Friday photos
To see us through the weekend, here is a collection of photos taken on Symi over the past couple of weeks. Have a good weekend.
Up in the village
Up in the village
I was asked to write a bit about what the village is like at the moment, but it’s a bit difficult for me to say, as I only see it at certain times of the day. I walk through the square around 6.30 in the morning when Lefteris is setting up the café as he had done every day for… well, for many, many years. The bakery is at work as I pass, sometimes with the front doors open, sometimes with the oven door open and they’re taking out the bread. I might, on a weekend, encounter someone coming home from a night out or a night at work, but that’s rare these days, and there’s usually no-one at the bus stop when I pass.
Along the road, I come across one or two people walking their dogs early, and later, around seven, the army guys heading up the hill in cars and on mopeds. I often see the shepherds and farmers who have probably been at work for hours, and once or twice in August, I saw other walkers going up the road as I was coming down, rucksacks and determined expressions fixed. Back in the square, a couple of early birds may have joined Lefteris, and Nikitas is usually at his empty kiosk by then, so a few more hellos and good mornings and I’m home.
Later in the day, I might be in the square where some days the bars are busy with locals and a few visitors, and other days, there are only a couple of us residents. I’ve heard that some nights have been busy and others, empty, so it all sounds up and down, hit and miss. I have been to a couple of tavernas, sometimes with only one other table in use, and at other times, things look brighter. What’s for certain is, the village is nowhere near as busty as it should be, was, used to be. What’s also certain is that residents are doing their best to be safe, though some flout the advice and rules alike, the kids continue to play in the square (bikes and scooters are the ‘thing’ at the moment), the shops are open doing what business they can, and local life continues more or less as normal. There are just fewer visitors to welcome.
Thoughts
Thoughts
What can I tell you? It’s quiet around here, but not as quiet as it has been and nowhere near as busy as in the past, but that’s to be expected. Throwing up hands in despair at those who have been putting out messages on Fakebook telling people not to bother with masks and caution. Also, those who gather in large crowds, and (on other islands) groups of holidaymakers thinking because they are in a ‘safe’ country they can ignore all advice and hold beach parties, crowd together and so on, only to find they return home infected (possibly from the plane, airports, the bus, of before they even left home). End result? Scotland now says Greece is ‘unsafe’ and hundreds of sensible people are inconvenienced. Meanwhile, schools here are put off going back until 14th, but they will have to start soon as children haven’t had a lesson since March, or have only been for eleven staggered days since then. Only hoping that the teachers who live on the mainland return a week early, and quarantine before going into school. Anyway…
It’s bound to be a tricky month because September is usually the busiest month for north Europeans coming here on holiday, but we’ll just have to wait and see. If you don’t see me out and about so much, or wonder, when I am, why I’m not sitting with you, it’s because I’ve got my own rule of not getting close to anyone until they’ve been here a long enough length of time. Not being OTT, just trying to set an example. Anyway…
On a lighter note, a picture of a mule.
Smile
Smile
I couldn’t think of what to tell you today, except the square was again busy yesterday evening, and the temperature in the courtyard was up to 36. So I thought I’d have a look and see what odd photos I have on my OneDrive. The sheep thing was funny, though it’s not easy to see them in the picture below. I was coming back from the hillside, and just before the path joins the main road, this small flock came running into the lane, saw me, and stopped dead in their tracks, as did I. The leading sheep, centre, front, had its head tipped down, glaring as we faced off, playing chicken to see who would move first. After a few tense seconds, I took a step to the left, they a step to the right, and we circled cautiously until they scrambled off towards the hill and I carried on down, chuckling.
I found a couple of other images on the drive. The one about coats is research, the courtyard as it looks with the light on at 4.30 in the morning, the biker boys gathering in the square, and a couple of Neil’s from when he took Paddington for a morning walk to Pedi the other day. Enjoy, and smile, ‘cos that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?
Just a thought
Just a thought
It was good to see the square busy yesterday evening, although it was a double-edged sword because there were empty seats to keep some people distanced from each other. Empty seats that could have been filled by other punters. Not that everyone is taking the distancing advice as seriously as they should. Symi is only safe for as long as people remain unselfishly aware of others. Just because you’ve filled in a form and are prepared to quarantine when you get home if necessary, doesn’t mean you’re not passing along the virus you might have caught on the plane. In the same worrying way, it was also good to hear the sound of cheering and laughing coming from one of the harbour bars at five the other morning. Quite a few people were having fun down there and, by the sound of it, had been all night. I assume they were standing several feet away from each other and not touching.
The double-edged part is, of course, that businesses are desperate for custom, but don’t have enough. A few week’s of semi-reasonable trade isn’t going to cover the overheads already owed and the debts that will be accumulated over the winter with no hope of paying them off for some time, if at all. I imagine that for those who don’t own their own premises, the rent is one of the biggest bills. I happen to know one business up here whose rent was €700 a month, 12 months a year (€8,000 p/a), and that was about eight years ago. Another was €1,000 per month or €12,000 a year. That’s in the village. I hate to think what they are like in the harbour. Add on the other overheads, tax etc., and you start to see how one or two ‘good’ months in a season isn’t going to be a drop in the Aegean compared to a ‘normal’ season.
Maybe not the cheeriest way to start the week, but I just woke up with that thought in my head and wanted to share. Some readers might find it of interest.
