And here we are back to normal blogging and the old routine. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the guest blog idea and I hope that everyone enjoyed reading other people’s thoughts about Symi.
As today is Monday this post was written on Sunday and I can tell you it’s sunny out there and very pleasant in the sun, but cold in the house. Just back from central Europe we’re used to low temperatures, around two degrees on most days of our holiday, but here on Symi without central heating and carpets, the houses stay cold and slightly damp through the winter. Even with heating going for the evening, by the morning the walls are wet with condensation, the bedcover is damp and you need to open windows to dry things out and fight chilly mornings in order to air the house and keep the damp mould down.
Anyway, here are a few shots of Rhodes, the first stop on our trip. While we were there we visited the Helping Hands refugee aid workers who have a base near Akandia Harbour. They have some support from the local council and lots from the local community. When we were there they were preparing to send some excess clothing and supplied down to Kastelorizo who were (and still are) receiving a lot of refuges. Symi Solidarity also recently sent some supplies down there as we have seen few refuges over the last few weeks. Cold weather means people are more likely to stay in camps for the winter, I guess.
Also, while in Rhodes, we decided to go to some places we’d not been before. It’s easy to get caught in the usual-place rut, but it’s also good to try new. So, we stayed at a place called the ‘3 Charities’ in the Old Town. This is a small, private run set of apartments that are in an old building but renovated. Ours had a sitting room with TV and satellite, a fitted kitchen area with two rings and microwave etc. a good bathroom and a small bedroom, and everything in the flat that you could need. It was handy for the Old Town and not too far to walk to the New Town, and it was only €25.00 a night, so a bit of a bargain. I found it through Booking.com.
There was a taverna around the corner that we’d never even seen before let alone used and that was a good place to eat out when you didn’t want to walk too far. We also used Saffron, the Indian restaurant, the Swedish Bakery and a few other places that we’d not visited, plus some old favourites. While sitting at the Symi café in the old market one day some fishermen arrived at the closed shop next door, set up a barbeque and started grilling some of the catch. We were sent over a complimentary plate of fresh fish, which was very kind of them.
I’m not going to bore you too much with travel tales, though there may be the odd one thrown in as we approach Christmas, but it’s good to be back and back to work. I’ve opened my shutters so the light falls on the desk and no doubt there will be some views of the calm sea on the blog over time, and the rough sea when the weather changes. So far this winter, it seems, we’ve been very lucky. More weather reports and blogs to come.
