I’ve added a service to the blog. It’s got nothing to do with me other than I’ve used it to find ferry tickets in the past, and if you book a ferry through it, I get two drachmae or something, which may help towards the cost of running the blog. There’s a box over there on the right >> and if you click on that, it’ll open the search site in a new window. Here it is if you want to give it a go and see what ferries are available right now, or when you’re intending to visit Symi. I’ve added this because hosting a blog isn’t free. It doesn’t cost me that much, but it costs something, roughl ..read more

Yesterday was a day of boats. Mind you, from now until October will hopefully see a day of boats every day, but yesterday, I noticed and counted for the first time this season. Soon, I intend to put a widget up on the blog, over there >> in the right-hand column. It will be a link to FerryScanner.com, a place where you can book ferries in Greece; Athens to Symi, Rhodes to Symi, Kos to Symi, anywhere to anywhere… That kind of thing. I just need to sort out a bit of code and I’ll set it up. But that’s not the reason I’m mentioning the boats… I can’t remember when the day boats started com ..read more

I had a pleasant day out on Friday when I popped over to Rhodes for some bits and pieces and teamed up with Jenine for most of the day. I set off into a calm and slightly humid morning and arrived at the top of the Kali Strata just as the ferry came around the headland. Years ago, that would have had me running, but these days, I know how long it takes to reach us from there, how long it takes me to get down, and anyway, if it says 7.45 on the ticket, it won’t leave before then (it’s not allowed to), even if it arrives early. So, I wandered down past the school, along towards Haritomeni Taver ..read more

As promised yesterday, while I am journeying across the sea to the great metropolis of Rhodes to buy a pair of shorts or whatever, here are some recent random Symi photos to see you through the weekend. The post The End of the Week That Was appeared first on Symi Dream ..read more

I’ll have to load up two blog posts today as I’ll be off to Rhodes tomorrow for a day trip, and won’t remember to post anything before I leave. The day boats have been coming the other way too, and they’ve been full, or so I am told by those who go to Yialos in the morning – which I do when I need to. So, that’s good news for the businesses which have already opened. Many of them have, and most in the village have been open all winter anyway. The Kali Strat Restaurant with its outside seating hasn’t been, but is now again open for lunch and dinner should you be heading this way and up. The las ..read more

Something odd has been going on with the Symi Dream Facebook page. Recently, I’ve not been able to share the blog to the page by using the ‘share’ button at the bottom of each post. That’s the easiest way for me to do things but FB won’t have it. I’m not bothered. I can’t write posts via the feed (still not bothered) but instead, have to log in, switch to the SD page/wall itself, copy and paste the link and do it that way, which takes a little extra time. Bothered? Not me. Any messages to FB about the page’s wall go unanswered by FB who are clearly not bothered either, and now the wall is fill ..read more

I’m slightly out of sorts today and have been since yesterday morning. There I was, quite happily wandering the kitchen while Neil was making a cup of tea, when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed this in the sink: (Apologies for the state of the washing up, we were trying to soak the last of the welded-on cheesecake base from the tin.) Unfunnily enough, only the day before we had been watching The Amazing Race (Australia), a reality game show where the contestants travel around facing challenges and being eliminated one by one, not fatally, only in terms of the game. While the teams were ..read more

I now have four ‘reels’ up on the Symi Dream Facebook page, if you use the platform and want a few 30-second snatches of Symi views. The latest one was taken on Saturday from the top of the village. It was a glorious day, as you will see. The only problem is trying not to capture the sound of my breathing. I’m more than capable of walking up through the village to the very top, then out onto the road and on and up without stopping or getting out of breath, but when I do pause to shoot a short video or take a picture, I am breathing hard, and it’s not that easy to hold your breath for 30 second ..read more

For me, it’s the end of a varied and pleasant week, not that I really ‘do’ weekends anymore. We’ve had visitors coming to the island, the boats are starting to appear more frequently, and many businesses in the harbour are up and running already. The weather has been warm, though the air was a little more chilly yesterday, the sea has been calm, and the flowers have been blooming. There are now poppies in the meadow in front of the house. I say ‘meadow’, it’s actually a piece of wasteland that looks after itself. It’s currently covered in long grass and various wildflowers, all of which will b ..read more

I’ve noticed there’s been an interest in the greenery of late. Many visitors arrive here in the summer or later in the year when the island has been sitting under the sun for several months. By then, the green has given way to the heat of summer, and everything looks a bit barren. Unless you come in the spring, that’s how you remember the island, so today, in response to a few enquiries via our Facebook page, I thought I’d throw up some pictures taken over the last couple of weeks, both by myself and by Neil. Not everywhere on the island is as green and fertile as this, but spring plants are u ..read more