with it. Mind you, I had been in bed since 9.30 the previous evening. We’d been for another long walk after lunch, as an alternative to falling asleep in front of ‘Game of Thrones.’

There will be photos tomorrow, today’s photos are from Profitas Ilias which is an easy walk from Horio. Yesterday though we went out on the west donkey path out of the village, along to Ag. Paraskevi (Patron Saint of eyes) and then, just after the lonesome house on the left, took the path to the right. Here we followed the ‘Wall’ as marked on the map, and there are plenty of old stone walls to admire, and a croquet lawn, until we came to the church of Ag. Raphael. And, would you know it, it just happened to be the name day and the festival was still going on.

We were invited in to take photos of the church and then to have a beer, after this we were given a souvlaki and a box of sweets to take away. Each. So much for a healthy walk.

And then on and down into Yialos, then back up the steps to the village. But that’s for tomorrow. Today, it’s half seven, I am at the desk, the sun is up, the cat is outside contemplating the open gate and wondering if he should explore the lane.

Neil is seeing Yiannis this afternoon about the bar, I am intending to get some bits and pieces done, the Blue Star is due in and I can see a gullet heading out of the harbour and across towards Nimos. Is this the first Turkish gullet of the season I wonder?

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It’s a question of where to start today (Tuesday), we’ve packed so much into a couple of days.

Easter Sunday lunch with the boys, great fun, great food, sitting on the terrace in the sun, then later around the kitchen table, listening to music, chatting, playing games – just like Christmas. And then Bank Holiday Monday dawning fresh and clear, but also with no commitments for the day, nothing to do and nowhere to go.

So I did some work in the morning and then had a computer crash. Strange, on a new machine, but I reckon it’s because I actually paid for the real operating system and it’s done via that online thing properly, so it doesn’t work very well. It suddenly stopped doing anything and then, after a few minutes, told me in a rather embarrassed voice, such as that of a teacher handing back a small child to its parents: ‘Microsoft has encountered a little problem,’ to which I answered, ‘You’re telling me.’ ‘We are working on finding an answer.’ ‘Well, get a move on.’ ‘We are very sorry but your PC needs to restart.’ ‘As long as the auto save was working.’ A restart later and it was back to normal but auto save hadn’t saved all the work. But the thing is, it hadn’t just not saved it at the time of the crash, it apparently had stopped working sometime before and not just the auto save as one file that I definitely had saved, was not there either; like it hadn’t registered my typing for a good hour before it encountered its ‘little problem.’ So that’s a few thousand words that the world shall never read.

I am hoping that was a one off glitch and it won’t happen again. Last time I had to ring them about a minor issue they wanted to charge me €85 Euros for a kind of call out fee – when it was me calling them, and after I’d paid so much for the programmes in the first place. I told them I thought that was a bit steep, I’d sort it out myself and they could RAM it in their oscillator.

Meanwhile, back here on sunny Sunday on Symi… After lunch we went for a walk up to Profitas Ilias, as Neil hadn’t walked up that way before. A climb up through the village to the road, and then down the cemetery, and then up the hillside a short way to the church, into and around two of the chapels, the third was locked, and then a stroll back through the quarry to the main road and down. En route, phoning Jenine to see where she and the boys were and then meeting up in the square for a glass in the afternoon sun.

And then, later, watching the boat come and go taking friends back to the UK and France, and then later still, greeting more friends who are back for a couple of weeks, also from France funnily enough, before putting on a film and falling straight to sleep. Waking up to go to bed, to be woken by the cat coming in, falling asleep, dreaming of going to work in an office, waking up to feed that cat on demand at 3.30, falling asleep, dreaming of running this very busy office, waking up to put the ear plugs in, falling asleep, dreaming of handling a crisis in this very busy office, waking up to get to work. Writing this in a hurry.

So a great Easter weekend, now done and dusted and everyone is ready to start the season. Looking forward to a great 2015; the summer starts here!

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There are a few photos and a short video of Easter Saturday night/Sunday morning for you today, and probably tomorrow as well. The events of a Greek Easter are well documented elsewhere so I won’t go into detail, but on Saturday night we see the resurrection, symbolised in the lighting of candles from priest to people and from people on to people, which is what you can see in the video below.

There is much dynamite (though more on Friday than Saturday this year) to ward off the evil spirits, and there are many joyous bells, after Midnight on Saturday, plus flares and sometimes fireworks. On Sunday there’s the traditional breaking of the fast and the burning of Judas in the evening. We are usually so full of Sotiris’ lamb by then that we can’t move. I’m writing this on Sunday late morning, before the barbeque, because I want to make sure there is something ready and posting itself first thing Monday, as I doubt I shall be up in time.

The weather seems to have settled, at least it looks like it’s going to finally settle down. This time last year we were out and about early in the morning and heading up hills and down to the sea, but this year it’s been so wet and windy as to be too unpleasant. But I am hoping that from Tuesday onwards we shall be able to get back into the early morning walks so I can bore you all with photos of the same old sunrises. And also, of course, get rid of some of the Christmas & Birthday-season weight.

It also feels like, now that Easter is almost over, it’s time to knuckle down to summer work. Just about every business is up and running now, though not all. Up here in the village the Rainbow is due to open again soon and Taverna Zoi will open when more visitors arrive. The Olive Tree should be reopening this week too. Of course the Symi Dream shop won’t be open, it’s gone. Well, the building is still there, and no one has taken it yet, as far as I know. But all other places from the herb shop up to Dimitris at the ‘Lambros’ supermarket at the back if the village are running and waiting for customers.

And as for me, well I have my coursework book staring me in the face across the desk, I have one novel plotted and the first few chapters written, I have other ideas, I have the collection of tales book dithering about and Lonely House just needs some final editing and a cover; but I’m still feeling a little bit blocked, can’t get myself down at the desk, or note book, and get on with things. I blame the weather, and why not? I’m hoping things will unblock after today and I can then spend the summer finishing a book, or at least starting on one.

But that’s enough from me on this calm, crisp Easter Sunday morning. We are expecting guests in an hour, I have gigantes to cook, a beard to shave off (or down) and the cat litter to see to. Oh joy!

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Easter Saturday and cold. The wind has dropped a bit further, though there are still white bits on the sea as you might see from this photo, but it still feels a bit icy here on Symi. I expect everyone is hoping it will warm up a little for tomorrow when we, for one, have a barbeque planned. (Can you say, ‘We for one’? Shouldn’t it be ‘we for two’?)

Yesterday, not being of the Orthodox faith, we had lunch in Yialos where both Dodecanese Seaways catamarans were sheltering from the rough seas. Apparently it was too rough in Rhodes harbour for them to even moor up, they were crashing around and so were brought over here. Never seen that before. You can see them in the second image today, taken on my tablet yesterday afternoon.

I should point out that our lunch was vegetarian; mushroom and vegetable lasagne, cooked by Staphanos at To Spitiko, and we had a salad with it, so that was almost Lenten. Mind you, we did eat with knives and forks which you are not meant to do on Big Friday if you are strictly Orthodox. Afterwards, we shared a taxi back up; Neil has somehow stabbed himself in the eye (not with his fork) and it was playing up. He’d got something from Yiannis at the pharmacy which was, luckily, open in the afternoon, and this morning the report is that it is better.

And then we spent the afternoon with a cheeky wine at the Olive Tree (officially opening next week, I think) and entertained at home for a few hours before listening to the original cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar which, I know, is very Easter-ish. Today… I have no idea. I had to take an anti-allergy tablet to clear my sinuses yesterday so I slept like a log for ten hours and still can’t function properly. I have to say that the cat did manage to rouse me at 6.20 for his first feed of the morning, but I soon went back to bed and have no idea what happened next. Hopefully I will wake up in a little while and be able to enjoy Easter Saturday. We have church planned for this evening around midnight so I need to wake up by then. See you Monday, and Happy Orthodox Easter to you and Happy Birthday to the Alarm Cat and our daughter Charlene! (And anyone else with today as their birthday.)

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Well, that weather has been a bit of a let-down, so far at least. It’s Thursday midday and the wind has died down and we’ve not had that much rain. I was hoping to get some more free water in the sterna before the summer really kicks in. Perhaps things will worsen later and I will be in luck.

But I am sure those folk coming over on day trips don’t want the weather to turn bad. The day trips have already started, and have been going on for a few weeks now. But this isn’t the usual fleet of Nikolaos X and the others, this has been determined explorers via Dodecanese Seaways coming across to see what’s open on Symi. Not a lot, but getting more each day.

And on that note, I’ve been contacted by the Symi Nautical and Folklore Museum down in Yialos telling me it will be open again in a few days. I need to get in touch and find out some more information though. I am assuming this is the nautical museum at the back of the town square, by the town hall. The village folklore museum is up towards Agia Triada and I’ve not been past for a while so don’t know the state of play as yet. But no doubt when I hear more about either or both I will add something here for regular readers and potential visitors to learn more about our museums.

So, trips over have started, things are opening up again for the summer, and we already have regular repeat visitors back. All we need now is a bit of stable sun and less of this cold wind and gloomy skies. It’s not been like last year at all. By this time last year we were out regularly on morning walks in the sun, up and down the mountain like a fiddler’s elbow and back and forth to Pedi regularly. It’s far too cold, windy, or wet at the moment to get out and about as much as we did last year. We’ve done what we can when we could and that’s my story and I am sticking to it.

We will be on ‘Big Friday’ when you read this, with a day of sever fasting and death bells, the lambs get led to the slaughter (if they’ve not already been dispatched) we get that ‘silence of the lambs’ effect when all the nearby bleating is suddenly noticeable by its absence and there are solemn church services. The communities dress the bier and the effigy of Christ is taken from the cross and paraded, the churches are draped in black and the service is very moving.

Later, on Saturday, we will be in for the big bangs and then, after midnight the celebration of the resurrection, with a big family day on Sunday, the burning of Judas and possibly a firework display. So, a festive weekend lies in store and Symi celebrates Orthodox Easter.

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