Carry on up the Kali Strata

Carry on up the Kali Strata
Or
Symi 85600 part two
James Collins
2009
Also by James Collins
Symi 85600
Jason and the Sargonauts
You wish
Into the fire
Other people’s dreams
These books are available in paperback, hardback and PDF format from www.lulu.com
© James Collins 2009
Images by Neil Gosling
www.symidream.com
Foreword by Ann Zouroudi
E
veryone who travels has their own special places – a family-run, back-street restaurant discovered by chance, a
beach where the water’s crystal clear and the beer’s served extra-cold, a village where everyone remembers you and
greets you by name. And for hundreds of people who discover Symi, all their special places are here, on this tiny island which captures
the hearts of so many.
It’s over twenty years now since Symi captured my heart. I lived here and left, as have many others; many more
make annual holiday pilgrimages to this beautiful, quirky island where time has little relevance and logic has no
place. And whilst we’re not here, we are Symi’s reluctant exiles, who keep our connection to the island through James
Collins’s excellent books and blogs.
Symi’s charm is in its people and the minutiae of their lives; James’s great talent lies in his careful observation of the
absurd and the amusing, the dramas and the difficulties – because nothing in Symi is ever simple – and in reporting
what he sees with kind humour and a writer’s eye for the details essential to lively travel writing.
Following the hugely successful Symi 85600, James has now produced a new collection of his fascinating, funny
pieces documenting year-round life on Symi. If you know Symi, Carry on up the Kali Strata will take you back to your
favourite cafe table with its view of the sea; if you and Symi have not yet become acquainted, here’s a book which will
easily persuade you to discover for yourself one of Greece’s most captivating islands.
Anne Zouroudi
Symi, August 2009
Anne Zouroudi is the author of Bloomsbury’s Greek Detective mysteries and a long-term Symi visitor.
Find out more at www.annezouroudi.com .
An introduction and explanation
I
f you are anything like me, you will be standing in a shop
browsing this page before deciding whether or not to take
the plunge and invest in the pages ahead. Or else, you may
have bought this book on the strength of the cover and are
now settling down to find out what it’s all about. Either way,
I thought I would explain a few things before we get started.
W
hat’s in here then?
The writing in this book is based on the writing that I
have done over the last two years for Symi’s local newspaper,
The Symi Visitor, and for my own website, Symi Dream. But,
in order to tempt you to read on, I should point out that I have
expanded some of the articles as the newspaper print space
necessitated cuts and edits. I have also put in some pieces that
have not been published before and a very nice lady has done
some editing for me. Sadly, this means that there won’t be as
many typos or howlers for you as there are in the previous,
unedited Symi 85600. If you do find any however, they will
be down to me as I try to maintain my high standard of
inaccuracy that readers of my work have come to expect.
because the Kali Strata is the name of the steps that lead up
from Symi harbour to the village, Horio, where we live.
I say ‘our’ life as my partner, Neil, gets a look in and various
friends and family pop up from time to time. I include local
Symiots and other island visitors in the cast of friends and
characters, and even our deaf cat makes an appearance. I also
wanted to convey some of the quirkiness and humour that
abounds around here. I must thank the helpful people at the
Carry On office, who gave me the all clear to use the words in
the title. As long as I’m not ripping off the classic Carry On
storylines and font I’m ok, apparently.
A
A
nd the title?
My previous collection of rambling, jottings, stories and
anecdotes inspired by the magical island I now call home
was (and still is) called Symi 85600. I thought that was a
fairly obvious title, as 85600 is the abbreviated postcode
for the island, but it still managed to fox some readers. This
collection is called ‘Carry On up the Kali Strata’ because it is
a continuation of the story of our life on a Greek island, and
5
nd the point?
Folk who live on Symi have endless conversations with
visitors, and each other, about what it is that makes Symi
special. What brings people back here year after year? And
what makes otherwise sane and established homeowners from
around the globe pull up roots and hightail it over to a small
lump of rock that is two hours ahead of UK time and 50 years
behind?
What is it about Symi…?
That’s the €64,000 question and one which I have no
chance of answering in one sentence. Instead, what I have tried
to do is present my usual honest account of the world as I see
it, leaving you to draw your own conclusions as to what it is
about Symi that captures people.
Hopefully, by the end of this book you will have a
flavour for the island, its charms and maybe even its people.
If you have visited Symi before then you may recognise some
places and people, and if you have never been here then
hopefully this collection of trivia will tempt you to come. If I
can inspire one person to visit Symi because of this book then
I would have achieved what I set out to do.
Actually, I’d like to inspire more than just that one
person, but you know what I mean.
6