Saturday photos, and today they are all the same view, more or less. The weather has calmed down and got over itself, the cruise ship has been in, the Diagoras has been running, the other boats too, there are lots of yachts about, a whole flotilla has been around and the sea has been calm. So, I’ll leave you with these images and wish you a good weekend.
Cruise ship heading inCloser, and with the Blue Star Diagoras on its tailCatching the morning sunWaiting for the Blue StarSailing boatsPatterns in the seaEvening clouds
And here is a video from You Tube showing a day trip to Symi (Yialos and Panormitis as the boat doesn;t stop in Horio) with a feature on Takis and his amazing leather artwork in the middle.
The weather is still the talk of the town at the moment, what with devastation in Skopolos, Bodrum being flooded and Rhodes getting an extra day of storms on Wednesday. It was still a bit cloudy on Symi yesterday, with more rain forecast on Thursday but at least it’s not as stiflingly hot as it has been recently, and the wind is not high, so the boats are not affected.
Working by Pachos
While we’re rabbiting on this morning I thought I’d put up some of Neil’s photo taken the other day in Yialos. More ‘portraits’ of folk on holiday and working in the harbour. The season is still going on, and doesn’t end here for a few weeks yet; usually around mid to late October. Mind you, we do have sailing boats coming in through and into November when we also have lots of visiting Greeks and others, for the festival at Panormitis on 7th – 9th November.
Having a fab break from work
This doesn’t mean that all the shops stay open though. Some do, and just about everything in the village stays open. What closes for the winter? Well, a couple of tavernas and one or two shops, but that’s it. The cafes up here are all open, the Olive Tree has a couple of quiet months off in the early New Year, but the others, with more indoor seating, are open. Down in the harbour a few more places close, to the extent that there are only a couple, like To Spitiko and Aris open. Many of the bars are still going but again the ones with outside seating (mainly) tend to be shut. But that’s all a long way off yet.
In Yialos
As I’m writing this I am watching the Panagia Skiedani coming in, and it looks pretty full. Neil told me that when he was in Rhodes on Wednesday, getting soaked, there were hardly any taxis to be had, thanks to all the cruise ships that were in. We had one in on Wednesday too, in the evening. It’s fun on a Wednesday as the Panagia leaves at the same time the Diagoras is due in and that’s due to leave as the cruise ship arrives, while all the gullets (two Ls –note!) are trying to get a berth as well. Our mooring men do a great job down there at these times. Well, at all times.
Dressed for the sun
I’ve been looking at the timetables because my nephew is due to arrive in under two weeks and I ned to figure out the best boats to get, and cross-reference that with the weather to make sure I am on the island with the airport at the right time. The Panagia is doing fewer runs soon, but still should allow me to head over on a Tuesday, to meet a Wednesday flight, if it looks like the Wednesday morning boat might be late or cancelled due to weather (too early to say yet), and the Pride is conveniently coming over on a Thursday morning so we can get back… You have to start planning these things in advance, checking the weather, organise the tickets early to make sure you have a seat, then I need to book the hotel for a night or two… The fun of island living; very suitable for frustrated travel agents like me.
Regular visitors
There you go, that’s a ramble for you, something to read over your morning coffee. Let’s hope this cloudy stuff passes over quickly and we can get back to complaining about the heat soon. Mind you, it’s never that hot at this time of year, I am now considering a duvet back on the bed and having to work with a shirt on.
Wednesday: A morning at home, clearing up after the rain. Only having to clear up outside is a nice experience, the inside of the house was perfectly dry.
Sunrise after the storm
Rhodes airport woke up to find an eight meter long hole in its taxi-way yesterday morning. Apparently there had been a repair made there before but the storm has caused the problem to open up again. Flights were, naturally, suspended and then, when things started up again, delayed. A bit of a shame for some people who left the island a day early (due to the storm) to ensure that they were in time for their flights. They then also discovered that not only did both boats leave Symi on Wednesday morning but they were both on time – but better safe than missing flights. The Diagoras was only about 15 minutes late, which constitutes ‘on time’ around here. And, apparently, it was still raining in Rhodes though Symi was mainly fine – cooler and a bit of cloud.
Later in the morning
I spent the morning at my desk –hence the photos from the window – and was in touch with the film production studio about what was once called ‘the Judas Curse’ and which is now called ‘the Thirteenth’ and which is based on ‘The Judas Inheritance’ which you can find here if you have not already got a copy. The latest news is that they are still trying to iron out a couple of edits, but it’s taking a while because the editor is working for free; but hopefully he’ll be able to get the things done this week. Then they’ve got to add the music, and then the colour grading and then the sound (maybe not in that order) and then the credits, so four more stages to go through before they have a finished thing ready to sell to distributors. There should be a Kickstarter update soon I am told, but that’s all the news I know for now.
Clear and cooler
Something else I woke up to yesterday was an interesting story I found via Facebook. Thing is, it was on one of those sites that has so many up-sell adverts you have to wait ages for the page to load, and then when you try and scroll, it seizes up your browser because there are so many ads. And all, I may add (ha ha) for things I’ve already got. I know we have a couple of adverts on this site, the Booking.com thing and one at the bottom of posts, but hopefully they don’t jam things up too badly. Not much point over-advertising if no one can actually view your site. I also woke up to the continuing cold, but found some cold and flu tablets I’d bought for a refugee guy (who then vanished) so I was able to take a couple of them myself.
The dots are actually martins (or swifts?) gathering to head south – so I am told
And on the refugee topic – looking out of our window I can’t see anyone waiting around the police station, but that doesn’t mean we have not had any refugees landing here of late. Also, the Blue Star Diagoras came through so may have taken people to Rhodes. We are due back to volunteer on Saturday so will get an update then, but the charity has nearly reached its £30k target and, as of Wednesday, only needed £2,524.56 to break through its latest target.
Other than that, and getting caught in the rain on Tuesday evening, a few times, and getting stuck in the bar for a while on the way home due to Kali Strata flooding, and then having a mainly sleepless night due to cold and ear noise… all is well with the Symi world.
there is a sailing boat going out in this photo, somewhere
Weather watch service here – writing to you on Tuesday, so those heading out to Symi today might already have left and this is a bit behind, but there you go. Yes, we got some of the storm as promised, or at least we have so far. Rain on Monday night and a downpour on Tuesday, with heavy clouds and some wind getting up – that’s as of 11.30 yesterday morning.
Bit cloudy
I’m in the habit of writing a day behind, or rather a day in front and then having the post go live the next day, as you know, but the thing about the weather is that we get some kind of weather here all the time and what you see when you look out of your window is what you get. There’s nothing that can be done about it, so what can you do? Well, I can post some photos to show those who’ve not seen it before what the weather can be like on Symi through the year. And yesterday it was more like October/November, but that happens.
Preparing to pour down
Anyway, enough of the weather, what else has been going on? Well, not a lot really – got a bad sore throat, first illness in many a month, possibly even a year or so, but it’s nothing that can’t be ignored so that’s okay. The plants have had a good watering, but no rain came into the house, apart from a little under a window but that was fine when I shut the shutters. And I’m back to the weather again.
But it soon clears up (sort of)
Okay, how about this video instead. I found this via Solidarity Symi, the refugee (and local needy) charity that’s been set up, and I’ll include it down at the bottom so you can see the full thing. It’s about the refugee crisis. Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who says, ‘We’re full up,’ or ‘Not my problem,’ or anyone who fears an Islamic takeover of Europe, a breakdown in social infrastructure and so on. It explains everything and in a very clear way. Give it a watch and stay informed.
I’ve got some of Neil’s photos today, taken on Sunday and in the last few days, there are a few great portraits coming up and some shots of Symi generally. I’ve also been asked to keep on top of the weather reports as people prepare to jet out to Symi on Wednesday/Thursday, so…
All smiles at the taxi boat rank on Sunday
Monday was fine, cooler than it has been, slightly less humid but still quite warm. Warm enough for swimming for sure. I think the latest I’ve been in the sea here is November, at seven in the morning on Panormitis day, and it was still quite acceptable then. Mind you, I’ve not been in the sea at all this year so far, not like last year when we went swimming twice a week at six a.m., seem to have fallen out of that habit. Anyway, the weather looked fine on Monday though there is a storm expected Tuesday or Wednesday. [Does a quick check of a couple of sites…and yes, still thunder and rain expected for today/tomorrow but back to sun on Thursday and the temp in the mid 20s.]
Christos and his pipe
Sunday we had a nice day off, went down to Yialos, had a wander around the shops after lunch and then caught the bus back up to the village. At home later we spent a good couple of hours watching episodes from Modern Family, an American comedy programme that’s done like a semi-documentary. We’re on series two now and it’s slightly funnier than series one. We bought the box set of series one to five as six had not come out by then.
Found this little chap doing some dumbbell lifting at home
The other things we’ve been watching of late are Broadchurch series one and two and a thing called The Jury, with Julie Walters – need to finish the last episode of that. And, when not watching TV, which we only do for half an hour after lunch and a couple of hours in the evening, I’ve been reading. I’ve just finished Alison Weir’s Henry VIII king and court, and I noticed there’s a Henry VIII series, from 2003, with Ray Winston that I’ve never seen. So, I might have to put that on my wish list. That’s an aside, I am also reading The Second Coming by John Niven while Mother is reading the first draft of Straight Swap, Neil is reading my You Wish! the mad comedy set in Brighton (‘rude, crude and totally nude’ or, as one review put it, ‘perfect poolside reading,’ thank you) while I am working on the Saddling when not enjoying time with the family.
Plenty of smiles at Pacho’s too
Anyway, back to the real world and what’s going on? Well, Neil’s in Rhodes on Wednesday to see his allergy doctor, I’ll be at the bar, then we have a dinner invite and there’s another on Friday, but otherwise, we’re slowly slowing down as the weather cools; starting to have to wear a t-shirt in the mornings now, it’ll soon be cold and wet, with whistling north winds and… but that’s for later. There’s still plenty of summer to come yet. And, oh, apparently we had an election in Greece on Sunday but no one seems to have noticed.
