Quick news update from my Symi desk
Although it has been quieter than a normal July so far this year, when we called into Yialos on Tuesday I was pleased to see how busy it was. The large cruise ship from Cyprus was in as were the three day boats and many of the bars, cafes and tavernas were doing good business. Let’s hope we see more of this. The Blue Star came and went on Wednesday on a calm and slightly misty sea…
The Blue Star Paros off in the haze
One of the things I picked up on Tuesday was my health insurance renewal. Now I am no longer in the Greek Ika system I choose to have private heath insurance as having none is not worth the risk. I’m pleased to say that after my checks and things earlier in the year the premium has not gone up by very much at all, I only wish that I’d done what I intended to do and saved a little each month as now I am scrambling around to find it – but I will, as they give you three weeks or a month to sort it out before you’re not covered. I’m nearly there.
The Blue Star Paros emerges from behind Nimos
We also picked up the phone bill which now, thanks to Cosmote and their office in Rhodes, is the cheapest it’s ever been, around €25.00 per month for 12 Mb broadband and phone line with, it appears, free calls included. Mind you, we hardly ever use the phone and these days I am more inclined to leave my mobile at home when I go out as well.
Several boats in
The weather has been hot, to say the least, and a little bit muggy, but great weather for beaches and boats, not that I see much of either, and the evening in the square have occasionally enjoyed a slight breeze. BTW, the Symi Shrimp Festival is on this Sunday in Horio Square, usually starts around 9pm.
Waiting for the ferry
And on the book front, I should have news for you on ‘Remotely’ very soon; we are just checking the print quality of the cover and waiting for one book to arrive before letting you know all about it. It is on Amazon now, if you want to take the risk (I submitted the cover but had no reply form Amazon about its quality which should mean it is fine and it looked fine on their on-line checking system where you can see if it all fits correctly – and it did). If you do, then simply do a search for ‘Remotely’ James Collins and you should see it. Once we’ve been through the print version we will work on the Kindle version and that could take a few more weeks to come through as there are formatting things that need to be done.
The Cyprus cruise ship (Tuesday)
Remember, if you’ve read any of my books and liked them, the more reviews that go up on Amazon the better – for me! So don’t be shy, put up a few words and click the stars, giving your honest feedback and help others find books they might like to read. The best seller so far this month is ‘Lonely House’ which is a change from ‘Symi 85600’ as that’s usually my best seller, bless it. Anyway, that’s my news. Have fun and enjoy the pics, some of which were taken from up here to show a nicely busy harbour.
