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Saturday, 22nd.
December 2001 Apart from the above, I've continued to update our accommodation pages, mindful of the impending switch to the Euro on January 1st. Personally speaking, I'll be sad to see the demise of the Drachma, but I can see the logic of one currency for Euroland. I'm off to Germany for a week in March, so I'll have a chance to try out the new Euros. I've decided to drop plans for a new message board; the feedback was heavily in favour of maintaining the present system. I'm still on the look-out for a more user-friendly version though. Have a happy and peaceful Christmas, wherever you are. Mike :-) |
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Sunday, 9th. December
2001 Enough about me.... The new version of the Noticeboard is up and running-I'll leave it for a few days and then I'll run another Visitor poll to find out if you prefer this version or the original. If you haven't had a look yet, please click here and let me know what you think. Sorry about the adverts; they'll disappear in a day or two (I hope). We don't make any money from advertisers, in fact I've just paid out to get rid of them. Thanks for the feedback I've already received from such stalwarts as Alex, Dave, Liz, Kojak, Penny and many others. Opinion is running for maintaining the status quo, so far. I put the December 'Symi Visitor' Newspaper front page up on Thursday, it features a Nativity scene from the monastery at Panormitis. If anyone would like the original, high-quality version of this picture, please e-mail me. What else; put Adriana's latest news bulletin up this morning a couple of days late, I also added a notice about Greek Easter 2002 dates on the Accommodation page this afternoon. I'm writing (belatedly) a page for both Nos and Nimborio to go on the beach guide. See you soon, Mike :0) |
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Saturday, 1st.
December 2001 Went out last night to celebrate and woke up bleary-eyed this morning to realise it was the first of the month and I hadn't put the traditional new photo up on the home page. Cue frantic trawl through image files to find something-hit upon a photo my father in law had taken in late October of the harbour from the Rhodes ferry. Then off to York by train for the day for lunch with our son plus girlfriend to celebrate his birthday. Had a look round the Minster, as we hadn't seen it since the restoration after the fire. Back again this evening and started work on a new version of the Noticeboard/Chat Page-it's going to be really something, if I do say so myself. You'll be able to put up photos of yourself with messages and lots of clever stuff. I've just spent four hours non-stop playing around with it and I'll give you the address next week so you can help me test-drive it. It will be much easier to follow the thread of various different discussions, will load much faster and will be ad-free :-) Off to the Christmas market in Bruges next week (with 40 kids from school). Time to stock up on the festive duty-free!! Hope you're all well, Mike |
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Sunday, 18th. November
2001 I've put a report of the draw for the 2001 'Symi Visitor' newspaper's subscribers' competition up. Drawn by last year's winner and the Mayor, the lucky couple have an all-inclusive holiday on the island next year to look forward to. I didn't win - again :0( I finally finished putting some new paintings on Cobi Sander's watercolours page which I've been trying to put there since August. First I couldn't remember where I stored the photos, then I lost the price list and titles she'd written down for me which I'd hastily photocopied in a back-street Yialos shop. Anyway, they're all there now and will no doubt sell out as fast as the last selection with Christmas coming up. Finally had to face the reality of the impending Europe-wide switch to a new currency next year; I've been gradually updating the accommodation on the site with new 2002 prices in Euros. Nice to see that Hotel Fiona is installing air-conditioning for next season. Some cosmetic changes to the Home page; I've moved the current time/temperature thingy on to the left-hand sidebar from the 'About Symi' page, as I was forever getting mail asking me what the weather in Symi was like. If you click on the thingy (note the technical jargon at this point) you'll get an updated weather report for the Rhodes area. The December ferry timetables are up, as the Rhodes and Turkey day-trip boats take their winter break. On a personal note, I've got an an 'OFSTED' school inspection to look forward to a week tomorrow.... but then there's Liverpool-Barcelona on Tuesday (finally got my ticket yesterday) and I'm off to the Christmas market in Bruges in three weeks with some 30 kids from school. Time to stock up on Belgian beer and chocolates & do my Christmas shopping. Have a nice week, Mike |
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Thursday, 8th.
November 2001 I've added a new photo gallery with some pictures I took in August and some my father in law took a week or so ago. I've still got loads of new photos to add, when I get the time. The webcam's offline at the moment; no idea what's up with it but Nik's trying to fix it. I've just put the November's 'Symi Visitor' newspaper's front page up on the site. Looks like we're going to be getting back and forth to Rhodes a lot more quickly next year :-) What else; I had to change the links page as we were getting 'spammed' on a regular basis-people were bombarding us with links to commercial sites which were cluttering up the place. Now the page is moderated (by me, of course) so that only sites of real interest to Symi lovers will find their way on. It's also now ranked in popularity; don't know why I did that really but some people with their links on might find it interesting. If you know of any good sites we've missed, please put them on. Terrible news at work today; the school's electricity was cut off at dinner time and since it's going to take a couple of days to fix the problem, we've had to shut tomorrow. As you can imagine, the kids were heartbroken, as were the staff, who were last seen running down the school drive jumping for joy. Yours with a glass of wine and an unexpected holiday, Mike :0)) |
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Thursday, 25th.
October 2001 If you don't know what all the fuss is about and have never heard the disputed tune, click here. Bye for now, Mike. |
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Thursday, 18th.
October 2001 There's a new site-map/contents page, call it what you will, which is linked to from all the 'main' pages on the site. This is an attempt to make finding your way around all the different pages a bit easier. I've taken the music off the home page-lots of people liked it, lots of people loathed it (see the comments on www.greekislandhopping.com for example!). The problem was that with all the main links on the home page, visitors to the site had to constantly go back there to navigate their way through the site, triggering the bazouki chords. No doubt I'll get dozens of e-mails asking me to put the music back up again.... I've tidied up the pages on Yialos and Chorio and added some new photos. I'm sure I did something to the Maps page last night, but I really can't remember what it was. I'm still trying to get round to putting up all the photos I took on Symi this summer. I'm writing a really big photo gallery and am playing around with various formats at the moment. I'll let you know when it's finished, or finished enough so you can have a look. Almost forgot; I've put a street map of Symi Harbour up on the site. Thanks for all the suggestions as to possible additions. I know I need to add some more information which I'll do next week. Next week is half-term for me, so I'm looking forward to plenty of rest and recuperation. We have an OFSTED inspection to look forward to when we go back-any of you out there that are teachers will realise what that means :0( As ever, thanks for all the e-mail; positive or negative, it all makes a difference and is much appreciated here and in the office in Symi. Keep smiling, |
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Wednesday,
10th October 2001 Still can't get the webcam page to display the current time, the date's working OK. Thanks to everyone who mailed me with suggestions for the map of Yialos I've been working on-as a result I've started again! Hope you like the colour changes on the site-I've gradually been re-writing every page (87 at the last count) so that there is some sort of continuity. I put the latest Symi-Rhodes/Rhodes Symi ferry timetables up tonight-valid until the end of October. The 'Aegli' hydrofoil has been withdrawn until next season, leaving the Symi 1 to take up the slack. The island is still enjoying an unusually warm October-check out Adriana's latest news for details. All the best, as ever. |
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Friday,
5th October 2001 Hope you're enjoying the webcam's return-still some problems displaying the time and date of the latest picture though (the date above the photo is a simple bit of javascript displaying the current date; if you want to find out when the photo displayed was actually taken, then click on www.symivisitor.com/ispy.txt) |
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Thursday,
27th September 2001 The
competition below was won by Lynne Hogg who correctly named the
location as I'm running out of prizes, so just for fun, where was the photo on the right taken? My tan has all but faded and I've started looking on the cheap flight websites for next year's holiday.... Yours
from wet and soggy Bolton, |
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Saturday,
15th September 2001 Glen Beestone is the lucky winner of this month's competition (see below). Don't forget to collect your prize of an official www.symivisitor.com t-shirt from the 'Visitor' office next week Glen! Coincidentally, he is off to the island for a holiday next week, during which time he is confident of getting the webcam working again.. The answer? Oh, sorry; the photo below was taken on the deck of the 'Dimitroula' en route to Symi from Naxos and shows the harbour at Nissyros. Time for a new challenge (a bit more difficult this time). Where was the photo on the right taken? No clues-sorry! On a more serious note, I'm sure that we were all affected by the terrible events in the United States this week. I was about to drive to a football match in Liverpool when the pictures started coming in on the satellite at school. We watched, transfixed and appalled as those terrible images were transmitted live to our little community. We all knew that the world would never be the same again. Adriana's diary this week contrasted the calm and tranquility of Symi with the apocalyptic scenes in New York. She also pointed out that 60 years ago, Symi was visited by its own smaller, but no less traumatic disaster as the retreating German army blew up an ammunition dump in the castle at the top of Chorio, an event which is still visible today in the shattered houses on the Kali Strata and which must have at the time seemed to the inhabitants of the island like the end of the world. At times like these, it is difficult to hang on to any sense of optimism or to see any way forward. But if you walk up the Kali Strata today, you'll see the reconstruction work still going on, as bomb-damaged houses are repaired, funded by the increasing wealth of the island. In sixty years time there may well be a new World Trades Center reaching for the skies above Manhattan. I can only hope that New York City is as peaceful, tranquil and beautiful then as Symi is now, a generation after the biggest disaster in its history. If you would like to contribute to the relief fund, please click here. Have a peaceful week, Mike |
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Tuesday,
4th September 2001 ANYWAY, I've steadily been putting the photos I took last month up on the site and gradually re-writing pages here and there. I changed the colour scheme on the home page to make the navigation links on the left hand side more legible. I'm also busy replacing the watercolours that have been sold on Cobi Sander's page. COMPETITION
TIME!
I'll give you some clues-I'm in Greece (surprise) and it was taken last month. The first person to e-mail me with the correct answer will receive a prize! I went back to work on Monday-it's rained all day and we've just put the central heating on.... Yours, counting the days to the next Symi trip, Mike |
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Saturday,
25th August 2001 Anyway, it's back to business as usual-we managed to get a couple of Adriana's reports updated while I was away, one from an Internet cafe near the National Archeological Museum in Athens and two or three from the Visitor newspaper office. Now we're back to twice weekly updates. Click here to read the latest edition - Adriana's Symi I've got so many new photos to put on the site, I hardly know where to start. I've updated the 'Out & About' page-photos I took of tourists and locals around the island (but mainly in Jean's bar at ridiculous hours of the night!). I'd like to apologise if you are featured there but are not named-I did make a note of everybody's names but I'm afraid I couldn't remember who everyone was when I got back home! I would like to say a particular hello, however, to the lovely group of Italians who actually recognized me from my photo on the website and came over to say hello on Agios Nikolaos beach; that's Wolf, Marinella, Roberto, Massimo and Nino from Rimini. I've also updated a couple of the beach pages with new photos & information; including Agios Nikolaos (spot the goat) - Nanou and Agios Giorgios. The accommodation pages are also being overhauled at the moment; we're introducing a Visa booking facility for next year (partly influenced by the imminent switch to the Euro in Greece). I've put some new photos on the Hotel Fiona and Villa Cassandra pages, with more to come soon. Anyway, keep checking the site for new updates and thanks for all the kind e-mails of encouragement. All the best, Mike :-) |
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Friday,
20th July 2001 |
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Saturday,
14th July 2001 Regular visitors will maybe have noticed some cosmetic changes to the home page. I've been trying to make sure it displays properly in Netscape browsers for some time-it should do now! I'm also tidying up and preparing to leave the site to its own devices for a month while Jo and I hop our way round the Aegean. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I intend taking a digital camera with me so I can put some photos of our journey up on the site when we get to Symi-around the 30th of July. After next week you'll have to make do with less frequent updates of Adriana's diary for a while, although I'll be able to add a few entries while I'm on Symi as I can use the 'Visitor' computer. Talking of the computer, I've taken the webcam link off until we can get it sorted, seems to be some incompatability problems with Windows ME. That's about it, I'm off to the gym. Regards, Mike :-) |
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Thursday,
6th July 2001 A big THANK YOU to Glen Beestone and Phil Toll for their help with finding accommodation in Athens (see below). A lot's happened since last Tuesday; my computer finally packed up last week, having limped along for several months, breaking down periodically. So I went and got a new one :-) I'm not much of a techie when it comes to hardware, but I do know it's faaaast and has a hard drive as big as Australia, just perfect for storing the website on (my old one wouldn't have held a half of it-the website, not Australia). I need to have it backed up because, ironically, the day after I bought my new dream machine, the site disappeared off the Net for 12 hours (you might have noticed), triggering my eternal worry that somehow the server will go down for good and all the work I've put into it for the last two years will be lost. (please see my message on the noticeboard for more on this story). Had a quick chat with Adriana, Wendy and Nik in the 'Visitor' newspaper office earlier today on the phone and they all sounded very well and cheerful. If you're not sure about ringing to book/confirm accommodation etc. try it yourself-it's not very expensive and the line is always really clear. From the UK the number's 00 30 246 72755, you'll need to check the dialling code from outside the UK (the 246 72755 doesn't change). Put the July 'Visitor' newspaper front page up tonight-should look a bit cleaner than the last few months. The webcam was knocked out by a power cut at the weekend-we'll get it working again asap (by 'we' I mean Nik ) See you soon, Mike |
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Tuesday, 26th June 2001 Before I forget, Nik & Wendy from the 'Symi Visitor' are in Rhodes at the moment, so the webcam won't be updated for a day or two. A big thank you to Lynne and Ian Hogg who sent me a report on the island of Dounossa in the Cyclades. Sounds heavenly and just what we're looking for on the first leg of our holiday; a completely unspoilt Greek island where we can just lie on the beach for a few days and relax. Another request for reader help; we are spending 2 nights in Athens at the start of our holiday, mainly to do justice to the amazing National Archeological Museum which we have had to rush round in an afternoon on a previous visit. Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced hotel in the city, preferably in or near Plaka? If you can, please e-mail me. NEW ON THIS SITE A fantastic 360º view of Symi harbour-created by Glen Beestone. It's on the 'About Symi' page. You'll need to download Apple Quicktime to view the movie, but it's worth it! Glen's working on a panorama of Panormitis as well. I've put a couple of new photos on the 'Pedi Bay' page. I'm putting new photos on the 'Out and About' page almost every day. I've put some G&A ferry timetables up on the site; Piraeus (Athens) to Paros, Naxos, Kos, Rhodes etc, etc. Check them out here That's about it for now, Best wishes, Mike :0) |
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Wednesday, 20th June 2001 I've finished marking !! :-)) All parcelled up, sent off, sit back and wait for the cheque. 3 weeks purgatory will all seem worth it in five weeks time, when I'm on the deck of a ferry sailing the blue Aegean sea, watching the dolphins play. In the meantime, I've had enough time to write pages for two new apartments-Villa Jasmine and Skala House. I'm also in the middle of writing a few pages for an absolutely gorgeous house in the harbour-Villa Grande Helene (no links yet, you'll have to wait). Nik sent me a new batch of photos for the 'Out & About' page tonight-I'll get them up by the weekend. I also have new inter-island ferry timetables from the ferry company G&A-they're really comprehensive, so if any of you are island-hopping this year, watch this space... Anyone ever been to the 'Little Cyclades', Donoussa for example? Please mail me if you have and tell me what these islands are like. Thanks :-) I'll try to update this page a bit more regularly from now on. Hope you're all well, Mike |
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Friday, June 8th 2001 One thing I have been able to do is write the first of this Summer's 'Out & About in Symi' pages; a nice mix of visitors and familiar Symi faces. If you're planning a visit this year, watch out for the 'Symi Visitor' photographer! Yours with a rapidly diminishing pile of tapes to mark and an ever-present copy of 'Greek Island Hopping'... Have a nice weekend, Mike :0) |
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Thursday, 31st May 2001 Was sent a great photo of the sunrise over Symi-so have used it as June's photo of the month. If you click on it, it will take you to a larger version (the photo, not the sunrise). E-mail from Adriana this afternoon bemoaning the heat on the island (35 degrees and rising) no doubt she'll expand on tomorrow's 'Adriana's Symi' report (not literally, I hope). I'm busy marking German speaking tests so I'll have enough money to go island-hopping in August-seven and a bit weeks and still counting...... Mikey |
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Tuesday, 22nd May
2001 What's new this week Thanks to Glen and his efforts over the last week the webcam is up and running again with a much enlarged photo-enjoy!! I've slightly re-written the home page to try and cut down on the loading time and to reduce the vertical size of the page. I've also written a new feedback form, so please take a few minutes to fill it in; you can win a year's subscription to the 'Visitor' newspaper. The brand-new Symi to Datcha (Turkey) timetables are up on the Ferry Timetables page. Summer has arrived in Symi; don't miss Adriana's evocative chronicles, updated twice a week. Close your eyes and you could be there... See you soon, Mike :-)) |
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Friday, 11th May
2001 Apart from the new accommodation stuff mentioned below, I've put Adriana's latest 'latest news' up today-gratifying in a strange sort of way to think that it's probably as warm here as it is on Symi! This year's 'Out & About' photos have started to arrive from the 'Visitor' office so I'll start to write May's page soon. Last year's looked kind of like this In case you missed it elsewhere: There are now 6 taxis (instead of 4 previously) available to tourists in Yialos-2001 prices to be announced next week. ANES are to run a regular hydrofoil service to Datca in Turkey from Symi -'The Symi visitor' newspaper is to be available on all their boats. I'm on the 6.30 a.m. train to Cardiff tomorrow for the FA Cup Final; finally got my ticket on Tuesday after the club released a further allocation to season ticket holders. So who do I support? I'll maybe put a photo up here next week and you can see for yourself! 10 weeks and four days until Jo (my wife) and I fly to Athens for a month Greek island hopping (and counting, obviously). Have a great weekend, Mike :-)) |
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Monday, 7th May
2001 |
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Monday, 22nd April
2001 Good news-the webcam will be back working better than ever in just over two weeks!! |
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Friday,20th April
2001 Talking of photos, here's
another to brighten up your desktop. This one's of the boatyard at
Harani-should take about 8 minutes over a 56k modem. Download as a .zip
file Have a nice weekend ;-) Mike |
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Wednesday, 11th April
2001 Just about back to normal after two days sleep. Busy sorting out all the photos I took in Paris to put on the school website. Here's me, in Eurodisney (yes, it was that wet). |
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Sunday, 8th April
2001 I'm going to bed (for a week). |
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Friday 30th March
2001 I've put a new satellite photo of the Dodecanese islands on the 'Caique Cruising' maps page. I put the April ferry timetables up the other day and added a nice live Rhodes weather forecast. On a personal note-we (my wife Jo and I) booked a flight to Athens on Tuesday, flying out on July 23rd for four weeks (yes, yes, I know-teachers and their holidays...) so I've been surfing around to try and find some interesting new islands to visit. At the last count, we had 'done' 18, so our plan is to spend a couple of nights in Athens and then hop our way across to the Dodecanese and Symi, calling at some lesser-known destinations on the way. Any suggestions, please mail me. By the way, we booked our flight reasonably early, because the word is that with the foot and mouth problems showing no signs of abating, foreign package tours and flights are going to sell out fast this year-it might get difficult to find a charter flight for the summer if you leave it too late. I'm off to Paris for a few days on Wednesday-with 42 kids from school, so don't go thinking it's some kind of holiday! Unfortunately you'll have to wait until I get back on Sunday night for Adriana's Friday report-you still have Monday's to look forward to though. Have a nice weekend :0) |
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26/03/01 |
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25/03/01 |
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22/03/01 |
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20/03/01 First one, taken by my father in law Alan Lever, is of Pedi Bay. Download as a .zip file (download time approx. 3 minutes over 56k modem) Download as a .bmp file (about 5 minutes over 56k) This one's on my desktop at the moment and always cheers me up on a cold, dark night. Mike :-) |
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16/03/01 |
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09/03/01 In case anyone is wondering where the promised Greek phrases have disappeared to, I hope to have them up on the site this weekend. |
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03/03/01 Also added some photos to my album-lots more to come when I get the time.... Had a three-way live chat between Mexico, Scotland and myself on the chat page last night. |
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01/03/01 |
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