Rhodes trip 1
Hello. Although I’ve no great photos from my trip to Rhodes there are some pics I took on the way in and way out on the boat. The Panagia Skiadeni was packed on Sunday night; I guess a lot of Rhodes folk came over for a Sunday on Symi. The Blue Star Patmos on Wednesday was also fairly busy with Symi folk, but it’s such a huge boat that five of us more or less had the upper deck to ourselves. It was great weather, and still is, though cloud is forming as I speak (on Thursday). Today (Friday) is Oxi Day and there’s a parade in Yialos later this morning. This will be Harry’s first parade in school uniform and he’s very excited about it.
I have to say, we had a very good week last week, a week full of good news and interesting things. For a start, Neil found out that his exam is to be on the day before he is due to be at his niece’s wedding. The story is: he’s doing a home course, an IGCSE in ‘Global Citizenship’ and at the end of the modules is a written exam that he has to sit at an examination centre in the UK. He found a place and asked them if they could help him, they replied the next day saying they could and telling him what was needed. The set date for the exam is the day before the wedding that he was due to be at anyway, and 20 minutes down the road. So that was a result.
On top of that, he’s also had news recently (as I expect many of you know already) that as his mother was born on the island of Ireland he is an Irish citizen and can apply for a passport. There are a few certificates to get, many of which we already had, and he has to prove his address – always a nightmare on Symi where the streets have no name, well, only some do. The very helpful folk at the Irish Embassy in Athens suggested an affidavit, or similar, and we contacted, via the Vice Consul in Rhodes, an Irish/Greek solicitor who set everything up. When we were in Rhodes we met up and called in, with her, to the notary – literally right next door to our hotel – who set up the declaration and witnessed his signature; all done and dusted in ten minutes and for only €50.00 – the solicitor will translate it for us as the embassy wants it in English as well.
And while we were there we called in to see the very helpful people at the British Vice Consul, mainly to say hello and have a general chat but also to get advice on civil partnerships in Greece. The Vice Consul wanted us to let our blog readers know that they are there for us British citizens and they are arranging more meetings with local communities on Rhodes and other islands in due course. This is to inform people of what their role is and what they can and can’t do for us. Meanwhile, if you have a question, simply email them. There are things they are there for and others that they can’t deal with, but if in doubt, ask. They are lovely ladies and very helpful. The Vice Consul is opposite the Germanos and Public shops in Rhodes new town, around the corner from the Lydia and Plaza hotels, so it’s easy to find. Website here.
There are a few other nice little stories from Rhodes to tell you, but I’ll save them for tomorrow. Sorry about the rather dull images but I was taking a holiday and kept forgetting to take my camera out. Hopefully I’ll get some walking and photographing done over the weekend and have something more Symi based on Monday.
