Welcome To August
Kalo Mina! Happy month, and welcome to August on Symi. We managed an early morning walk on Monday, up along the main road out of the village to the old cantina on the hill. It was one mile, uphill all the way, and 2,000 steps, for those who use a Fitbit. We came back through the village, making 4,000 steps in total. That’s walking steps, not steps you actually walk up or down. In fact, from the village square to the cantina, there are no steps if you go via the road.
Last week, I managed a walk to Pedi, one to Yialos and back up the road and then another walk to and from Pedi later in the week. It’s a bit like bolting the stable door after the horse has given up all hope, but at least it’s something and, I am pleased to say, I managed them all without being out of breath. It’s a lot cooler at that time of day, setting off at six in the morning, but the sun is now rising over the Turkish hills at about 6.15, so to avoid even the slightest glare, we should really set off at 5.30.
The Symi Shrimp Festival was held on Sunday evening, with free shrimps, wine and bread, plus music and dancing. I have to put my hands up and say I wasn’t there. I was in bed before it started, but judging from the aftermath in the square on Monday morning, it was well attended and well enjoyed. The square had been half cleared during the night, with only a few things left to do, and they would have been done on Monday morning. I didn’t hear a thing, what with ear plugs in and the fan on. Usually, we sit on the balcony and can hear the music, we can even listen to the music from Georgio’s from there when they play live on the weekends. It makes for an atmospheric underscore to an evening watching the boats in the harbour and the stars above. When the fish taverna in Yialos starts its parties, we hear that as well, complete with the very regular ‘Happy Birthday’ from Stevie Wonder, which does get a bit repetitive. But it’s good to hear people having fun, and the sound is not intrusive for us. Once I’m in the bedroom, I can’t hear a thing. We’re fortunate in that respect.
I’m also pleased to report that ‘Honestly‘ has been doing very well – the novella that’s now available on Amazon Kindle. I wonder who will be the first to review it? I am also pleased that ‘Symi 85600’ has also done well this last month. I’ve been working away on ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ which will be the fourth book about life on Symi – plus, I should point out, a lot of other travel tales and bits and pieces. So, if you’ve not started on the journey yet, you might like to get the other three in before number four comes out, hopefully in November. Symi 85600, Carry On up the Kali Strata and then Village View is the chronological order to read them in, and you can find them all on my author page.
And finally, Neil is preparing next year’s Symi calendar. It will soon be available on Lulu.com. We won’t have any copies here, it’s an online purchase only, so don’t go looking for it on Symi. But I’ll let you know when It’s ready.
