Stonewall, hot cat and a big moon
Some homely photos today; the cat finding the coolest place to sleep under ‘His Master’s Voice’, some people being pulled around the bay on a raft for fun, and the full solstice moon – a white round thing seen through the courtyard vine.

And as you are browsing them… We watched the film ‘Stonewall’ the other night. This is the film about the Stonewall riots in New York that started on the night Judy Garland was buried, in June 1968, and brought about the start of the Gay Libation Front – rather, it actionized what was already starting to exist. It’s actually a very good film about a young guy moving to New York to escape his homophobic father and society and it’s quite moving. The actual Stonewall scenes and the riot are not the main focus, though they are of course what the ‘outer story’ is about. It’s a great film and I thought I would mention it here in case you want a historically (not 100%) accurate film that’s also a friendship story. Oh and Jonathon Rhys Meyers is in it, and very good too, and appears in his 1960’s underwear, if you’re that kind of fan.

At the moment I can only find it in USA format (region 1) so you will need a multi-region DVD player if you are going to buy it; but you can buy the Region 1 version here if you can play region 1 DVDs.

I am now waiting for My Big Fat Greek Wedding – 2, to come out. You can click that link and pre-order it if you want to.

Anyway, back to my days of doing nothing on Symi, nothing apart from working and watching the view that is. Have I been for a swim yet? No. Did I go swimming last year at all? No. I did go for a paddle with Harry back in March though, that was enough for me. But the beaches are now all open, the taxi boats are going every day, the tavernas are all open, the round the island and other boat trips are happening with the Poseidon and the Diagoras both in action – I think the Diagoras went to Turkey at the weekend as I saw it at the chicken shed (immigration/customs pre-fab) early in the morning. There are yachts in and people about, and with the weather still being warm and more than acceptable I think we can finally say that summer has arrived.

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Bit of a ramble, no ideas
I was going to start with a rant because someone paid me a lovely complement yesterday and said how much they enjoyed my rants about the current rubbish-referendum. I thought I’d finish with that instead, as Symi is far more interesting. Not that I’ve done much since last we spoke, a little light writing, some house pottering, cooking (in this heat?!) and television viewing, and a little reading but not much; not as much as I would like to be doing, have done, done, or have been having done, or whatever the tense is. It just seems that there is always something else to do.

Like buying sandals, though actually that was Neil, not me. I’ve got two pairs, one has lasted me two years and I’ll be damned if they don’t last me another fifteen, and the second is there as backup as the first probably won’t last out this season. We were ‘down town’ on Saturday and he called into Americano, a shop in the backstreet of Yialos, between St John’s Church and Meraklis. There are lots of great things in there and lots of bright colours and it’s mainly aimed at women, I guess, or very flamboyant men. Neil was after a pair of the red rope sandals which are very comfortable to wear, but sadly the red wasn’t available in his size. The bright pink was, but he opted for a more sedate orange in the end.

I only mention that so I have an excuse to use some of the photos he took, and to give another business a mild plug. I do this from time to time, there’s no payment involved and no salesman called; but if I’m at a place and like it, and – more importantly- remember about it the next day, then I like to put up a plug, as it were. That’s on Symi, I have written about other places when I’ve been away but I tend to write reviews on Trip Advisor about them as they are more relevant, I mean, this isn’t called Bucharest Dream now, is it? Though I enjoyed the King’s art collection when there and visiting The National Museum Of Art Of Romania.

As you can see, today is a bit of a ramble brought on by the heat and so, here, with no apologies (only the usual one for typos) is my last vague word on the subject of the ridiculous you-know-what that’s done more to destroy the reputation of the UK than even daytime TV. (You don’t have to read it and you certainly don’t have to comment on it.)

This is the week that will be remembered in British history as the week that finally saw the start of the end of the decline of the country. The country will never be one again, never the same again, no matter what the vote outcome. The simple fact is that in calling for this referendum, the government has split the country and rifts have opened, the far right loonies have had something they can scare some of the population into believing, the – ahem – ‘popular’ – ahem – “newspapers” are having their day, MPs are whipping up racial hatred, inciting violence and getting away with it, complete loons are spouting this and that without having anything to back up their propaganda and no-one knows who to believe or what’s going to happen if, when or whatever. Apart from those with no brains allowing themselves to be manipulated by certain – ahem – “newspapers” and bonkers politicians, the even sadder fact is that many people are misguidedly voting on one topic alone; immigration. I saw a great quote the other day which sums this point up for me: ‘Not every Leave voter is a racist, but every racist will vote Leave.’ That’s what the country has allowed by calling the damn thing – a decision which the government were elected to make and should have made among themselves. The population put them there after all. But enough of all this ‘Outraged of Tunbridge Wells.’ Vote remain. Back to work…

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Definitely sizzling on Symi
Oh boy, it was a warm weekend. Sunday afternoon and the temperature is up in the mid to high thirties; 34 in the shade in our courtyard, with a gentle breeze doing its best to help out. We sat and watched a film last night, fan on, windows open, sweat pouring and I think I’ve been through six bottles of water in under two days. Perfect for holidaying as long as you are sensible. The cat’s a bit grumpy about it though we brush him and remove some of his fur for him. Accuweather and Windfinder are giving a very conservative estimate of the temperature in the high twenties, but the thermometers on Symi itself are definitely above 34.

We took a walk into Yialos on Saturday and ended up having lunch at Meraklis this time; a very nice chicken souvlaki and a chicken with mushrooms and cream, and all at a very good price. On Sunday I did some work on the next book after ‘Remotely’ which is to be called ‘The Saddling’, as you might have read before. It’s interesting to be writing a Gothic horror set in the marshes of Kent in December when it’s so hot outside; that’s where the imagination comes in I suppose. But I am getting on with it and had a very productive morning while Neil worked on his course and the cat mumbled about being hot.

One of our plants has flowered. We bought this from the garden store next to the town hall last year and this is the first time it has flowered. It’s called, so I am told, a Fruit Salad Frangipani, also known as a Pulmaria. The first sounds like a dessert and the second sounds like a character from a Vincent Price film. (See ‘The Abominable Dr Phibes, 1971, a camp horror directed by Robert Fuest, and the sequel, ‘Dr Phibes Rides Again’, 1972, same director, similar story, just different ways of killing off the cast. His great love was called ‘Vulnavia’ which I think doesn’t flower until the autumn. Joking.)

The donut was in use out in the bay on Sunday afternoon. Say what? The rubber ring that people sit in and get dragged around in and eventually fall off. There were several people having fun at Nos beach. From up here we saw water skiing, jet skiing, the donut and swimmers, plus some speedboats, sailing boats and the usual taxi boats. It’s all go down there and I often sit up here in weather like this wondering why I am not down there in the sea which is, at the moment, about the only place to keep cool. And it’s still only June.

After the delightful madness of last week and the several invitations, we only have one so far this week, which will give me lots of time to be at home and work on the various projects, I hope. Meanwhile, village events continue with live Greek music at Georgio’s on a Friday night, live Greek and Turkish music at Syllogos on a Friday night (and Thursday and Saturday, apparently, check the posters) and live jazz/rock/blues on a Friday night at The Secret Garden. Friday night is clearly music night in Horio. I am sure there are music events in Yialos as well and if I hear of any I’ll let you know so you can plan your eventing on Symi ready for when you arrive. I trust you are coming to Symi this year?

I’ll leave you now and get back to you tomorrow with any more non-news that I may have.

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Symi nearly sizzling already
It’s certainly warming up here on Symi as a heatwave comes in over Greece. It was 32 degrees yesterday, according to the thermometer in the shadiest part of our courtyard, the porch. All three day boats came in with day-trippers; I hope everyone was wearing sun block and hats, and drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated. We seem to have had all kinds of weather in the past few weeks, with some rain, wind, cooler temperatures and now, at last, the heat of June.

The mornings are hazy as you will see from a couple of the photos today; they were taken on Wednesday morning and show the Panagia Skiadeni heading out at seven, followed by the Blue Star Paros coming in a little later. It looks like some evening boats from Rhodes have started up now. Looking at the Dodekanisos website I see you can now get from Rhodes to Symi on: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning (with two boats, one direct and one via Panormitis), Tuesday with the Panagia Skiadeni direct, Wednesday (two boats), and Thursday with the Panagia again, direct.

And from Rhodes to Symi in the evening on the Panagia Skiadeni on Saturday 19:00, Sunday at 19.15, Monday at 16:30, Tuesday at 19:00, Wednesday at 19:00 (and Friday at 19:00 on the Blue Star Paros) – but check those times on the website in case they change. The Wednesday evening one may be of help to visitors arriving on the traditional British change-over day, as long as you’ve landed by, say 17:00, leaving just enough time for luggage collection and a taxi. So, hopefully some good news there.

As for our week this week, I think today is the first time I will have time to settle down to some writing and a day at home. We’ve been invited out two or three times by some very generous people, we’ve said goodbye to George and his friend with a dinner at Taverna Zoi, been to Georgios two nights in a row and spent a few hours with visitors at the Rainbow bar. That’s on top of the usual day-to-day at home, shopping, visits to the bank to get the rent money, feeding the stray cats, watering plants, doing the housework and writing the blog when I get a chance. It’s all go here – oh and also taking more showers now that the weather is warming up. We’re almost at that stage where you come out of a cool shower and try and dry off only to find you’re wet again from sweat straight away. Roll on Summer!

And so, off into the weekend with nothing planned except work on our college courses: Neil’s IGCSE in human rights and equality and my assignment eight (out of ten) in my scriptwriting course. I’ve got to come up with a title, logline, synopsis, scene breakdown, character outlines and treatment for a 15-minute film. So I shan’t get much time for the beach this weekend. Have a good one!

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Taxiarchis apartments and studios, Symi
Today’s post is all about Taxiarchis, just one of the places you can stay when you visit Symi. We were invited here the other night for drinks on one of the terraces and, as Mother is staying here later in the year, I thought this would be a good opportunity for her to see some shots of the grounds.

The complex is made up of studios and apartments, all modern and well fitted out, very clean and very well looked after. I think rooms are cleaned every day apart from Sundays. The grounds are gorgeous and Frank, who runs/owns it with his family, is very personable. I’ve heard from visitors over the years about his offers to take them out on boats for the day, he is fully licensed, and I also heard he sometimes throws barbeques for guests. He’s very generous and no one has a bad word to say about him.

The complex is not far from Campos supermarket in Horio. You get off the bus at the main stop and walk down past the doctor’s surgery a little way and then turn right into a lane that leads to the apartments. It’s not a long walk and the walk back up to the village, though up a slope, is not a steep one. It’s possible to get from Taxiarchis to the Rainbow Bar, for example, with only a few steps involved, and it only takes a couple of minutes. But, when you are at the apartments, you hardly hear any traffic. You are more likely to be ‘disturbed’ by the mules braying and the cockerels calling, the birds and the nearby goats and sheep, if such things disturb you rather than lighten your mood. It’s right on the edge of the top of the valley with great views down to Pedi.

You can book accommodation there directly with the owner, or you can go through a number of travel agents, including: Symi Visitor, Kalodoukas Holidays, Olympic Holidays, and many others. There is a You Tube video from Hotelz.TV Greece which you can find here. (Shame about the music and the image quality, but it will give you some inside views that I was not able to take the other night.) The grounds also feature a terrace for guests and a large reception area and I know for a fact that the Dolphin Pizza restaurant in Yialos will deliver there.

Scroll down for the rest of the photos.

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