How about this for accidental timing? The Harland & Wolff Shipyard that has been our kitchen table for the last three months, finally closed last night after successful completion of the Titanic by a 17-year-old shipbuilder. This, quite by accident, coincided with the 113th anniversary of the ship’s accidental sinking on April 14th, 1912. (Struck on 14th, went under just inside the 15th.) Following the last of the fitting out, the ship was moved to its permanent home just off the Pedi road. If you were in the village yesterday at around five thirty you would have seen a small procession of shipbuilder and two godfathers carrying the two foot long replica to her resting place on a bedroom shelf, where, at night, the internal lights can be seen from afar.
And that is where that story ends.
Yesterday saw another accident. Well, more of a final and unexpected deterioration. Neil was cleaning the outside marble table with something called Alfa, when half of the tabletop fell away with no warning. I can only assume, ten years of being in direct sunlight did it. There were no cracks, nothing hit it, it just went. This is one of the original tables from Pat & Ali’s bar on the other side of the harbour which we bought when the bar closed x number of years ago, so it’s a bit of Symi history. We’ve turned it around, so the broken side is against the wall, and await the fate of the side that’s not yet broken off.
Meanwhile, Easter approaches, the bangers are already being thrown, the small, fizzling rockets are being launched, and more and more people are arriving for the festivities to come.
It was a menopausal weekend: jumpers on, jumpers off, shutters open, shutters closed, umbrella? No umbrella. Towels down, up, water plants? No need… and so on until this morning when the wind has dropped, the clouds have gone and, allegedly, there will be no more rain until the next time.
It’s Easter Week. The Friday boat was rammed with visitors, there are once-a-year faces about, families joining families, church services, bells and bangers, and it’s all leading up to this weekend where there will be a solum day on Friday, a very quiet day on Saturday, a riotous after-midnight night, and a homely Easter Sunday.
There’s a chance that we will achieve something of a coincidence today. ‘We’ being me and Harry. Over the weekend, I tackled some of the impossible rigging on the model H has been building, and the kit is now at the stage of needing only the stern rigging and a few touch-ups on parts of the paint work. Then, finally, the project will be finished, and the titanic will be all in one piece and seaworthy. Not that it is going anywhere near the sea.
Today, however, happens to be the 113th anniversary of the Titanic striking the iceberg (at 23.40), and sinking (by 02.17 approx.) the next day. Thanks to Collette for the reminder. How fab would it be to complete the kit today? Before that, we have work to do on Mozart’s Sonata in C major, and some grade four theory. The theory book has arrived, and I have to admit, it’s been a long time since I’ve had to think about a lot of the stuff that’s in it.
It’s also, finally, getting closer to walking weather, I feel. As soon as I can venture out in a pair of short and scurry around the village before too many people are up and about, I will. I am aiming to start early tomorrow morning, which means an early night tonight, to get me back into my summer mode of rising early and getting on with a new novel. Which is exactly what I am going to do now – the ‘getting on’ bit, not the rising, because I did that half an hour ago. (Thanks again to Mother for the tea bags, which didn’t cost too much to clear customs.)
One successful day follows another! The new television arrived on Monday, but Tuesday was too wet to go out and collect it and we were away on Wednesday, so yesterday it was. A march down to town, a few shopping things attended to and a visit to the courier was followed by a taxi home with a large but relatively light box. Out with the old and in with the new, all connected to this and that in a few minutes and bluetoothed to the new speaker, so every programme sounds like a cinema performance.
The second success was my piano student battling heroically through the first page and a half of his own, new copy of Mozart’s Sonata in C Major (K 545), not only the first several bars of the first movement, but we also started looking at the second, so I was very happy about that. Then, we tried to rig the Marconi telegraph cables ready to go on Titanic, but I have to say, it almost had me swearing because it was so fiddly, but we managed a rough draft.
The photos today are today. The sight just as I opened the shutters in my office for the first time in several days. Looks like it’s going to be a cloudy morning, though sunshine is promised for later and over the weekend with the temperature due to rise later next week. That’ll be interesting as we’ve had just about every kind of weather except snow this winter so far, a winter which has, as predicted, flown by. Sam’s already at work, the Kali Strata restaurant is already open (as are many other places, including Trata and To Spitiko), and some, of course, have never closed. Which, though, is what I must do for the weekend – I’ll see you back here next week.
Yesterday was one of those days that went well. Despite the roaring wind and cold blasts, we were up at four and out of the house by ten past five to walk down to the harbour. The Blue Star was only a few minutes late, but Neil decided the day was going to be a good one and everything was going to go just as it should. With that decided, we knew we were in safe hands. The boat was busy to say the least, but we were second in the coffee queue and found seats in the stern café for the hour-and-a-bit crossing. Here’s a tip: when you hear the announcement that you’re about to arrive at the port of Rhodes, there’s no need to pack up and hurry to the exit (unless they’ve called for drivers to return to their vehicles). We sauntered around, stood out on the back and watched the docking which I’ve known to take 20 minutes or more, and only when both drawbridges were down and the mooring men were inviting marauders did we bother to stroll to the exit, by which time the human traffic was flowing. This avoids being stuck on the steps for all that time among coughs and sneezes. It doesn’t always take so long, but the tide was high, and we weren’t moving on.
This was my only photo of the day.
From there, it was a gentle walk around to the New Town where we arrived at Kokoraki (the place for breakfast these days) at eight, just as it was opening. Neil had his first appointment over in Ag. Nicholas at 10.00 so there was no rush, but as we finished breakfast just after nine, he set off to find a taxi, while I called into the optician to see if his glasses were ready – to save them having to post them (no, not yet, but we weren’t expecting them to be). Then, I took a wander around and did some window shopping, and bought two bays, a set of French, and a skylight, before plonking myself at the Plaza for a cup of black tea and honey. I had a couple of hours before my appointment over the road, so I was just about to start on some story planning when Neil returned, all done and dusted, and five minutes before his ten o’clock appointment was meant to be. Quick journey, great GP who signed him fit for work, and a chatty cab ride back, half an hour, sorted.
This is a closeup of my only photo from yesterday.
After that, we made our appointments over the road (annual cardio check), and all was well there, but the Dr wanted an extra blood test that wasn’t included in our usual health insurance set, so we toddled off to a nearby microbiology lab, bundled in, explained what we were after, gave our details, were taken straight into the bloodletting room (where you could watch the waiting room while you were dealt with (and vice versa)), did the biz, left our and Dr’s email addresses and were out within ten minutes and only a few euros lighter. Those results will be sent straight to the Dr who will contact us if anything else is needed.
From there, it was a walk through the Old Town, fighting off the taverna Kamakia trying to drag everyone into their establishments in a jovial way (give it a few months), stopped at our usual place for a drink before continuing on to Nimmos to see Aris, Dimitris and Michaelis and have lunch at a very reasonable price, thank you very much. Thence, to the boat which left on time and was a lot quieter on the return trip. The cheekiest ending of the day took place when, with a walk and a climb ahead, Neil thumbed us a lift in the back of someone’s truck, and not only did they take us to the village, but because it was a slim truck, they also dropped us right outside the front gate.
So, that’s what I call a successful daytrip away. Today, we have a TV to collect from ACS, and we’re hoping there will be a taxi on hand who will drive round and help us load it into the car, as we’re not going to be able to walk up with it. I aim to have that installed by lunchtime. If not, I have a teen coming for music this afternoon, so I’m sure he’ll know how to sort it out. Before all that, though, I have research to do, so it will be more of this…
As I am not here, I thought I’d leave you with this list of promotions. You’ve seen them before: no cost to you unless you want to buy a paperback, a Kindle or add a book to your Kindle Unlimited, but good exposure for indie authors, myself included. If you see a genre you like, click through to see who’s got what available. All being well with weather and ferries, I’ll be back online tomorrow.
