Between Christmas and Easter

After a week's capricious internet service things seem to be working again, more or less. The problems seems to be country wide but this time there was no apology or explanation from OTE in the press - just endless frustration at dropped links and every error message possible short of 'out to lunch' and 'gone fishing'. I hope it holds long enough to post this.

Yesterday I made my annual pilgrimage to the Traffic Police in Rhodes to pay the licence fee for our Piaggio Ape. In previous years this has involved standing in queues for hours but not this time. I was in and out in five minutes as I was the only person there. The policeman who completed the transaction cheerfully informed me that this piece of bureaucracy can now be accomplished at the KEP office downstairs at Symi town hall. Now what excuse can I use to get over to Rhodes for the winter sales?!

The Christmas stuff has been packed away in the Rhodian shops but Pappou, the last of the old fashioned department stores in Rhodes, was clearing the ground floor display area for Carnival paraphernalia and children's fancy dress costumes are already appearing in shop windows. Proof that in Greece at least there is something on the commercial calendar between Christmas and Easter.

It rained all day in Rhodes so I was most surprised on my return to discover that not a drop had fallen on Symi. The cloud drifted over to Symi overnight, however, and it has been dripping here since before dawn. As it is perfectly calm and the cloud is low the sea is the colour of pewter instead of its usual indigo variations. It is unusual on Symi to have a day so dark that it is necessary to have the lights on as is the case today. It is not particularly cold, however, with temperatures around 10 degrees centigrade. The weather is expected to clear tomorrow but more rain is forecast for early next week.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana