Today’s photos are Tuesday Symi morning skies.
“Rhodes, Myconos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos and Skiathos comprise the first batch of Aegean islands that as of Thursday, October 1 will see the waiving of the 30 percent value-added tax discount and, consequently, a series of hikes in the prices of goods and services.” So reports ekathimerini.com
Apparently Symi will lose its tax discount next June. Basically this means that folk selling things in their shops etc. will have to increase the prices to take into account the amount of VAT that gets sent on to the government. They/we have had lower VAT rates in the past so as to help counteract the extra costs of having things, sometimes everything, shipped in. But under the new laws, that’s gunna go and things will cost more than they already do, and Symi is, I hate to say it, already one of the more expensive islands to live on.
It’s also one of the more expensive ones to leave as a friend found out a few years ago. She bought a ticket from Athens (I think it was) to Symi for one price, but when leaving a week or so later that price was more expensive. When she asked the ticket seller why, he explained, in all seriousness, that because Symi is such a beautiful island one has to pay more to leave it behind. Made no sense to her and makes little sense to me now. Sounds like folk trying something on if you ask me.
The other thing I picked up on the wire yesterday was that the refugee charity in Kos has had such a great response to its call for aid that it now has a full warehouse and can’t take any more donations. As far as I know we here on Symi can still cram some more stuff in. We have a mousandra storage area at home that we can use for a little bit more, and I am sure others have. We were there sorting things out on Saturday and there was lots of donated clothes and supplies, but who knows who will be crossing the sea soon, or when we will see 500 refugees per day as we have done? If that changes and we too become stocked up, I’ll let you know. I guess that if we do, the excess will be sent on to other islands who need it.
I also heard that if you tell the UK post office that you’re posting a charity donation they will give you a discount, even without a charity number. My mum sent some stuff and got £9.00 off the cost of the parcel. Worth asking if you are posting.
And, as for me and what I did at school yesterday… No I didn’t go to school, but you know, ‘what I did on my holiday…’ Well, I’m not on holiday, I was working but I did get out at 6.30 in the morning for a steep uphill walk. The first in two weeks and it was remarkably easy. I thought I wouldn’t run as I’d not put any WD40 on my knees yet, but in fact I felt I could quite easily have run back. Maybe the next time I go out I will go past Pat the dog and up to the monastery and see how I get on. I think I could even leave a little earlier as the sun was up but behind the mountain and 6.30 was light enough.
That’s for another day, this is your lot from Sunny Symi today. Don’t worry about the VAT rises, just go head and start planning your Symi trip for next year if you haven’t already. Early indications are that things are going to be busy next year and so you might want to book your favourite accommodation before it gets snaffled by someone else.
