Sunday Symi blog
The weekend plans fell into place as expected, though it is only Sunday morning as I write this and I’ve not been for a decent walk yet. We went to Yialos on Saturday morning after some heavy rain and did the jobs that needed doing: buying new oven trays, looking for other things for the house we need but couldn’t find – a trip to Rhodes may be in the offing. I mainly went down to pick up a parcel that had arrived but it turned out not to be the thing I was waiting for, it wasn’t even for me. After a couple of Saturday beers at Pacho’s (a once a week treat) we were lucky enough to find a couple of taxis still working after 3pm, and so Thanasis took us up the hill. We also had other shopping with us, so that was the easiest way of getting home.
While we were there, Neil met with Yianni-Poseidon to firm up details about our boat party on September 8th. I know it’s a long way off but we like to get things sorted out well in advance. We currently have over 80 people booked on with us, which is actually too many for the boat, so we’re looking at that. Some guests might have to swim around to Again Marina.
Only joking. I was also able to spend some time on my final draft of the next book, arranging a flight for my nephew for September and, once I’ve prepared this post, I’ll be considering some housework, that’s for after the shopping is done. It’s very handy having a supermarket or two open on a Sunday though always best to get to them before the end of the Sunday church services when they can get rather busy as people shop on the way home.
Because we both work at home Monday to Friday mornings, the weekend takes on that old sense of having got everything done and now it’s time to relax. It does rather make Sunday evenings feel like the end of a good two days off and Sundays still remind me of ‘the old days’ when there was a drive to work to not look forward to the follow day. It used to be, in the very old days, Pinky & Perky, bath time, supper in front of the fire and then bed with that heavy feeling of going back to school hanging over you. That’s not so bad now – and there’s no bath in this house – as the commute to work only involves crossing the porch, but you still get the same old Sunday night/Monday morning feeling. Mind you, I much more look forward to Mondays now than I did 15 years ago, when I had a job working for other people. When you’re working here through the summer (as I did back in the early days of moving to Symi) there was no such thing as a weekend and each day was exactly the same as the next. Winters were one long weekend then, but weekends with no money.
Talking of summer. There is already some work going on in the harbour as some businesses are either changing or already preparing for the next season by getting some building work done while it’s quiet and, on most days, dry. There are still three months to go before Easter but that time will fly, and the season won’t really kick off until after then. There is sometimes a quiet gap after the festivals of Easter and before the charter flights start bringing regular tourists, but the good news for travellers is that the boat timetables are now up and available for the summer. The Blue Star http://www.bluestarferries.com/el/ can be checked and booked online and the Dodecanese Seaways timetable is available for the next several months (up until October 31st) and you can book the catamarans online there to. The Panagia, the larger ferry, can’t be booked online (unless you book separate tickets to Panormitis, its first stop, and then onwards, or so I am told), and for all travel news of flights and boats, you should check out Andy’s blog at Symi Visitor. As I always say: if you are coming independently, always check your boats before you buy your flights. There are currently no extra evening boats scheduled from Rhodes (only Wednesday pm and Friday evening on the Blue Star) so there’s no point arriving at eight in the evening and thinking you will get a boat straight to Symi.
But still, there’s something to look forward to and start planning: your next Symi holiday.
