Tholos restaurant (and other things)
That was a very nice weekend, thank you very much. And thank you to everyone who made it so. The credits list includes: Jeanette who took us to Tholos restaurant on Friday night, Colette who came with us, the couple on the bus coming back up who chatted, the customers at the Rainbow bar afterwards, the Welsh football team, Louise and Steve who gave us the Indian spices that lead to the chicken jalfrezi I made on Saturday night, Steve and Liz who took us out on Sunday night, and everyone else who has been around the bar in the afternoon for chat and catch-ups. it’s been a very sociable time of late but, from today, I think we should slow down a little. Oh, but there’s the party on the Poseidon on Thursday night to attend, so maybe after that.

I’ve also been writing and have a couple more chapters of one book typed up and some proofs of the other read and back with the editor/designer; I think ‘Remotely;’ is about two weeks away from being edited, then we have to do some work on the layout (widows and orphans) and then we can see about when we are going to publish it. So work continues.

Meanwhile, back to Tholos which I am featuring today as we have been there recently, Friday in fact. This restaurant/taverna is on the far side of Harani, just before the town beach at Nos, ‘Paradise Beach’ as it is also called. You reach it by walking all the way around the harbour, past the other waterfront cafes and restaurants in Harani, and there are several and all attractive and great places to be. Our table was on the top level by the water’s edge and there are some lower down. I am not sure how that works when the wake from the Blue Star comes in, but I didn’t hear anyone complaining or getting wet so I am sure it’s fine.

The menu is a good size and offers lots of variety, with a blue cheese and lettuce salad as one of the salads on offer. There are Greek mezethes in the usual tradition and, like many places, the taverna has its own recipes and takes on the traditional. There are several mains, a lot of seafood choices too and some unusual dishes. I went for the chicken in wine sauce with almonds which was served with lemon potatoes, rice is also available, or chips. Neil had a spicy pork dish which he also enjoyed. The service is very good, the two waiters and the hostess very pleasant and always attentive, and really there’s nothing bad to say about the place at all. The price was good too, not that we were allowed to contribute to paying. A word of advice: reserve a table in advance as it is very popular.

After this treat we strolled back around the harbour to catch the last bus at 23:00 and headed up to the village while others went on to The Secret Garden for their Friday night jazz, rock and blues music. (They have Greek music there on a Monday night.) The bus will stop there if you ask the driver. Saturday was a slow and almost lazy day for me, getting some of my own writing done and so was Sunday when I finished off a couple of chapters for ‘The Saddling’, the Gothic horror that’s next on the typewriter and coming along nicely – in first draft form.

And that’s my weekend catch-up from up here in Horio. The weather is still warm, in the mid to low 30s, there have been breezes which help keep the humidity down and there’s no sign of any rain or anything like that. The boats have been coming and going according to their schedules, with day-trippers and regular visitors being delivered, new visitors have also come to check out Symi, which is always good to see and everything is ticking along nicely.

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This minute was brought to you by Symi Dream
I was listening to Euronews while having lunch yesterday, something we do every day to get the European perspective on things, and it struck me – as it has before – that some of my life is being sponsored by a firm that makes watches. Very kind of them.

After some sports headlines, this time about Wimbledon, the announcement came, ‘This minute was sponsored by Rolex.’ I just wondered who was sponsoring the other 1,439 minutes of each day. (Actually it’s less than that as Rolex keeps popping up during the day to tell me the last minute was sponsored by them.) It reminded me of that thing I used to hear on British television after the weather forecast. ‘The weather is sponsored by Accurist.’ I wonder who they paid their sponsor money to – the sun? that, after all, is what creates the weather here on Earth. I also wondered who might sponsor other things. More minutes of my life could be sponsored by a chocolate company, that would be handy. Please send me a chocolate bar each day so that I can spend a minute on it and have that precious minute of my life paid for by Cadbury’s; much more practical than a Rolex as I’ve not worn a watch in 14 years. And why is it watchmakers who are left to sponsor minutes of the day and the weather? Has no one else any imagination?

All a bit odd really and it’s not the heat getting to me, hot though it is.

Meanwhile: The AC (Alarm Cat) had some visitors in on Thursday night and enjoyed the attention as he always does. Neil’s brother has left after his flying visit. We are going out to eat tonight (Friday) at Tholos in Harani and hope to get some images to share with you next week. This is possibly our last meal out for a while; cutting back for a few weeks while I scrape together the last of my private health insurance money from somewhere. I was going to use some I had saved in my British account but that’s going to depend on the exchange rate; €1.19 per pound as I write.

This time last year (roughly) one pound was at €1.45, it started declining last December and of course, thanks to ‘The Fifty-Two Year Old Idiot Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared’ it’s now hideously low. Not as bad as it was at the end of 2008 when it was almost one-for-one, but nowhere near it was when we first moved here, at €1.55 to the pound. That title, by the way, ‘The Fifty-Two Year Old Idiot…’ has a much longer title: ‘The Fifty-Two Year Old Idiot Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared – Leaving Behind A Country Drowning In Chaos.’ If I were the Queen I’d be shouting, ‘Orf with his head!’ And there would be a few others in line after him. Bring back Henry VIII I say – but that’s another matter, never mind – just enjoy the Symi Dream blog while I am still able to live in the country and write about writing and living on a Greek island.

Better go now before I get started on something mildly political. ‘Today’s parliament hour was sponsored by McDonalds, as good for you as Nigel Farage.’

This last minute, however, was brought to you by Symi Dream, I hope you enjoyed it.

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Symi visitor numbers, boats and refugee thoughts
There were a lot of fun things to watch from up here on Wednesday as the harbour was the busiest I’ve seen it for a long while.

It started with the Panagia Skiadeni going out at 7.00 and the Blue Star Paros coming in at around 7.35. Later in the day a cruise ship called in and took up the far side of the harbour so when the Panagia came back it had to moor up where the Sea Dreams usually goes; that had to wait out at sea while the Panagia got its passengers off and then that went out so the Sea Dreams could come in. Somewhere in all of that the Nikolaos came in and let its passengers off before going back out to wait in the bay. Later, the Sea Dreams went, the Panagia came back, the Nikolaos came back, picked people up and went, and the Panagia went, and all the while the cruise ship, the ‘Salamis Filozenia’ was still there with its passengers enjoying a day on Symi, and that finally went in the evening. Not sure it was all in that order but it was certainly a complicated dance of swapsies. Bravo to the harbour crews!

We went down to Yialos in the evening and had a drink at Mediteranio as the sun set. Then we walked along to Haris taverna by the taxi rank for dinner: beans, garlic bread, beef, seafood risotto, lamb kleftiko, all for a very nice price thank you. The harbour was busy and in these days of fewer visitor numbers that was good to see. There were also the sailing boats in and a few larger yachts.

I heard a story (and this may not be true) that one of the reasons for fewer charter boats and large ships, like the ‘gin palace’ yachts and gullets, is to do with insurance. Apparently the companies are having to pay higher insurance in case their boats get used for people trafficking. I can see what the insurance companies mean; if they lease a boat and then it gets used and impounded and there are insurance implications. But there have been no refugees coming to Symi for months now, not since last year really. There have been no impounded boats since last year and it looks like the people traffickers of Turkey have been put off, certainly in our waters. I’m not sure what’s happening further north, but here, even the local charity is turning its attention to Symi needs, as there has been no need to shelter and help poor refugees for a long time. Now if the insurance companies (if that rumour is true) could get wind of that and lower their caution and rates, then perhaps we will see a return of more gullets – we have had quite a few still – and other pleasure yachts for the rest of the summer.

Up in the village the square continues to be the centre of attention, particularly in the late afternoon and evening, as is usually the case. It’s a great place for a quiet coffee in the morning, at either Rainbow of Lefteris’, there is breakfast to be had at various places including the Olive Tree and Mandeios, and there are the shops to looks around. After lunch, and after the beach, Rainbow has proved popular with visitors from 3pm onwards – I assume Neil’s presence has something to do with that! And then later, both bars become busy for the pre and post dinner socialising session, and football when it’s on, oh, and that tennis thing in the afternoons – not sure what that’s all about but it has something to do with purple and green and rain, usually.

So, good to see Symi busy on Wednesday (and other days when I am not around) and let’s hope that the customers customise the other bars and tavernas and shops while they are here too. I know, customise is not the right word there but it sounds like it should be. I don’t like ‘patronise’, though it’s probably correct, it sounds like people are talking down to the shops and business. But there you go; some photos from Wednesday and some good news about visitor numbers.

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Never say no to Greeks bearing gifts
Neil was the recipient of classic Greek hospitality while on Rhodes on Monday. He was waiting for his brother at the Plaza bar when someone started buying drinks for everyone in there. Not sure if he’d won the lottery, finally got his first pension payment after waiting four years, or was just an eccentric rich-person, but he was buying all the drinks. Neil only wanted one of those small bottles of red wine, just enough for one glass. But the chap insisted on buying him a €70.00 bottle instead. He tried to refuse but you simply can’t when a Greek person wants to buy you a drink, it’s not the done thing. Lefteris the barman guided him through the acceptance speech and, like it or not, you just have to thank and accept and then get on with it. I think the two whisky chasers the guy bought everyone afterwards probably made for the shaky start on Tuesday morning.

The Cyprus cruise ship has been in, bringing more much needed visitors to the island; the day boats were also doing their usual visits. We had a good old breeze on Monday but that’s dropped again now and things are once more warmer, perfect for relaxing by the sea or hanging out in a café watching the world go by; the best entertainment around – sitting at a café viewing the visitors and checking out the variations in costume, hats and languages.

I am not as rushed today, though I still have little news. We think we got to the bottom of the recent Tannoy outbreak; Neil heard the news in Rhodes. You might know, there are speakers across Symi all wired up to the Town Hall. These are used to make announcements about what and who is appearing when in the Symi Festival, and they are also used for public service announcements such as: ‘Mrs Farmakidis has lost her purse, if anyone finds it please hand it in.’ News about power cuts and the water supply is also broadcast from them from time to time. And, I guess, they would also be used in times of crisis or emergency such as when Pacho’s runs out of beer or when there is no ouzo left in the shop. (Both unlikely occurrences, I should add.)

The thing is, they have not been working recently, I don’t remember hearing an announcement up here for over a year now, at least. And so they are being repaired. Instead of subjecting us all to the hiss and crackle and feedback while the repairs are going on, they made them silently and then started testing each set of speakers, one per night – or something like that. That’s why you might have heard Zorba’s Dance coming from the police station, or ‘Ena, thio, tria,’ coming from near Agia Triada (which means the Holy Trinity – see what I did there?) or the rock version of some piece of traditional Greek bouzouki music hailing from H Lemonitisa area. And so it is now all explained.

At least it is if what we heard is true. You never know. Without the Tannoy system to tell us, how are we to know? And so: onwards with another great day on ‘the rock’, aka Symi. Have a good one yourself.

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Recent photos from Symi
Rushing around a bit today, Tuesday, so a very quick post this morning (yesterday – you know what I mean). I’ll share some Symi images with you quickly before I go and do the housework ahead of the brother-in-law arriving in… oops, one hour’s time and I am meant to be meeting him in the harbour, so best dash. Sorry – will try harder tomorrow (today… you still know what I mean.)

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