The rest of the walk

The last part of my morning stroll took me down from the main road and along to Agia Triada on the track to Periotisa, although now, it is no longer a track. I’d not been along this way for a while, so was surprised to see the amount of work that had been done. Over the past few months, I’d followed the water channel improvement works at Ag Marina on the way to the Pedi hillside, and see the work done on the main road where it turns off there. I’d also seen the building of the new wall along the main road, and the way the new house near the cantina is coming on and looking very impressive, but I’d not seen this road.

It’s now concrete and flat, wider than it was, but still within the natural boundary, and a new wall is being constructed to guard against the drop on one side. It’s much easier underfoot and wheel, though I liked the rural track that was there before, but the steps that lead from it to my village path are still as rickety and rough. They were also inhabited by wandering goats when I passed, another sight I like to see; farm animals roaming the village and checking out who lives where and what’s not yet been eaten.

Meanwhile, back at home, I’m ploughing on through the first draft of the 7^th Clearwater story and am up to 90k words with three chapters still to do before I rewrite and edit. I’m also pleased to report that the Symi books are having something of a revival. Maybe, because people can’t get here, they are bringing Symi into their homes with the ‘as it happened’ accounts contained in Symi 85600 and the others, all listed on the right with a few other ideas for my Symi related reading. So, life trundles on, we have water again, the weather is mainly settling down, and you never know, I may take another early walk soon and come back with more of the same kind of photos.

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Morning wander

I finally got back to it yesterday, having a walk before I start my day, I mean. Up at five, out by quarter past as it was getting light, through the empty village and along the road. I only saw one truck, but I was deafened by the cockerels and birds in the Pedi valley and around the village. Back at home, I had to set about the day’s work in a slightly smelly fashion as we ran out of water on Monday. It usually comes in and fills our tank three days per week, but we’d missed days due to the bank holiday weekend. Luckily, there was a flush left in each of the toilets, and we had plenty of bottled water for cleaning teeth and making tea, but it’s amazing how quickly the washing up backs up, and how much we take water for granted until we don’t have it. It was on again on Tuesday, so the tank was filled, and we watered the garden as it was coming in, had showers and washed up so that when the town hall supply stopped, we still had a full tank. It should be in again today, and we should be back to normal. Meanwhile, here are some photos from yesterday.

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Busy weekend

We had fireworks and dynamite on Sunday night as celebrations of Pentecost continued, and we had a pleasant couple of hours with Yiannis at the bar for his birthday. There were visitors about, quite a few actually, all from other islands or the mainland, and on Monday morning, I even saw a yacht in the harbour. The new ferry, the Stavros, the Blue Star and the Dodecanese Seaways catamarans have been coming and going, so the island is being well served for deliveries. I heard that several tavernas were open and doing good weekend business in Yialos, including Pantelis and the International. Up in the village, Noufris tells me that Georgio’s is opening again on Saturday, and Katsaras down in Pedi has been open for a while.

One of the first things I read on Monday morning concerned a beach bar on Mykonos that has been heavily fined and shut for 60 days because it flounced distancing rules on its beach and had sunbeds too close together, so that’s something for seafront tavernas, bars and beaches to look out for. We’ve not had the usual hordes of tax inspectors or IKA officials visit yet, that I know of, but that’s hardly surprising as nothing has been open. I doubt many people have been taken on for the seasonal work a lot of people rely on for income. But, with the weather finally warming up again, but not as hot as that flush we had a few weeks ago, and with visitors from other islands calling in, perhaps some people will be able to make a living or part of one. Of course, it was a special weekend, so we can’t expect every day to be like this from now on, but it was good to see, late on Sunday evening, that the village cafes were in use and there was a bit of a buzz, if not yet the sound of a whole swarm.

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Mixed blog

Let’s go up the Kali Strata… A couple of years ago one of these blog posts was about ‘Let’s all go down the steps (‘ ave a moussaka)’ sung to that old music hall song (which never originally had ‘have a banana’ in it, by the way), and today I thought we’d go up the steps in photos. Except I can’t find a song to mess with that fits, apart from ‘Let’s all go up the steps (‘ ave a souvlaki)’, but there’s nowhere doing souvlakis up here, you’d have to go down to Yialos for that, and if you go down to Yialos today, you’re sure of a big surprise. (Repeat first part of line and end with ‘you’d better go in disguise.’) You’re not, actually, I’m just being silly. But if you want a souvlaki, then there are now places open in the harbour. In fact, over the weekend, there were visitors using the cafes and tavernas, busses and taxis.

These were Greek visitors from other islands coming to celebrate Pentecost at Panormitis, and elsewhere. I don’t have photos as I was at home all weekend and haven’t been out very much at all of late, but I am popping out this afternoon (Sunday) because it’s Yianni Rainbow’s birthday, and it’s one with an 0 on the end. So, basically, my news for Monday, written on Sunday, is that I’ve not been doing much, but Symi has had some visitors for the first time in ages, and I’m showing some random photos of the Kali Strata. A bit of a mixed blog, if you ask me, but it’s 6.00 on Sunday morning, and I want to get back to writing my story.

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Into the weekend

And here we are heading off into another weekend. To celebrate, here’s a collection of shots taken from the balcony mainly at sunrise, and others to keep you in touch with the island, from our point of view, at least. There is definitely an air of ‘Empty chairs at empty tables’, as noticed when I called at the bar the other day for an ice cream. By the same token, however, the music was playing from Lefteris’ kafeneion, so it was a case of ‘And the band played on,’ keeping spirits up and providing background atmosphere. If you’re still not sure what may/may not be happening with your trip to Symi this year, and you want a well-written and informative update on current restrictions to and from Greece, you should read Adriana’s article Covid confusion and Empty Cafes. This explains everything you need to know as of June 3^rd. The situation is still changing from day to day, and last I heard, Greece’s measures can revert to strict lockdown at any time to prevent more cases should the need arise. And talking of arising, here are the photos of the sunrise and other things to see you through the weekend.

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