Various Thoughts
Just to clear up a few things on last week’s minutes, as it were: Saturday’s post was written in a hurry and not checked, so ignore those typos, and, re the Plaza Hotel, yes you’re welcome to use it to drop luggage if you ask (mention your Symi connection), but you really ought to have a drink and use the facilities in return. And now to drop in something completely non-Symi related, mainly to complete a discussion I was having with Basschick: “Louis VIII the Lion (French: Louis VIII le Lion; 5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226) was King of France from 1223 to 1226. He also claimed the title King of England from 1216 to 1217. Louis VIII was born in Paris, the son of King Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut, from whom he inherited the County of Artois.”
Claimed, not crowned, so not really, and probably nothing to do with the next royal baby, and there we are. Back to normal service…
Just looking from the balcony yesterday morning and I was able to see several private yachts coming and going, catamarans and those white ‘Sunsail’ ones. Neil, having been to Yialos and back, reported that the cafés were fairly busy with morning coffee drinkers, and there had been only the Spanos boat in so far that day. I also noticed a large group of people coming off it on Sunday and Saturday, but then there was a wedding or baptism or something taking place over the weekend, at least one. Georgio’s was busy on Saturday night when we were treated to a meal out at the Trawler – who gave us a wonderful meal at an excellent price, plus an extra jug of wine.
It made me think, there are two ways of eating here in Greece (probably many more, but for the purpose of this…) The three of us, on Saturday, opted for a meze meal, six small dishes between us. That’s a fair way of doing it, as we chose two each and shared, thus giving us all the chance to try a bit of everything. You can also go for the more British format which is to have a starter and then a main and maybe be a little Italian afterwards and go for a dessert elsewhere, though many restaurants also serve desserts; depends where you are. After having a starter, I find it hard to cram in a main course, so it’s one or the other for me, especially if going for a pork chop from a grill. Have you seen the size of the ‘dino-burgers’ we have here on Symi, and elsewhere in Greece? I swear they come from some pretty huge pigs. One of those and I’m fed for the next 24 hours, and how some folk manage starters and such a main is enviable.
At the moment, the bus is running until nine pm, which means we walked up on Saturday night as the taxis also tend to stop early in the evening at this time of year. It’s only May 1st today (kalo mina!) although it feels like it should be later in the season already because Easter feels like it was months ago, and the weather has been rather June for April. That could change in May because April to early June can be variable, but if it has indeed settled into its summer pattern, we’re in for a long hot summer and, I hope, lots more dining out, but not on this chap.
