It's Friday and we are back in Mid Wales, it is overcast and was 8C when D popped up to the local farm for fresh eggs this morning.
This string left readers on Symi on Tuesday morning, our last full day on Symi. We decided to start the day the frappe way as usual and as that took us to between buses we were decadent (lazy) and took a taxi to Pedi (€5) getting off at the petrol station so we could walk past the boat builders. We always love to see the boats still being built by hand. We then had a Mythos at Katsaras, read our books on sun beds (correction - €3 each; it was the Fix that was expensive in an earlier post), swam, had a cheese pie lunch from the kiosk and took the 15:30 bus back over to Gialos. We were called into the Corner Cafe for a farewell drink with the family and then waved our farewells to Takis and Vasilis in the Stella Bar who were both busy. Back to Margarita's to pack, shower and head out for our final aperitifs at Elpida's. The first ouzo and retsina came with olives, cheese and tomato with a balsamic drizzle; the next with what we think was Burek (feta, egg and filo pie); and the third with octopus and pasta. D is going to see if his local real ale pub - the Ship & Castle in Aberystwyth can match that
E went next door to Anna's to buy some final bits and pieces as we had made room in our luggage by donating a fair amount of what we took over to the refugee cause. We often find some great Christmas gifts and of course added to D's growing collection of ceramic tealight houses - our fireplace is starting to look like a small part of Symi. As we left Elpida's her son, who runs the place in the evening, came running after us with a small plastic bag - "for winter" in which he had put some honey and a variety of nougat. It was a lovely farewell gift.
The toss of a euro put Tholos ahead of Odyssia for our final dinner - we really could hardly split them. Since the day before, Manolis, Catholica and Angeliki had made sure that we would remember to say a proper farewell so as we walked by Manolis "invited" us in, sat down and we had a last ouzo with them. Our neighbours from Margarita's, T&J, were there so we all had a chat before we finally reached Tholos. Without even saying what we would have the grilled prawns were written down as they had become our recognised starter of choice. E had the grilled aubergine with mince and cheese and D had the soutzoukakia with pasta. All repeat dishes that we had been so looking forward to and were not disappointed. A complimentary sweet of chocolate ice cream on a semolina and sesame cake saw us being the last people in the restaurant. The retsina once again turned out to be on the house and with tip the bill came to €45. This is truly amazing value for amazing food and even though we normally stay "up" in May we can never see a future visit to Symi that does not include Tholos.
D has a lot of Trip Advisor to catch up on !!!
Next morning Margarita insisted on taking us round to the clock tower to catch the Blue Star which was only slightly late. There was a great deal of activity with many visitors leaving but also many Symiots heading over to Rhodes. This is a much more civilised time to leave the island and what a nice boat. We have often thought about flying to Athens, seeing Athens and then getting the Blue Star to Symi and this is now going to be turned into a firm plan for 2016. We got into Akantia Harbour and there were plenty of taxis just beyond the gate and E grabbed one. We shared the taxi with our neighbours from the apartment who had also taken a room for the day at the Best Western Plaza. We agreed to share another taxi to the airport at 18:30 so agree to rendezvous in the hotel bar at 18:15.
We headed to the Old Town for a beer in Socratous Garden which is a green oasis right in the middle of the busy shopping area which we always try and visit. Then we just try and lose ourselves in the small back streets taking whatever turn we fancy. This time it took us to a very small cafeinion called Angela's Castle where "Angela", we presume, did not speak a word of English. But this tiny old property on a corner of goodness knows where looked so quirky we had to go in and have a small Alpha. If you do come upon this place go in. We then had a small beer in the Yatcht Club which is another confirmed stop.
Having found an interesting part of the town adjacent to the Best Western when we stayed there on the journey over we thought we might try that area for lunch and we were not disappointed. We found a restaurant with quite a small frontage but then discovered it is much bigger than it seems. It is called Koykos and we regard it as a major find. A lunch of the "Restina with 5 small plates" was a 1/2 kilo of Cair with a mezes of beans gigantes in light tomato sauce; slow cooked pork in a rich tomato sauce; feta mashed up with spices to make a dip; tuna with sweet corn and pasta; spiced potatoes and a small portion of bread which cost only €11. We added a Greek salad and a portion of pita bread and with tip we paid €20. These small plates are small but as a lunch for two we found them adequate. This is another candidate for Trip Advisor.
Back to the Best Western where we had taken a room for the day (check out 18:00) for €40. This allowed us to have a nap and although the plan was then to have a swim in the pool we ran out of time and just had a shower and then an ouzo in the bar at the appointed rendezvous time, where we bumped into Toby of SymiDream fame who was seeing his nephew off, and also our Welsh friends who were on the same flight. We then headed out to the airport. A very slick check-in, security and boarding routine with easyJet saw us take off 20 minutes ahead of schedule and on the ground in Liverpool at 11:20, some 25 minutes ahead off schedule. Not wishing to make the 3 hour journey home to Mid Wales at that time of night we were booked (room and adjacent parking for 15 nights with Holiday Extras for £117) into the Hampton by Hilton which is 100 meters from the Terminal Buildings. After a very acceptable buffet breakfast we left Liverpool Airport at 08:30 and were home by 11:30.
Cases emptied, washing machine running and Greyam the cat collected from the Cattery during the afternoon and another wonderful Symi adventure ends and planning for next year commences.
We count our blessings that we found Symi and that we are able to visit as often as we do. Somehow life would not be the same without Symi and the wonderful people who make us so welcome each time we visit.
Efheristo para boli Symi.