It’s sunbed and day trip question season again on some social media, so let’s put the Q&A to (sun) bed. Yes, there are beaches on Symi, yes, they have sunbeds, no, they are not likely to be free. Do you have time to visit the beaches and ‘coves’ when on a day trip? That depends. What is there to do here on a day trip? Lots. For some ideas, see this page: https://symidream.com/symi-in-three-hours/

How long you have here depends on what boat you get across. If you want an all-day experience and have some spare cash, then take the Dodecanese Seaways as it sets off at 8.00 gets here at 8.50, returns at 16.30 (or just after 17.00 depending on the day), and gives you roughly seven hours here. Other boats are available. The Sebeco, for example, does Rhodes direct to Yialos (Symi main town), and there are several day-trip boats from Mandraki, but they only give you a few hours in Yialos after stopping en route.

I love it when someone writes into social media seeking ‘advise’ (ahem), and asks something like, ‘Is there a beach where we can go swimming?’ It’s at times like these that things become antisocial media. You get the diehard Symi-two-weeks-a-year regulars ignoring the question and answering with things like, ‘Why go swimming?’ like that’s helpful. Then you have those who have missed the point entirely: ‘A day is not long enough, stay for a week at So-kai-So Apartments’, again missing the point that the enquirer only has a day. Then, you have the helpfuls who set out a complete itinerary starting from where and when you get off the boat, how to catch a bus to the village, which café to stop in for your coffee, how long it will take you to walk down the steps and you must make sure you visit edo, eki and pantou (here, there and everywhere) along the way. Things get even hotter under the virtual collar when someone dares ask, ‘Are there any hotels with pools?’ The answer is either yes or no. The answer shouldn’t be a diatribe about why that person wants a pool, how the Aegean is on your doorstep, and how this isn’t Benidorm. My answer to many such queries is rather unhelpful, so I keep it to myself. Apart from this once: Do your own research. I spend hours researching for my books and I learn while doing so. It’s much more rewarding than simply asking someone (which is, admittedly, also research, but…).

Anyway, that’s something to contemplate while you decide whether you want to pay €7.50, €10.00 or even more for one sunbed for a few hours, or whether you just want to spread out a towel and lie on a beach like we did in the black and white days.

(Today’s photos are from Neil.)

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In the emails today… A chance to enter the KDP Storyteller Award, a message from my cover designer who was charged €12.00 for receiving a payment from me – daylight robbery as I was charged €5.00 to send it, some messages I was expecting (i.e., ‘Your money has been sent’), and the usual spam. Which veggie shrinks an enlarged… Luxury watches from $250, yet another new message from LinkedIn, whatever that is, it’s been so long since I looked at it… A business proposal from Alfred, A piano music course, and something called a ‘ringing silencer’ which sounds a little oxymoronic to me. But also arriving this morning are some photos from Neil and as they show some greenery, I’ll post some today so you can share in the sight of spring plants on Symi.

There’s an exhibition of WWII memorabilia running down in the cultural centre at the moment. This must be in the lead up to May 8th which will see a parade by the schools and other organisations celebrating the liberation of the Dodecanese. That usually starts at vaguely around 11.30 or sometimes later, maybe midday, or earlier, it seems to depend on when some bigwigs could be bothered to turn up and how long the service goes on for beforehand. I often see lines of military and others standing in the sun for a good hour waiting. That’ll be on the north side of the harbour.

Yesterday, I counted five day-trip boats on that side of the harbour, but couldn’t see what was happening on this side, no doubt the Sebeco did its runs, and maybe others, so I imagine things are busying up down there. I see and hear trippers tripping past the house during the day and afternoon, and it’s good to see them making the climb up here. While at home, in the house, it was water day, so a washing machine day followed by a piano lesson afternoon that, these days, is made up of about 45 minutes of Mozart’s sonata in C, K545 followed by 15 minutes of grade 4 theory. And you thought algebra was bad. Try explaining the rules regarding double-dotted quavers in compound time and the correct way to group in 12/8 fifty years after you were taught it. Still, only another few weeks and there will no longer be time for piano lessons because the business of working and college will take over.

And that’s me for this morning. I must go and organise another reel. No, not a country dance, but a short video advertising my books, like the one I will treat you with today…

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Just a quick chat this morning, and a couple of photos to welcome you to the week. One, Neil took just now from up on the roof, and the other, I took over the weekend when I was bothered enough to go for a wander along the hillside. It’s a fine time for walking because it’s not too hot yet, and the rain seems to be staying away, and although some cloud is forecast, I can’t see rain on my radar yet.

So, what did I do over the weekend…? A couple of chapters, some socialising, some eating (Neil made a wonderful chicken pie yesterday, it was like being at a pub for Sunday lunch, gravy and everything), watched a couple of films and finished watching a documentary about the princes in the Tower, which was fascinating. Er… Unblocked a sink, sprayed the roses with homemade anti-whitefly treatment, which probably won’t work, did some Greek language homework, read some newspapers from 1893, and generally hung out around the house being lazy. I don’t intend doing much more during this week either, as I have nothing planned. A couple of piano lessons, a new chapter or three to write, I may go for a walk or two, and that’s about it. So far, it looks like it’s going to be a quiet week. (Famous last words?)

Ps. For my readers who like to read and have diverse tastes, I have some of my books in a few promotions this month, so I’ll post the links here over the next few weeks. This one should give you some new ideas for thriller and mystery reads, there are plenty of new authors, books set in a variety of time periods, and a mixture of mystery, spooky and thriller to browse.

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The furthest I went from the inside of the house yesterday was across the courtyard to the gate, and even then, I needed an umbrella. Today, it looks like the rain that’s sat over us for the last two days has moved on, and the skies should be clear again later in the morning. It’s not that we mind a little rain, but two the last two days have been like a summer holiday in the Lake District, with the cloud hanging over the tops of the hills, and the air continually wet. This was our view on Wednesday morning…

And this was it on Thursday evening…

Actually, in between, I took the time to turn everything off and just listen to the sounds of falling water, the drips from the gutters, the runoff from the overflow, and the constant rhythm of quietly falling rain such as there always is during a funeral scene in an American film or TV show, particularly if it’s a military funeral. Nothing funereal about the last couple of days, though. Washed the dust away, freshened things up, and hopefully, cleared the air ready for 40° by June as that’s what will probably come next. “Bloomin’ rain,” will soon turn to “Bloomin’ hot, isn’t it?” At least it’s not been windy these last two days, that would have meant closing shutters and plugging the gaps beneath the doors with towels. Mind you, there was no wind on Wednesday and the rain came down the porch wall, and no wind on Thursday, yet no rain came down the porch wall… I still don’t understand how that works.

Anyway, I’m blathering, now. I’ll leave you with a sunnier photo from Monday or Tuesday and wish you a pleasant weekend.

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Happy first of the month to you, kalo mina, and all that. May is being welcomed in with rain that started yesterday around midday, and is still going on. According to the Poseidon System, it’s going to be with us until this evening, so those plants I showed you are in for a good, long watering. Only two days ago I was in shorts and a t-shirt as I went for a walk up the hill. Today, I’m back in long trousers and a hoodie, and I don’t plan to go anywhere apart from 1893.

This was the view in the early afternoon. Maybe it doesn’t look so bad, and I’ve known harder rain, for sure, but this continuous, grey drizzle, now and then becoming heavier, ended up obscuring the hills, Nimos and the other side of the harbour. Ah well, it will help wash some of the dust away.

It will also give the balcony a good wash. I’m pleased I sealed the wood and painted the woodwork in time.

This month, I have a first to share with you. You might know I get involved in book promotions in a publicity-sharing, ‘indie authors band together’ kind of way. Well, for the first time, I have books by both my names in the same promo, they appear side by side. What’s nice about that is it’s me and my godfather side by side again, quite by coincidence:

In case you were wondering, I’m not Suman Jha, I’m the other two. This promo has a wide selection of all kinds of biographies, memories and other non-fiction books. There’s a fair amount of self-love and how to forgive kind of writing, but also, biographies of St Francis of Assisi, a guide for Americans moving to Europe, the start of a series about the history of Malvern and Worcestershire (the moving Americans’ first lesson will be how to pronounce the name of that county), and some of my jottings about Symi and other anecdotes.

If you want to help me gain some kudos points in the indie author promo world, then simply click the link or banner and take a browse around – no money is involved unless you decide to buy a book. That’s up to you. For me, it’s the simple clicks that count.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/mayisformemoirs/mwrcqy68ar

There we go. 101 things to do on a wet Thursday include promote a book, talk about the weather, cook a chilli con carne with your godson later and watch The Life of Pie all while staying dry. Welcome to May!

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