Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby D and E » 12 Oct 2018, 07:33

silverfox wrote:So many thanks for sharing your precious time on Symi and as usual a superb blog and I think everyone is amazed how much food you two can get through.

I'm sure you must attract many visitors to the island with your great ramblings and pictures.

I hope you have a great winter and hope one day our paths cross and we can share a drink or two!

Take care!


It’s been a pleasure Silverfox.
At least when we are blogging we are not eating :D
We can picture that drink or two in Yiannis Rainbow - let’s hope our dates allow it sometime.
About to post the final blog.
Many thanks.
D&E
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby D and E » 12 Oct 2018, 07:35

Thursday - Reflections

After breakfast under a cloudy British sky we set off on the three leg train journey home with the first two legs spot on time. Over a Costa Coffee in Birmingham we started seeing and hearing cancellation after cancellation of trains to Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury due to the tragedy of someone being hit by a train and then our Arriva Trains Wales 14:25 service which uses that line was also cancelled. Network Rail declared that the closure of the line would be until at least 17:00.

Thinking that the “at least” could turn into something much longer; that the backlog of passengers by that time would be considerable; and adding in the fact that we had two rather large cases & cabin bags some quick thinking was needed.

Using the power of the iPhone, other brands are available :-) , a one way hire car would be £140. A taxi would be £150. The National Express Bus at 16:00 arriving Aberystwyth 20:00 would be £42 for us both - bargain. So it was booked online and we were issued there and then with an eTicket. A short taxi ride took us to a very modern and stylish coach station. This would be the first time we have ever travelled with National Express.

Our bags were taken and stowed by the driver. There were charging points at the seats, a WiFi system with access through an easily installed App to a number of TV channels, comfortable leather reclining seats, aircon, a large TV screen that allowed us to share the drivers view of the road ahead and an onboard toilet. The only thing missing was at seat catering. We were very impressed.

Reviewing activity on the National Rail App and with a rail passenger through Twitter the failings of a rail system spread across so many operators was plain to see with nothing in the way of contingency planning. It is the risk we take when letting the train take the strain.

However the slightly longer final leg of our journey home afforded us plenty of time to reflect on our three weeks in Greece.

Travelling from Luton was functional rather then pleasurable.

Three weeks was perfect allowing us a far more leisurely journey to and from our beloved Symi.

A day or night in Rodos can be very pleasurable especially if it removes the pressures of late night or very early ferry crossings.

Pedi was heavenly. So much so that it will be where we look first in future when visiting independently.

Nos was its usual perfection and we would not wish to miss out on the alternative perspective that gives on a visit so for us a two week Pedi and one week “down” might be something we try in future.

When visiting “up” it did remind us how much we missed “Village Life” and that has to remain in our minds.

The food was stunning as usual. And yes we overindulged as usual. The trepidation on D’s face when returning to his long trousers in the Plaza Hotel just before we headed to the airport was plain to see. We need to have a lean winter.

The people were amazing. The friendliness and generosity is indescribable.

As ever the Poseidon day out leaves us with unforgettable memories as does our visits to Tolis and the family dinner we attended.

It was good to see that perhaps the economy of Symi has settled down a bit after a spate of closures of well known businesses over the last year or so. The island was certainly busier than we have ever seen it at this time of year and this was borne out by conversations with many of our Symiot friends. The Cafe Bars must certainly have benefitted from this longer season of day visitors and hopefully this has been seen by the wider business community.

And finally of course we want to thank all those people who have a shared love of little Symi - that tiny rock that punches way above its weight - and who take the trouble to read and share in our daily ramblings. We know how much we enjoy reading about other Symi lovers visits so it is always a pleasure to try and provide our efforts.

And now it’s time to start thinking about 2019 which alas has complications of pressures to visit other parts of the planet but a year without a Symi fix is unthinkable.

Have a good winter.

Yassas.
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby Lisa B » 12 Oct 2018, 09:44

It feels like summer is finally over! Thank to all of you who made the build up to Symi and then the actual visit such a wonderful experience. You've all certainly added a little something, whether it be just a smile, a walk or a restaurant tip.
We swore we wouldn't be returning so quickly as so much of the world to see and the 'Symi magic' wouldn't get us......So as we booked our flights and hotel for Summer 2019 a big fat thank you to you all. Yammas anytime :D :D
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby Gemma1 » 13 Oct 2018, 08:27

Your last post brought a tear to my eye, what a great reflection on a wonderful Symi trip :D As well as being very good at eating ;) you write a brilliant blog - blogging round the Greek islands could be a new career :)
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby Gemma1 » 13 Oct 2018, 08:37

Lisa B wrote:It feels like summer is finally over! Thank to all of you who made the build up to Symi and then the actual visit such a wonderful experience. You've all certainly added a little something, whether it be just a smile, a walk or a restaurant tip.
We swore we wouldn't be returning so quickly as so much of the world to see and the 'Symi magic' wouldn't get us......So as we booked our flights and hotel for Summer 2019 a big fat thank you to you all. Yammas anytime :D :D


Symi is very addictive Lisa, I know a lot of people that visit twice a year. It remains my most visited Greek island out of the 43 I've stayed on so far - with still more islands to discover, plus all the different areas on Crete which is my second most visited Greek island :)

Yamas :D
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby silverfox » 13 Oct 2018, 12:21

"that tiny rock that punches way above its weight"

What a great line!

Gemma - we stayed in Paleochora on Crete for a few nights a number of years ago, it's a lovely place.

A great base for the Samaria Gorge hike! ;)

Hope all you good people have a good winter and nice dreams of Symi or any other lovely Greek destination.
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby D and E » 13 Oct 2018, 14:04

Gemma1 wrote:Your last post brought a tear to my eye, what a great reflection on a wonderful Symi trip :D As well as being very good at eating ;) you write a brilliant blog - blogging round the Greek islands could be a new career :)


Such kind words.
So many thanks.
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby Gemma1 » 14 Oct 2018, 09:34

silverfox wrote:"that tiny rock that punches way above its weight"

What a great line!

Gemma - we stayed in Paleochora on Crete for a few nights a number of years ago, it's a lovely place.

A great base for the Samaria Gorge hike! ;)

Hope all you good people have a good winter and nice dreams of Symi or any other lovely Greek destination.


Ha ha, I enjoy walking but know my limitations and the Samaria is a bit beyond my idea of an enjoyable walk ;) I might walk as far as the iron gates but that will be it. I do regret not walking the Imbros Gorge when I stayed in Hora Sfakia 2 years ago and might manage that one on a future trip :)
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby JuliaB » 14 Oct 2018, 22:43

Lovely to have seen you again, D&E. Hope you have had a safe journey home. We're thinking about 2019 and that it's a while since we had a May/June visit. Our paths may cross again! J&M. xx
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby D and E » 15 Oct 2018, 10:17

JuliaB wrote:Lovely to have seen you again, D&E. Hope you have had a safe journey home. We're thinking about 2019 and that it's a while since we had a May/June visit. Our paths may cross again! J&M. xx


One of the lovely thing about Symi is the lovely people you meet time and again and so we also hope that our plans may coincide with yours. We haven’t started planning as yet but we have a friend who came with us a few times many years ago and who would like to return with us in 2019 so we can’t leave it too long before we start.
Take care.
D&E
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Re: Ready Steady Pedi (& Nos)

Postby D and E » 15 Oct 2018, 14:00

Some Aprés-Symi tasks undertaken today before the return to work for D tomorrow.
Submitted claim for delayed train journey home in hope rather than anything else.
Ordered our Symi Dream 2019 Calendar by using the link on the excellent Symi Dream Blog website - always do that when we return in Sept / Oct.
And added the latest purchase to D’s Symi Village - the three small houses together on the right being his latest “build”. If he ever finds a ceramic that is close to replicating Yannis Rainbow Bar or Elpida’s he will be unstoppable. He Is already talking about adding to his flotilla of Symi ships that are on the wall opposite - bless :)

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D’s Very Own Symi
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