Being in a not particularly creative or thoughtful mood this particular first thing, I thought I’d mention the biography of my godfather ‘what I wrote.’
I just had a quick look at the Amazon page where people leave reviews, and was happy to read, in one of them, “At times felt I was in a very risqué PG Woodhouse novel.” (It’s not a novel.) The reviews are currently around 85% good (4 and 5 stars), but I wasn’t surprised to see someone had given the book a one-star review. I have this… what? Troll? Creep? Weird person with psychic powers? Every time I put up a new title, there’s a one-star review, and I’ve even seen it go up within hours of the book being published, meaning the creep hasn’t even read it. I have no idea who this is, but it’s too regular to be random, and the good thing is, it makes no difference to the readership or the sales, so I only mention it because it’s pointless.
Leaving a written review makes the ‘score’ more credible, and one reader was bold enough to give it a three-star, because they couldn’t believe that Bobby made so much money on the ’Dilly in the 1930s, but we all know there are millions of people in the world who fail to recognise the truth no matter what, so I’m not bothered.
Bobby finds himself in some, er, interesting company. Poetry books, books about relationships, there’s one about knee joints (I shall be dipping into that later), one about a pregnant man, leadership, inspirational moments in life… You know the kind of thing.
Here’s a bonus image:
Me and Godfather Bob, and Niki outside our house cira 1971
I’ll leave you to ponder whether you want to take ‘Bobby’ from the shelf. If you do, you will find it “Lovingly crafted, exceptionally well written and well researched.” (It took me 20 years to fact-check and research.) “Reminiscent of a fifties & sixties London and thoroughly entertaining naval stories.” Thank you!
As for Symi… Housework done, Bake Off watched, pub quiz attended, early night ready for a writing day. I’ve still not opened the office shutters, but today could be the day because it feels warmer in here, at last. Another reason is that I am sure the curtain will fall down as soon as I touch it. Half the hooks have snapped due to age (plastic), so I need to get some more. I had some spares in a drawer somewhere, and I just need to find them, but all the drawers are all full of ‘things that might be of use one day’ and never have been, so I might have thrown them out. Ah well, I need a new broom, so I might pop to Mr Chan’s later and buy some new curtain rings and other quality plastic items. Let the day begin.
A quick correction to yesterday’s local news: apparently, Lefteris Kafeneion in Horio opened up again the night before last. (Open mornings and late afternoon/evening.) That came in from Peter, who we’ll be seeing later as there’s a quiz at the Sunrise later today – assuming we can scrape together a few pennies, because for me, pension day isn’t until Monday. (Things that, when you were younger, you couldn’t imagine yourself writing #12.)
There are things to do before then, such as preparing my monthly newsletter, where I highlight books that are on offer and are being promoted by all manner of indie authors. I also add a little of my work-in-progress news and any other updates that don’t make it to my website. That’ll take up an hour or two, and after that… not a lot really.
You know it’s opening time at the supermarket when…
‘What do you do in the winter?’ It depends on the weather. Recently, it’s been a case of staying in and sheltering from the elements. According to Windfinder, today’s to be calm and dry, but from tomorrow onwards, it’s back to force 7 winds, rain, a wet-south-west wind, and this is going on until around Friday, then starting up again from Tuesday. In the winter, I tend to watch the weather as much as I watch the boat schedule if/when I need to travel. After all, when you live in a rural village that has only three reliable buses per week to take you to the nearest town, you tend to keep an eye on it. The same with boats when you live on an island.
Oh yes, and I’ve also promised myself I will spring clean the bathroom today, the first room in the annual post-winter spring clean, which usually starts around now. A bit early? No, the bathroom is the dampest room in the house, and it will need doing again before summer. I ran the dehumidifier in the house yesterday, just in the background and not in the bathroom, and emptied out a few litres of water during the day. The same happens at night, and it’s hard to air the house when the weather’s bad, because sometimes, you can’t even open the shutters, let alone the windows.
On a dry day, a couple of weeks ago.
‘What do you do in the winter?’ Then, there’s the courtyard and the plants. Neil’s successfully cut back those that needed it, he’s harvested another tub load of chillies (we have several in the freezer already), and after the brief, harsh cold snap, and then the warm, damp snap, nothing out there seems to know what it’s meant to be doing, and not everything is doing well.
And so, to my admin, networking and newsletter. ‘What do you do in the winter?’ The same as I do in the summer, I go to work, only colder and damper.
Don’t panic. This was taken a few years ago, now when there was so much snow in the region, some even landed on Symi for a day or so.
This morning: rain, but the howling wind of yesterday has passed by. We’re in the changeable-weather season, which doesn’t help if you’re planning a trip by boat. People often ask about Symi in winter, and if it is a good time of year to visit. Yes, if you want to see what many people want to experience, the ‘authentic’ island life. The use of that word sometimes makes me snigger. ‘Are there any tavernas serving authentic Greek food?’ Yeah, there’s one, and the rest use a 3D printer… I know what you mean, but…
Authentic Horio in winter…? Yesterday afternoon, we thought we’d go for a short walk and see if the Rainbow was open. We were chatting on the way, and as we walked past the village square, our voices echoed in the stillness. I mean, it’s currently tumbleweeds and all, because everywhere is so quiet. The shops are open, but not many have stock to write home about. The taverna is open, but it’s only whatever Noufris has available, and in January and February, that’s often not a lot. Of the two bars in the square, Rainbow is open now and then, mainly when Yiannis comes in to check the water intake or watch a football match, so it’s hit and miss. Other places are open, like the Sunrise, where we’re going tomorrow for a quiz, and Scena, where we were the other night for a pizza. But the classic street-café life doesn’t exist up here right now. You can sit outside in the harbour and watch the world go by, but you’ll have to sit behind plastic and may be waiting a long time.
Very quiet, apart from the weather, and now and then, the helicopter coming in for whatever reason. Oh, there’s building work going on, there always is, and some municipal works, such as the new road surface in Yialos. Other than that, for me, it’s peace and quiet all the way to Easter.
We’re back to this. Short, unprepared, early morning rambles about weather and whatnots. I can tell you that this morning, we’re waking up to wind, grey clouds, and the chance of rain, again. Since we got back on January 2nd, we’ve had days when the office hasn’t reached above 8° even with the heater on. We’ve had storms, and days of constant rain flooding the porch and finding its way through the bathroom window, which has never closed properly, and we’ve had some days when I have been able to get away with wearing only two layers in the house and not three. Obviously, we’re keen to avoid hideously costly electricity bills, so the heater is off more than it’s on, and the sitting room is littered with blankets and spare jumpers. Today seems warm enough, though (around 12° so far), and we’ve got nothing planned apart from the usual.
Also, as usual, I’ve not been out and about much, and that’s going to be the case for a while, I expect. I’m working on the next book and trying to sell the existing ones, Neil’s thinking of taking up his anthropology course again, and I have a new piece of Ravel to attempt on the piano, but that’s about it for ‘winter projects.’ Outside, as those who use social media might know, the road along the south side of the harbour is being repaired, apparently to help with flood prevention or something, and probably because it was crumbling away. Other than that, we’ve had a few power cuts while work gets done on the supply, boats have been cancelled due to weather, as often happens, and… and I can’t think what else. Oh, I have a new phone and am still working my way through the features, which means the photo I just took of today’s view hasn’t uploaded yet, so you may get that tomorrow…
Athens airport, at eleven on New Year’s Day night, is so busy, it might as well be the first day of the summer getaway. You have to wonder who’s travelling where on such a day, but then you remember you’re travelling too, and you have a pickup arranged. We follow the instructions from the remote host of our hotel, find the van, and there, have to wait while the driver takes an earlier collection of guests off into the night.
New Year’s Day becomes January 2nd, and by the time the driver returns, you work out that you’ve been awake since seven and only had four hours’ sleep the night before. Still, not long now, and you can get to bed…
The drive from the airport to the hotel (GK Airport Suites) takes ten minutes through the night, and we arrive at a nondescript, modern building, where the instructions tell us how to open the magic box to find our room keys. This done, we take the lift up to floor five, and there, Neil and I find our suite. A huge bedroom with TV, a sitting room with a kitchen corner that includes a fridge, some vaguely useful cooking utensils and a baffling coffee machine. There are also two single beds in this room, but the other team has their own suite somewhere in the seemingly deserted building. Beyond the sitting room stands a large shower room and a separate WC. Everything is rather cold, so we wrestle with the air con until something happens, and there are great views from the large roof terrace we have. You could quite easily spend a couple of days exploring the place and watching the planes, but it’s now one in the morning, and we’re due to be picked up at 6.15. For one reason or another, I enjoy three hours’ sleep before the cold wakes me. There then follows a silent fight with the coffee machine, and when Neil gets up, we manage to make half a small cup of strong sludge that was meant to be drinkable, and give up on the idea.
Now, you may remember when I started telling you about this adventure, I wrote: It’s ten past six on the morning of January 2nd, 2026, and our party has gathered outside an unusual hotel ten minutes’ drive from Athens airport. Well, that’s where we are now.
At 6.15 there’s no sign of the van, but there is a phone call to say he will be 10 minutes late. We’re reminded that we’re back in Greece when he arrives 30 minutes late, which is exactly one hour before our gate closes. Luckily, we are already checked in and don’t have to worry about luggage. We do, though, have to worry about the jam of traffic entering the airport, getting through to the security area, getting through the security area itself, and it has one of those endless, snaking queues where you just want to be Shrek and charge through the middle, but you can’t. We make it through and hurry past all the fragrances and chocolates, resisting the temptation to impulse buy a last-minute must-have bottle or ouzo in a novelty-shaped bottle, a fridge magnet or two, and the latest Dan Brown, and find our gate with a few minutes left to buy water, find a loo, and de-sweat. Phew. Made it, and on only seven hours’ sleep over the last two days.
You can’t see it, but the advertisement for Vodafone on the right uses Symi as a background. I guess, because it’s what every visitor to the island does; throw their arms wide to the Neoclassical view, and exclaim, ‘Yeah, Vodafone-land!’
Whatever.
There’s not a lot to tell you about the flight down to Rhodes. As I’ve said before, it’s like catching a bus, but with more rigmarole. Once through all that and in a seat, you have roughly 40 minutes before you’re back on land. Just enough time for half a cup of coffee or a juice, an energy bar, a look at the passing islands (and it was a good day for viewing them), and, if you’re very quick, you can pee over Mykonos. I’ll leave that to your imagination.
Symi (not Mykonos)
When planning this trip, we’d arranged to come back overnight on the Thursday because a) there were only limited flights between Bucharest and Athens, so we had no choice, and b) because the Blue Star usually leaves Rhodes on a Friday evening. We landed at nine on Friday morning, but by then, had learnt that the boat was delayed because of bad weather, so it wouldn’t be sailing until Saturday morning. We made other plans.
It was the first time I’d seen Rhodes airport with no taxi queue. Not a cab in sight. Not even for ready money, Lady Bracknell. There was, though, a chap whose job it was to keep order in the taxi queue, and he made a few calls, so we didn’t have to wait long before bundling into another car and directing the driver to the Castellum Suites.
I’ve recommended this hotel before, and I’ll do it again because, in many cases, it’s the best value hotel I’ve yet found on Rhodes. I have only used it in the winter months, say between November and April, and the prices will be higher in the summer, but for around €75.00 a night, you have: a large room all clean and tidy, and in our case, including a bottle of wine because it was New Year. Then, as it’s an all-inclusive, you have dinner, breakfast and lunch if you are staying that long, all your standard drinks until ten at night, endless coffee, tea, cakes, fruit and snacks through the day, lovely staff, and a quiet neighbourhood. As you have seen, we’d usually eat out and explore the area, but that’s when we’re in a foreign land. Here on Rhodes, we only need to explore the shops, and as we’ve patronised 101 eateries in the past, so we have no qualms about staying all-in for a night now and then.
Another reason for staying there happens when we arrive (and this may not always apply, because it’s not actually in the rule book). It’s a quarter to ten by now, and we’re all a little bedraggled and in need of a tea, or a café Fuddo, or whatever. Seeing this, the receptionist hands us the forms to fill in and suggests we do it over breakfast before the dining room closes. In giving us our multi-pass wrist bands, she’s in effect giving us an extra breakfast and two lunches each – had we been staying until the next afternoon. As it happens, our price includes four full meals each, plus whatever we later drain from the bar. As the cost of such enthusiastic extravagance out in town could easily exceed €200, we’ve got a good deal, and we’re not complaining. Mind you, Harry had his own home to go to and stay at, but not until he’d also been invited to a free breakfast care of the hotel.
While H the teen goes home to no doubt pound his X-box for the rest of the day (still not a euphemism), we now have a whole day to kill in Rhodes, but what we really need is a good sit down. A day off. But not until we’ve at least gone for a walk. Unfortunately, we find the shops closed, but it’s a blue-sky day, and there’s no need for scarves and snoods, gloves and hats, though I wear my new one relentlessly until we return to the hotel, there to have lunch and settle down to watch a film. Waking an hour later, we catch the end of the film, but have no idea what’s going on, and so, washed and changed into whatever is still clean (not a lot), we spend the afternoon in the bar until it’s time for a glass of wine and a game of cribbage. Jenine has carried our wooden crib board and the cards with her throughout the trip, but there’s never been time to use them. Train journeys, even though several hours long, seemed to pass by in a blink, and there was no room on the overnight one. Also, now is the first time we’ve had a chance to sit and do nothing, and boy, do we need to. Cards, dinner, a little chat, and an early night, and before you know it, we’re back in another taxi, this time heading for the ferry. Later, a Lakis Travel transfer up the hill, and we’re home.
And Back to Normal Right. That’s that story told, though I have missed out some parts. Why? Because there are some moments that only make sense if you were there. For example, I have just ordered a new mobile phone, and it cost me around €250.00, which for me is excessive. Harry’s posh mobile phone came in at over €1,000 in a sale, and one of its fancy features is to take a short video with sound while taking a photo. So, when you open the image in the gallery, the image moves, and you hear the background noise. I forget what the image was off, but when he opens one in particular, you can hear Neil putting on a campy voice and saying, ‘Ooh, it makes me ’arder.’ Repeating the phrase at various stages of the journey always ended in laughter and kept us going, but I can’t wait to see how H explains it to his mates.
Anyway, we’re back to normal now, and the blog will be back to its usual sparse self on Monday. I’m taking the weekend off to finally start work on my next story, but I’ll hopefully see you back here next week.
