Saturday night Sunday morning

It was good to see the village square cafes full on Saturday night. People were sharing tables, getting to know each other, meeting strangers and chatting. Both bars were busy, both tavernas were also doing well, and there was music at Georgio’s. Down in Yialos, where we had been in the morning to gets some bits and pieces, we had to wade through several groups of day-trippers and their guides. There were three or four day boats in, and the place was buzzing. It quietens down when everyone goes to lunch, but hopefully, the businesses had a good day and will have another good day today, Sunday.

I have a day at home planned, writing, as usual, making sure I do my 3,000 words per day. There are domestic duties to see to, the washing, some tidying up and sweeping. It’s good to have so many windows to open, especially when it is as hot as it has been lately, but it does leave the house open to dust and bits from trees which blow in on any breeze that might be around, not that there has been much of one for a while now.

The sea is calm today, there is a mist in the air, so I imagine it is going to be another humid day. The soldiers have just marched along the harbour and raised the flag, singing the national anthem, as they do every Sunday morning. They do the same again in the evening when they take it down. A few boats are heading out for the day already (it’s only just gone eight in the morning), and others are moored up along the harbour quayside. No doubt they will be off and sailing to a quiet bay later in the morning as well. The Diagoras is back and in the water. I saw her in Rhodes at the boat yard when I was returning from Cyprus a couple of weeks ago. I am not sure what trip it is doing. The Poseidon is going out every day, and the taxi boats looked busy on Saturday.

Everything is in summer mode and looking good. Just checking the weather forecast, I am told that… well, I am told that it’s going to be either 21 or 36, depending on which site you look at, so they’re not much good. It’s probably 21 at night, at least, and on one I’m told it’s going to be 26 today with a ‘real feel’ (whatever that is) of 29 degrees. I just looked at the thermometer in our courtyard, in the shade, and it reads 34 degrees. So I think we’ll let the weather forecasts think what they like to think. It doesn’t take a genius to look out of the window and see what your day’s weather is going to be. One of the reasons they are inaccurate around here is because there is no weather station on the island, that I know of. I suspect they take their readings from Rhodes airport, which is by the sea. I use the website Windfinder and take its readings from Datca, which is closer to us than Rhodes.

But that’s enough about the weather, lets’ get on with Sunday, I have words to write and edit and that washing won’t get done on its own.

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Saddling news and Symi photos

Kalo mina! We had a few photos from Cyprus yesterday and, as it’s a Saturday, here are some random ones from Symi. In a moment.

Before you browse through them, I must share news of my latest book, ‘The Saddling.’ It has gained another five-star review, so I am thrilled. Only six more to make 20. Have you read it yet? A quick review on Amazon will help with sales. Here’s what the latest reviewer has written:

“I was gripped by this compelling tale from the first page. It is a warren of clues and lore that builds to a thrilling climax only in the last few pages. The world of Saddling, with its dialect and characters, is beautifully crafted. I recommend it.”

Thank you! 😊

Meanwhile, I am now seven chapters into the follow-up, ‘The Witchling.’ Having invented my world of Saddling village with its own Lore and Teaching, its own dialect and characters, this one is falling onto the page easily. Mind you, I am only at chapter seven, and there’s a long way to go. There will then be the editing and further drafts, the checking and rewriting. But to get it out and down is actually a joy and I look forward to my 3,000 words per day. Luckily this week I have been able to achieve that target.

Anyway, here are some Symi Saturday photos for you. Have a good weekend, it looks like we are in for a hot one.

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Hot doorknobs

[Hacked notice. A couple of people have reported to me that when going to the Symi Dream, site, or when searching for it, they have seen a page/notice that says ‘This site might have been hacked.’ I checked with our hosting company who ran scans and did their own checking and their reply was “The generic malware scan did not turn up any suspicious files. Based on that and Firefox and Chrome loading the site without error, I would say the issue was with the users that reported it. A google search did not turn up any warnings either.” If you get a similar ‘possibly hacked’ massage, it may be that you have some bug on your browser. All seems fine here. Thanks for letting me know though.]

It’s 11.30 in the morning and in our courtyard, at the coolest point, it is 38 degrees. It was 28 at 5.30 this morning when we went out for a walk. Remember to cover up, use sun lotion, drink masses of water and wear a hat. Says he who spends all day trying to avoid the sun, never wears a hat unless going for a walk in the sun, but does drink at least three litres of water every day, even in the winter.

I called into a friend’s house yesterday to run a little errand for her. Her metal gate and saloni door face west and had been in the sun for quite a while. The gate was not a problem as I opened that with a key, but while opening the saloni door, I put my hand on the brass doorknob and… Next time I will take an oven glove. That’s all I’m saying.

Having been writing all morning, and feeling a little brain dead from the heat and work, I thought I’d just share some photos today, A few more from Cyprus, Paphos to be exact. It was about 40 degrees when I was there wandering around ancient ruins and looking a bit like one myself. There was time to sit and watch the seaside world go by though.

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Village hangouts

I’ve not looked for photos for this post yet and may not have any that are appropriate, but I just wanted to say… It’s been very busy at the Rainbow Bar (and Lefteris’ next door) these past few weeks, in the afternoons. It’s a great place to hang out and catch up with friends and the afternoon slot, between three and five (and onwards) is very popular with visitors. Maybe it’s because Neil works there at that time, but I also think it’s because Yiannis is an entertaining character and his prices are as low as they can be.

One of the great charms of Symi, for me, is sitting and watching the world go by. You can do that at these two bars, as you can at most others. You see some sights. These include day-trippers wandering around trying to find ‘the church.’ They can see it from the harbour as they come in and come up to take a look at it. They usually mean the church at Lemonitisa, with the red dome, the one that overlooks the harbour below. It’s fairly easy to find once you ask someone. They are also looking for the museum, but that shuts in the early afternoon. You can often see great disappointment on faces when they’ve climbed up to 400 steps to the village only to discover that the museum is another couple of hundred up, but it’s closed. It’s open from eight in the morning until two (or it may be three, I’ll look next time I pass) every day apart from Monday.

You see some other sights too. People in swimwear usually get some twisted expressions behind their backs as they pass. Budgie smugglers are not the thing to wear when wandering around a village anywhere in the world. You wouldn’t do it at home so why do it here guys? And as for ladies whose skin is looser than their bikinis, well, let’s not go there. Occasionally you will see people pushing their bicycles either up or down the steps; always seems like an odd one to me, but I have seen people ride them down, and have also seen mopeds going up and down the steps. Mechanical diggers occasionally pass by. You also get to know the local cats who come to say hello and see if there is any food available.

With the news fans at both bars, and with the street being a natural wind tunnel towards and from the sea, it’s often a cooling place to sit too. Unless it’s a cold day in which case it can have the opposite effect; in this case, you can sit inside. There’s shade, enough tables for around 30 people per bar and more can be brought out, and there’s always a good atmosphere. Recently it’s been busy because there have been a lot of British visitors, some of whom left yesterday, but no doubt there will be more during June, to be taken over by the Italian and Greek visitors of July and August, before returning in September.

When you are visiting, make sure to come up to the village and find these two bars. They are open from nine (Lefteris is often there by 5.30 in the morning), and they close whenever the last person leaves at night. Everyone’s welcome to sit and watch the budgie smugglers and saggy-skinned sirens go by. Or just read a good book. 😉

(As you can see, only one relevant image, and it’s not even mine, so some random ones instead.)

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Symi sunrises are back

Well, they’ve always been here, I am glad to say, but yesterday I was up early enough to catch one. I was so early I nearly missed it and had made my way up the road and towards Periotisa just as the sun appeared over the Turkish mountains. As you can see, we were expecting another hot day.

The trouble with creeping around the lanes at that time of the day is that you never know who you are going to catch doing what. Example:

A little later I passed two humans who, judging by the looks on their faces and the fact that the boy couldn’t look at me when I said a cheery good morning, had either recently finished that kind of ‘cat’ action, or were just about to embark on it. I think a particular bar had not long closed, and I will say no more. So, here is another image from yesterday’s sunrise walk.

I hadn’t been up that road for a while and was impressed to see what’s happened at the cantina. I’m not sure if it’s the one from right up top at the viewpoint or a different one, but it’s certainly set itself up for many visitors. There’s a great view down over the valley and plenty of places to sit and see it. I expect there is shade provided if it is open during the day. I didn’t see any opening times, so it may only be an evening venue. All the same, a gentle walk up the main road out of Horio will soon have you reaching it, so take a look, take a rest and enjoy the view.

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