First of all, thanks to everyone who has so far sent in notes and tips, and things about the pension topic mentioned yesterday. I’m hoping to distil all the info for a future blog, but it sounds like things are due to change in April. So, watch this space.
So, it’s Wednesday (well, actually it’s Tuesday as I write this) and today we are going to sign the contract for the new house – day 24 of ‘moving house on Symi,’ so we’re looking forward to that. I walked past it yesterday (Monday – do keep up!) on my way back from Yialos and saw the landlord heading back and forth to his house opposite, so that bodes well. I went down to sort out a few things, check the post and get the deposit out of the bank, all done successfully, and took some grey, winter photos while I was on route.
Funnily enough, I took one of the sea coming onto the road by the customs house and it was more or less the exact same photo as Adriana put on her blog on Monday. http://adrianas-symi.blogspot.gr/ Check it out, ‘Surf’s Up Symi Style.’
I also almost took the same shot of the dog in the tree, and got some shots of stones and… well, great minds obviously think alike. Adriana also has some info about the recent Sunday Times piece about Symi, and links to the ferry schedules, which are kind of all over the shop at the moment.
I also noticed on my way past that the old Symi Dream shop is now up for rent, so that’s not gone to anyone new as yet. If you fancy having a small business on Symi and need a shop, this could be the place for you! Down in the harbour there was the navy boat in (or is a customs boat? Looks more military to me, must examine closer next time), but no other ships coming or going. We’ve not had many recently, not for some time now due to the bad weather. You can tell by looking at the empty vegetable racks in the shops.
Monday is a busy day though, down there, with folk doing their admin things like banks, post office, catching up on shopping; a bit like I was doing. Heading back up the Kali Strata I decided to go in a different direction and went up almost vertically past Villa Papanikola, the recently done up accommodation that overlooks Yialos. Then it was back to the house to find Neil ill with the tummy big that’s been going around the village/island, and, after lunch and some pottering about, a tap class that was mind-meltingly hard work but good fun.
And then Tuesday morning and… Another night disturbed by the sound of rain on the shutter-less window and wondering if there was going to be thunder, and did I need to get up and unplug things? I heard the clock strike five, drifted off a bit and then my alarm started signing ‘Good morning, good morning!’ to me at 6.30 as it does. I dragged myself out of bed, was not impressed to see it had stopped raining, so fed the cat, put on my trainers and headed off up the steps and to the quarry for a bracing, early morning job/walk. (I could call that a ‘jalk’ as I mix jogging with walking, but that sounds like too silly a word to use, and the alternative is not PC at all. After all, I can’t call my early morning exercise a ‘wog.’)
Managing to dodge the rain, until the last few steps, I was back and at my desk by 7.30 ready for a morning of, yes you guessed it, more rain. Ah well, at least we’ve had some time away from it, off and on, recently so the towels are dry.
