Friday Saturday Symi Photos

Here are some Friday photos for you this Saturday. Jack, the Alarm Cat, is still going strong but becoming grumpier by the day. He popped out on Thursday night, as Neil was being interviewed at the gate by someone looking for our landlord, but he came back again – three times. Friday, he was watching the collection of cats down below, from the balcony, and seemed to want to go and join them. The trouble is, he’s done this at around this time of year for the last two years and both times we’ve had to go and collect him from the old house. He can go if he wants, but it’s a pain to bring him back. Anyway, he’s otherwise quite happy, bleeding every now and then when he scratches his ears off. We are planning to redecorate the worst affected parts of the house soon as they do rather look like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Mascara.

Anyway, before the rest of the photos here’s a little tale that lets you know something. It’s a case of, ‘You know you are in Greece when…’ In this case, the story goes: While having our annual health MOTs done in Rhodes, Neil saw his lung doctor. She’s a very clever lady who looks after his asthma (now totally under control) and allergies. She gives him these prescriptions to last him six months at a time. We brought all that back with us and me, being the head administrator, put them in the medical files for when they were needed. Later, he took them to the pharmacy but was unable to use them because I had hole-punched them for filing. You can’t fold, hole, screw up or in any way damage your prescriptions here otherwise they will be rejected. Not so much by the pharmacists but by whoever then processes them at the IKA office. So, try and keep them as pristine as possible. Anyway, he rang Sophia (the doctor) and told her, and she said she would post him new ones. These arrived (and here’s where you know you are in Greece) with a Kalo Paska! card wishing him a happy Easter. I don’t think I’ve ever known a doctor send a happy Easter card before.

And so, the photos. These are quick grabs from the balcony on Friday morning when the Blue Star came in. Have a great weekend!

Oh, and ps. I did mean to write Mascara instead of Massacre.

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Fancy a week on Symi over Easter?

Easter is nearly upon us. The bangs have started – the firecrackers that are thrown to ward off evil spirits. The church bells have been ringing, the devout have been following the fast, and the plants have shot up after recent rains to welcome Great Week, Holy Week, which starts on Monday.

It’s not too late to be here. I had a quick look around for cheap holiday deals to Symi currently being advertised. It used to be a case of going to a travel agent and looking through a brochure, waiting for calls to be made and then having to decide on where to stay based on a few images and a write-up. Now, of course, you are inundated with websites advertising ‘cheap Symi holidays’, and it’s a case of not knowing where to start. I did a quick Google search and found the usual suspects, Booking.com, Expedia, Monarch and Olympic (and a post from Adriana’s blog coming up fifth in a global search, well done!). Thea Apartments came in seventh and a post from me came it at number eight – this was while searching for ‘Symi Easter holiday deals’, I must have once written something of note about the subject. I just had a look and it was a post from last April, talking about Easter and a visit to To Spitiko (which opens for the summer this Saturday, by the way).

Anyway, I ran two searches, one through Monarch and one through Olympic Holidays. Both were looking at London to Symi next Wednesday for seven nights. Monarch bummed out with no results found – a case of a business grabbing search engines rather than actually offering what they’ve advertised, perhaps. But Olympic came up with nine options, many at around the same price and all great for a place to stay.

Irini Studios – Yialos, €381 pp

Taxiarchis – Horio, €384 pp

Sevasti – Horio, €386 pp

Anastasoula – Yialos, €386 pp

Anastasia – Horio, €388 pp

Pedi Beach Hotel – Pedi, €491 pp

Opera House – Yialos, €497 pp

Nireus Hotel – Yialos, €508 pp

Iapetos Village – Yialos, €608 pp

These were package holidays with transfers included. These can cost you quite a bit if coming on your own – bus or taxi to boat, boat tickets, taxi up to Horio etc.

That was only one quick look around the package holidays on offer, and I did look at other sites that, like Monarch, offered a promising search engine result but no actual holiday – so they wasted my time. There are others, and it’s perfectly easy to arrange things yourself or get advice from the likes of The Symi Visitor or Kalodoukas Holidays (just search for them online and you’ll get straight there).

Well, that passed a couple of minutes, and I thought it was worth sharing. It’s the weekend and not too late to book a quick trip across to Symi. The boats are running, there’s a 15:00 Blue Star from Rhodes on Wednesdays now so if you can get a flight to land you on Rhodes no later than 13.30, you should be able to make that with no hassle. Go for it. I dare you.

 

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A bonus Symi photos day!

A couple of quiet days at home means not much news to tell you. Having said that, I am writing this with the window open, at 12.41 pm, and the office door has been open all morning, which says something about the weather – still warming, and managing to stay dry.

For want of something to say today, or should that be, for lack of something to say today, I went through my photos and sought out those which I still had that showed the variable weather over the winter. That’s all I can think of for now. Oh, most were taken in February.

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Courtyard action post-winter

Today we have a quick tour around the estate, as we are about to prepare it for the summer. The estate being our rented house, you understand and ‘prepare it for the summer’ means painting the bedroom, and throwing away the old outside table that has a broken leg and that is listing like the Titanic at 12.30 a.m. on April 15^th, 1912. We will also get around to painting the courtyard one day before too long.

Outside, the chilli plant is coming on nicely and has survived the winter, unlike a few other things. Something got eaten by a locust that came to live with us for a couple of months, and something else looks a bit done in but should recover as it’s already starting to grow back. The vine has started to sprout, and I am hoping the new courtyard fairly lights arrive before it takes over, as they are intended to go above the vine and shine down through the leaves. The lavender has woken up, and there are some pretty yellow weeds doing something in a planter in the corner. Neil’s frangipani (not an Italian dish) looks like it’s given up the ghost and doesn’t look well at all. The rose isn’t even thinking about doing anything, and there are several other pots that once contained ‘things’ that seem now to be dead. The bushy thing that was a gift is doing okay, though. As you can see, I’m not very good with plants.

We have a new light up in the kitchen so we can dispense with the anglepoise that has been lighting us, slightly, since the old light fitting blew up. Only taken two months to get that done. The shutters are now more open than closed, except when it’s windy, and the sterna is now full of rainwater after the storm a few days ago. Most winter clothes have been put away, and the summer ones brought out and tried on. Last year’s shorts still fit me, in fact, a couple of pairs are too big. Would love to know how that’s happened.

Our landlord is back from his extended leave and seems to be well. He’s already back to his usual routine of being up early and pottering around with useful bits of building, adding a bit here and there to his house over the lane. Good to see him back and back to his usual self. Outside in the big wide yonder (the village square), we sat chatting to a few visitors and what you might call ‘stayers’ who are here to check on their houses and have a holiday. So, it’s starting to feel like winter is coming to an end and, before we know it, everyone will be saying ‘It’s hot, isn’t it?’ as they do as soon as the sun comes back. Looking forward to that.

And that’s all I can think of today. My head is into another idea for a book, the details of which I might bore you about another day. We are still heading downhill to ‘The Saddling’ publication date, ‘The Judas Inheritance’ has its new cover as you know (and another five-star review on Amazon), I have ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ in draft one form to consider when the weather is better and ‘Saddling’ is out there. Neil has just phoned me, there’s a frappe in the offing at Rainbow, so I’m off out now. Back tomorrow.

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