Eventually the journey from Hell, turns into the journey from Heaven when the ferry turns into the Harbour, once again, the waterworks start. Sue tells us that our bags will be by the apartment if we want to make our own way round in an hour, so we head off the boat to go and say hellos. As you know Symi hellos can take a bit of time, so it was about 2 hours later when we found our bags outside a door at the Noona Studios. What a result we thought when the door was at street level – no steps! So Scott picks up the case, pushes the door and walks in. I’m not sure who screamed the loudest, Scott or the poor German naked lady who had just got out of the shower? It turned out we were staying in the upstairs studio.
The Noona Studios were probably the best accommodation we have ever had on Symi. Big and airy, with spectacular views. The sound of the sea gently slapping the wall of the harbour coaxed you into sleep. We had a great enormous patio too which we would while away hours on just watching the boats come to and fro. Sadly, I think that was the only year Kosmar carried it.
July was hot. Much much hotter than June had been. One night sitting in Pats at about 2am drinking OJ that Ali couldn’t squeeze fast enough, we saw that the temp was 96 degrees. AT 2AM! We often ended up in Pats till the small hours, “just for a nightcap”, and would sit talking (and drinking) with a couple called Gillian and Bernard. They were staying at the Dorian, so occasionally we would walk back together. One night, as they climed the steps next to the post office and we continued past, I saw the most beautiful white goat tied up outside the Police Station. I went over to pet it and saw that it was tied by its foot. Not nice I thought. It looked a friendly sort, but obviously unhappy at being tied to a tree, with a cardboard sign around its neck. (Couldn’t read the sign, it was all Greek to me! – boom boom!).
So, in my amazing wisdom, I decide that I will liberate the goat. The little rope around its hoof was so tight it was cutting into the foot and I couldn’t untie it, so I untied it at the tree. So there was the goat, with a 6ft thin rope trailing behind it, we managed to break the rope a bit so it only had about a foot or so trailing. Off we walked, me feeling all happy that I had liberated a captive goat. The goat decided to follow us. We tried to shoo him away, “go goat! Be free!” we cried, but no, he followed us.
He followed us up the stairs. (If the Symi goats can do the cliffs, I’m sure that steps are a flipping breeze for them). He followed us into our courtyard, he ate the geraniums in the planters, and he started to eat the herbs growing in next doors garden, until the old lady came out brandishing a broom. We legged it into our apartment and managed to just keep out the goat. From inside the apartment we could hear the bleating of the goat, and about 10 minutes later it had gone quiet. So we opened the door to see the damage, no geraniums, and no herbs were left, and all of a sudden we saw the goat which rushed past us INTO our apartment. It jumped on the sofa, it jumped on the table, it flipping jumped everywhere to evade capture. We eventually calmed it down by offering water and an apple and I managed to tie a sarong around its neck as a lead. I led it outside the door, and let it nibble on the apple I had in my hand. I removed the sarong and threw the apple down the street and it chased it. I legged it into the apartment and shut the door! All night long all we could hear was a bleating goat.
Lessons we learnt that trip.
1. Do not try to liberate goats.
2. Do not tell Bernard, Gillian, Pat and Ali events from the night before, because locals will bleat at you 6 years later and ask how your goat is.
3. If you go on holiday, your house purchase will amazingly move along whilst you away.
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