Symi Transport

I was in Rhodes yesterday, at least, I should have been. Actually, I’m not sure what tense to write this in as it’s currently Sunday last and I am preparing a blog for Tuesday because I won’t have time on Monday. Or, I won’t have had time on Monday. By the time you read this, I will have had to have done some work on Monday morning before heading down to the boat at 10.45. “I will have had to have done.” Perhaps someone reading this who knows can tell me what tense that is – I’m too lazy to get my grammar books out and it’s too early in the morning to figure it out. Anyway…

I found some recent photos showing various ways to get around on Symi, so I thought I’d put those up for today as I couldn’t think of anything else to prepare in advance.

Share on Facebook

Symi Festival events

A couple of posters for you today, in case you’re heading this way soon or reading this here. Well, not here-here in my office, but somewhere close by.

The Symi International Film Festival runs within and as part of the Symi Festival, and this is its second year. It begins on the 17^th September and runs for the week showing films selected from 150 submitted. It looks like at least 35 are being screened, some shorts, some features, plus a couple of others at an event in the cultural centre, which is detailed on the other poster.

The films at the Film Festival will be shown at the open-air cinema at the sports centre in Horio. If you’re not sure where this is… Take the bus from Yialos or Pedi to the bus stop at Campos in Horio, and then walk a little way along the road as if you were heading out of the village and up the hill. It’s the big red building on your left. Go down the slope and around to the left, you’ll see it when you get there. It’s outside, and there are facilities.

And the other event started yesterday in the cultural centre in Yialos. This is an art exhibition which is open until 9^th September. Within that, two films are being screened, one on 30^th August and the other on 6^th September, both starting at 20.00. The details are on the posters here which should enlarge if you click them.

If you’re not sure where the cultural centre is, it’s in the lane that runs around from Bella Napoli to the right and is on the left along that street. The big double doors will be open anyway, so you can’t miss it.

Share on Facebook

Symi Saturday Photos

Here are a few more from the past few days, including one of the back of Michaelis’ delivery truck. Our new cooker arrived yesterday sharing the ride with, among other things, an anchor. The evening photos were taken in Yialos on Thursday night coming back from a lovely dinner in Harani. Have a good weekend.

Share on Facebook

Yialos Photos

As today, for me, is all about filling out forms, dealing with emails, pretending to tidy the house and preparing for dinner in Harani, I’m not staying around for long. I’m also recovering from an unexpected day on Wednesday. We popped down to Yialos so that Neil could do some paperwork at the bank, and it took longer than we expected, but it was worth waiting for. The result was that we decided to have lunch down there and then walk up afterwards in time for him to do his shift at the bar. So, today’s blog is mainly photos taken yesterday in the harbour, and tomorrow’s will probably be the rest of the photos I have taken this week that I’ve not shown you yet. By the way, check Andy’s travel blog (link on the right) for the latest news on the ANES boat, the Sebeco, and it’s timetable as I believe that’s about to change or end, and it may affect your travel plans if you’re coming over soon.

Share on Facebook

To Vrisi and back

Today we are going for another walk. This time, it’s three-thirty in the afternoon, at least 32 degrees and we’re heading uphill for two miles before turning around and heading down again. I was in the mood yesterday, so I put on my shoes and left the house, weaving through the back lanes of the village to the road.

I came out by Lavinia Studios, the place I stayed at on my first visit to Symi in 1996. Sadly, they now look a bit delipidated, and I don’t think they’ve been in use for a while. When I was there, there was no building right in front of them so there was an uninterrupted view down to Pedi. Anyway, past there and up the hill past the cantina to the Agia Marina church and cemetery. Past that to the bridge and the yappy dog (absent) and onto the concrete road that winds up to To Vrisi, as it’s known locally. It means ‘the tap’ because there is a natural spring beneath and you can refill your water bottles when you get there.

The thing with this route is that is winds in and out of the folds of the hill. It’s a bit like when you come back from the other Again Marina (the beach with the island) over the top to the windmills. You keep thinking, ‘one more ridge,’ only to find another one beyond it. So it can be with the folds of the hills if you’ve not done the route before, but it’s not too long. There’s not a lot of shade, depending on the time of day, so take a hat and water. I ambled up at a decent pace arriving 35 minutes after I left home, and paused in the churchyard for a few minutes and half a bottle of water before heading back down again.

Form up there, you get a great view down over the Pedi valley, the football pitch (still in need of repair), the bay, the opposite hill, the village and windmills. The route back is the same and much easier. There was also a breeze on the way back which helped dry me off. Today (Wednesday) I have to go to the post office, so that’s my walk for the day. If you’re wondering why I am suddenly doing all this, it’s for two reasons. Late next year we’re going to our son’s wedding in Scotland, and I will have to look good in a kilt, and the following year we’re aiming to go to New Zealand to see Mr Box and family. (See my trip to England posts from late July/early August for an explanation of Mr Box.) He has challenged me to try surfing, and if the thought of me in a kilt is unsettling, you should try thinking of me in a wetsuit.

Share on Facebook