Quirky Symi
Here are a few quirky Symi photos and an update from the weekend just gone. I guess I was in a silly mood, but the only way to carry your free-range eggs, straight from the farm to the shop to home is, of course, in a recycled container in a pink bucket. No home should be without one. I was also interested to see γαρύφαλλο (garifallo) on sale as both Clove, which is it, and Glove, a name which somehow doesn’t seem to fit.
That was Saturday’s shopping trip, down to Sotiris for the usual comedy and mayhem and the running gags. ‘Where’s Neil?’ is a common question asked when he’s standing right beside me, and ‘For the cat?’ is another one when buying wine – even though we haven’t had a cat for a long time now, and the person asking the question was the one who kindly put the cat to sleep for us when he was unsavable. There are other on-going jokes to be had at our nearest store, the caged birds above the deli counter are named after a couple of ladies who own a nearby café and chat a lot, and as for the others… Well, they’re often too dirty to repeat here and don’t get me started on what happens when you buy a cucumber.
What makes a shopping trip even more of an event around here is having the wife of the shop owner slip a bottle of wine into your bag as a present from the family. It goes very nicely with the bag of biscuits left anonymously on the gate the other day and the general bonhomie which I’ve never found in any other local supermarket no matter where I’ve lived.
On Sunday, the 15/16-year-old year from the high school held a fund-raiser for their annual trip. Similar to the one we attended at Georgios recently, this was a live band and a drink for a €10.00 donation, and then you ordered your dinner. We had a dinner at home already booked in so couldn’t go but saw godson #2 who is in that year, heading in to play his part (and a great time he and his mates were having when Neil passed by later). We made our donation through him, so I assume it got to the right collection bucket, pink or otherwise. Meanwhile, carnival was being held at the sports hall, there was a parade and loads of costumes. Neil played his part with his semi-steampunk outfit. I say ‘semi’ because he’s still waiting for the top hat, and he’s working on appropriate trousers and shoes. A nice tailcoat will, maybe, one day replace my old flying jacket.
Oh, and finally, the road is now fully open and passable. It’s odd isn’t it, how when you take something apart and put it back together you always seem to have pieces left over…
It’s all gone now and the path is finished.
