Symi fire, booking a ticket, nephew news
The main news from Symi today (yesterday) is the fire that happened at the Custom House in Yialos. I don’t have any photos as I was in bed at 1.30 in the morning when it happened, but you can find some on Facebook, if you use that. Apparently there was a car parked beside it that caught fire and the fire then spread to the building and into the roof. Very sad, and slightly worrying. If there had been a wind it could easily have spread to other buildings. No one was hurt but I think there will be questions asked about the fire response services arrangements and facilities.
Meanwhile, Andy who runs the Symi Visitor travel blog http://symivisitor-accommodation.com/blog/ sent me this note about the Skiedani showing as full on the Dodecanese Seaways website if/when you go to book a ticket on it:
“There’s a solution to the “Skiadeni apparently full” problem.
The fares from Rhodes to Panormitis, to Yialos via Panormitis, or to Yialos non-stop are all the same, €13.50 on the Panagia Skiadeni. If you want to go from Rhodes to Yialos on a “via Panormitis” sailing, book a ticket to Panormitis, so you know you have a seat. When you collect the actual tickets at the kiosk or agent, tell them you want to go to Yialos and they will issue a Panormitis-Yialos ticket free of charge.
The problem is that it is an industry-standard online booking system, but nowhere else in Greece do you have the option of getting off and back on again at an intermediate stop so you actually need a second ticket to show when you get back on again.”
That’s a handy tip, thank you very much.
In our own news, it seems that nephew George likes his new job. And so he should, he was only there for one afternoon and then had a day off. His team have Thursdays off work and they even have a free bar they can use in a nearby hotel. Some of them went out to Faliraki on Wednesday night (lord help us all) and he seems to be fitting in very well. That’s a comfort and I write it here manly for friends and family who were following is adventures. The place he is at really do seem like good employers; he has a two room apartment to himself, meals paid for, a day off each week, the free bar for down time and they have said they will help get him his bank account and other things set up too. Where do I apply?
And as for us, it’s been warm up here with a cloud covering but temperatures into the mid-twenties. There may be some rain on the way over the weekend. That will please the plants. The winds are set to be low so that’s good for ferries and the sun should be fully back to normal service next week when I have to do another trip to Rhodes; hopefully the last one for a while.
