Cool Blue Sea and Sun-Drenched Land

Tomorrow morning, Saturday 17 July at 7 a.m David O’Meara, the One Mile Runner, will be running a measured mile as part of his project to run to run 6 one-mile races, in 6 weeks, on 6 continents in less than 30 minutes total time. This means that for each one mile leg he is aiming to complete the route in under 5 minutes. His route on Symi will be from the windmills on the crest above Yialos down to Petalo where he will be met by Deputy Mayor Ilias Haskas who will present him with a copy of the Symi coffee table book. David first met Ilias Haskas at the Sister City Twinning Ceremony at Tarpon Springs in 2008 which Ilias was attending in his official capacity as the Deputy Mayor of Symi. It was through this encounter and speaking to Nikos Halkitis at the same event that David came to hear about Symi as a possible venue for his venture.

Symi represents the European leg of David O’Meara’s round the world run and his stay on Symi is sponsored by the Hotel Fiona and Symi Visitor Accommodation.  The Symi event is organized by Nikos Halkitis and Wendy Wilcox and a video will be posted on David O’Meara’s One Mile Runner blog shortly after completion of the race. David and his wife, Sekyen, leave the same day to start the long journey to Nigeria for the African leg of his mission. The race was originally scheduled for 8 a.m but it was decided to make it earlier in the light of the present heatwave and also the amount of traffic on the road at 8 in the morning, even in a quiet place like Symi. Sharing the road with Symi’s bus on its first trip of the day plus the island’s dump truck heading up from Yialos to the landfill seemed a bad idea. Measuring out the route today was done by David O’Meara and Dominic Lillicrap of Symi Visitor Accommodation with the loan of a measuring wheel from Symi Tours, last used in the days when Symi still had lots of package companies offering the island and reps had to measure to the last inch how far each holiday let was from the nearest taverna and beach.

On a less strenuous note, it is another sunny Symi summer’s day. Birds are chirping on my office balcony, the water taxis are running fully laden to the beaches and the day trippers from Rhodes are working their way systematically through the island’s beer and ice cream supplies in the shade of various waterfront cafes. The stack of crates of empty beer bottles outside Pachos is rising at the same rate as the temperature and no one feels much inclined to consume anything hot or substantial. It is the season for convivial picking at a colourful Greek salad in the company of friends old and new while the waves lap lazily against the shore and somewhere out across the bay the puttering engine of a small fishing boat can be heard. The summer flavours of Symi are salty and sweet and reflect a happy combination of cool blue sea and sun-drenched land.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana