The old shop becomes new

Coming across the ‘news desk’ this morning, news of the old shop. That’s the old Symi Dream shop that we used to have towards the top of the Kali Strata. You might remember a couple of weeks ago, I walked past it and saw it was being done up. Well, if you can hang on until Friday, I’ll tell you what it’s to become and when new and exciting service will be operating from there. It’s good to see the old place coming back into use. More details coming soon.

In other ‘news’ (put in” because I am not a news service), the Rainbow Bar should be open again sometime in June. Meanwhile, the other cafes and bars are open, but I’m not sure if Sunrise is yet. Georgio’s is open, but not Zoi’s Taverna. We have the new greengrocers at what used to be the Jean & Tonic bar, very friendly and always a warm welcome. We still have our other local shops, the butcher, the larger supermarkets, the bakery opposite the Hotel Fiona, but not the one in the main street; I don’t think that has been able to open for a while, which is a shame. The ‘German’ bakery is, I assume, still open. I’ve not passed there for some time. The household goods shop that was at the back of the town square is now situated opposite Sotiris supermarket in the village, which makes it very handy. Generally, it seems businesses are making the best of what they have.

Closer to home, on Monday, I had a phone call from the immigration or passport office in Rhodes, where a very cheerful lady invited me to come over and be fingerprinted on 31^st, so we’re planning a day out for that day. The shops are again open, so I may finally be able to find some shorts and a couple of shirts that will fit me while we are there. Neil may also get his health tests done so he can start work, so my appointment is timely. I’ll get my annual MOT done when I go back to pick up my card, as I’ve found it’s best not to make too many official appointments in one day. Not when one is in Mandraki and the other at Euromedica, and both are vital. I don’t want the stress of having to rush from one to the other or possibly miss one because of the other. Thus, so far, the end of May and the start of June are shaping up nicely in organisational terms. While all that’s going on, my new book is also coming along, and I am on target to meet my deadline.

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Certificates and Trains

So, the news today… I printed off our vaccination certificates yesterday. It’s so easy to do with the right logins and an understanding of the language, but it can be done for you at the KEP office if needs be. We were out for a mild celebration on Sunday afternoon, which quickly turned into an evening, and saw some visitors. There were also some yachts in the harbour, which is a sign that things are starting to pick up again, albeit slowly. There was some confusion over inter-island travel, but the last I heard, we can travel between islands with not much hassle, but papers and tests etc., are needed if coming from the mainland. Not that I intend to go anywhere just yet, though I need to go to Rhodes soon for stage two of my new residency card. Best to check official sites before travelling wherever, and not rely on gossip from Facebook.

Other than that, it’s back to the editing with a deadline looming. The new book blurb and info will be revealed on my other blog this coming Saturday, maybe even the cover. If you want to find out what I’m writing, you can click through and take a look at www.jacksonmarsh.com where, last Saturday, I wrote a piece about how trains feature in my Victorian Mystery series. (Our very own Symi travel guru, Andy, gets a mention and says a few words too.) There’s also a bit of chat about how I grew up next to a steam railway line, and why steam trains and train journeys have always been an interest of mine. On which note, the Symi train was moved from its winter place by the clock tower some time ago. I’m not sure where it is right now, but I look forward to hearing its bell and happy-clappers soon, but not, perhaps the repetitive Zorba soundtrack.

And now, a collection of Neil’s more recent photos.

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Usual Monday Chat

You may have already heard about how Greece has lifted some of its restrictions. Now, we no longer have to get permission via SMS before leaving the house, and it felt very odd going out on Friday without first sending a message. I had my second vaccination on Friday, and although I didn’t need to send a message, I did, just for the nostalgia. I got the jab and afterwards walked home up the steps where Neil was hanging around waiting to go down for his, which was 90 minutes after mine. Talking of Neil, there are some of his recent photos on the blog today.

That night, I watched a film called ‘SOS Titanic’ which I’d never seen before. A 1979 EMI production starring Ian Holm, Helen Mirren and David Warner and others. It was interesting as there were aspects and details of the story I’d not seen in other films, including David Warner playing Lawrence Beazley, who wrote a book of his experience, one of the few first-hand accounts to be written outside of the inquiry. Anyway… I went to bed at about 10.30 and was up again at 2.00, suffering slightly. Cold to the point of uncontrolled shivering, everything aching, couldn’t get warm, knackered… It was like that all day, though I slept better on Saturday night and woke up eight hours later drenched. It’s still early on Sunday as I write, and I am feeling much better, though still sweating like a glassblower’s armpit. At least I am ‘done’ now, and in two weeks can travel between islands with only my certificate.

There’s another odd thing going on in the house since Saturday. The pump keeps going off. We’ve checked every tap and possible leakage place but can find no drips. No WC is running, the boiler isn’t leaking upstairs, there are no puddles on floors and so sign of a slow leak anywhere. The tank is no longer connected to downstairs, so it can’t be a sudden pipe fault down there, and it’s all something of a mystery. I wonder if these submersible pumps somehow lose their pressure, or whatever, and maybe that’s why it’s doing it? The water tank is full because the mains is still on (unusual on a Sunday), so perhaps that has something to do with it. I don’t know. I’ll keep an eye and an ear on it, and if necessary, call in an expert, though there’s nothing to show them unless they hang around for 15 minutes waiting for it to go off again for no reason.

And talking of no reason, I’ve just taken delivery of a book about how to read Egyptian hieroglyphics. Well, why not? A ‘teach yourself’ style book, it comes with easy-to-understand pictures and is ‘for dummies’, so that should be fun. I thought it might be useful for a story I have in mind. I should learn Greek properly first, of course, but it will be something to do if I ever get bored.

And so, onto the week ahead. We’re hoping the bar will open again this week, now that bars can be open (outside only), and I hope to get back to more walks in the early morning before it gets too hot, once my after-jab effects have worn off, which will hopefully be by Monday. Apart from that, there’s nothing on the cards, nothing planned, but I do have a deadline on my final draft of the next book. So a final edit of that will be taking up most of my time.

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Friday Photos

I’m just back from a walk (Thursday morning), and I’m using yesterday’s photos for today. We have our second jabs this morning (Friday), so I’m not hanging around to chat for long. Yesterday I followed that route I told you about and carried on up the hillside until I reached To Vrisi. That’s the first time this year I’ve been able to get there without stopping. I’ve been building up to it slowly, and the tactic seems to have paid off as my legs are no longer painful on the steps and slopes. So, a few shots from yesterday morning by way of celebration, and off to the clinic we go.

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An Easy Way up Through the Village

Here’s a random thought and walk to put on your list of things to do on Symi – for when you are able to get here. Many people say they’d like to explore the village but are a) afraid of getting lost or b) can’t hack the steps. I must admit that when we first came to live here, we did a certain amount of getting lost, and I sometimes find the steps a bit too much, especially first thing in the morning. I used to start my walks with a hike up the main road, and that’s fine as it’s step-free, but it’s still a fair old haul up the slope. Another way to go is straight up to the museum and up, up to Periotisa and the top road, but that too involves loads of steps…

So, recently, as I try and shift from days spent sitting at desk and on sofa to at least some kind of leg movement, I have tried a new way to get to the top road. It’s not that simple a route until you get used to it, but it’s an easier one. So… Start off at the lane that leads from the village square and heads towards Lemonitisa church, the ‘road’ if you like. This takes a gentle slope upwards to a viewpoint overlooking the back of Yialos, so it’s a good route for views.

Continue on until you pass a second lot of bins and cats to the church on your left, and keep going. The ‘road’ becomes a cobbled path. Keep going until you have to go left or right. (Right will take you to the kataraktis and down to the back of Yialos.) Turning right, you pass another church on your left. Follow the path around to the right and keep going until you find the old pandapoleon, the old ‘everything shop.’ There, turn left (not straight on), and follow that narrow, rough path around, and keep going until you pass the courtyard of Agios Athanassios, and keep going… Up a few steps to a rundown old house at a T junction and turn left. Follow that narrow path with high walls on either side, and you come to a small square…

There, you head up under the tunnel/arch via an S bend and up a few more steps where you turn left before the second, longer set of steps. You’ll see the side of a house and some wasteland. Pass that with both on your right and keep going up a few more steps, and then some more, and you come to the square at the top of the village by Ag Triada church, the square with the big tree. Nearly there.

At the square, ignore the long, elegant steps ahead, and cross to the upper left corner and follow that narrow path around and up… A few steps… A few more…Turn right here:

Nearly there (honest) and around the back of a house to where you should be able to see Pedi below and ahead, and George’s goats wandering around the houses and hillside. The path then becomes a track for a short while…

…until you suddenly appear on the top road with its new wall. It’s obvious where to go from there (left and downhill, yippee!), and within a minute, you’ll be on the main road zigzag, and it’s downhill to Agia Marina and the path to To Vrisi, or back to the village. It sounds like a long way, but it only takes about 10 minutes, and it’s less exhausting than the ‘straight up’ routes via the museum. That, btw, you will find if you take the left path from the small square with the arch/tunnel as it’s on that level. There, I hope that was of interest.

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