RHODES - A trip to Symi

Symi wasn't one of our three destinations, it was an extra day trip that we fitted into our already hectic schedule. Here's my first tip if you book a boat excursion: get there early and grab a seat. We were late and got the last two seats on the boat which meant we were in the shade, on a narrow bench, squashed between other passengers who had to shuffle up to make room for us. Second tip: no matter how warm it is, take a light coat or jumper. If you land in the shade like we did and there's a breeze, you will freeze.
My knee and ankle were causing me agony and I was still knocking back painkillers. This didn't spoil the scenery and as both Nick and I love sailing, we throughly enjoyed every moment of the boat journey. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Rhodes.
Symi is a delightful island and takes you right back in time - to the days when a lavatory was a hole in the ground with a couple of concrete footprints either side - at least that was the toilet we found when the boat stopped at St Panormitis Monastery.
The monastery is an amazing place and well worth looking round, even if you have a sprained ankle. The astonishing thing is, they sell you those thin candles to light and set in the sand. As soon as your back's turned they blow out your candle and remove it! And what a bun fight it was to muscle yourself through the church to carry out this weird and wonderfully pointless ritual. I was bemused, even more so by the obligatory little plastic bottle of yellow stuff that they give you and which is currently sitting in our bedroom at home. If you know what it is, please tell me.
The town of Symi is adorable. It will take your breath away and we are convinced there is a fisherman who stands in his boat all day long just sorting his nets out so the tourists can take a photo of him. But for want of a better word, the whole experience was charming even if the restaurants were overpriced and the shops - well that's another story. They were top price, but some of the clothes were out of this world. Unfortunately as you know, I was unable to buy anything because of being on the limit of my luggage allowance and by now, I was beginning to feel a bit depressed about that. However, with such ridiculously high price tags, I was secretly relieved about having to put each item back on the rail after I'd tried it on, as I could otherwise have made an expensive purchase that I might later have regretted. Anyway, after visiting the town, the hooter went and we all returned obediently to the boat. Nick and I were quick to board and thought we'd bagged better seats until we realised we were close to the clapped out engine. Despite the noise, a very nice lady shouted her life story to me whilst the boat chugged into an anchorage at the foot of some huge mountains. We had enough time to crick our necks marvelling at the sheer height of the cliffs before setting back to Rhodes. It had been a good trip and everyone was happy and smiling.
Our day was by no means over and once back on dry land, we continued to look around Rhodes and eventually we ended up at a jewellers shop (how did that happen?)
The thing is, I'd spotted a ring in the shape of a dolphin. There's a long story behind this that I won't go into, but I had wanted one of these rings since 1976, the year Nick and I got married and so I was probably drooling over it when I saw it glinting through the window.
After much negotiation, my husband showed his true colours and fished (sorry) out his credit card and bought it. I guess he was feeling sorry for me especially with my injuries. The price was £200. The jeweller said it was made of gold and had rubies for its eyes. The moment we had parted with the money, a drunk walked into the shop and sat down next to us. He proceeded to tell us that the jeweller was a con man and that the ring most certainly wasn't gold. I could have cried, but Nick was much more level headed and said, "Do you like the ring?" and I said, "I love it." And we left the shop not knowing if we'd been ripped off or not, but I had a ring on my finger that I thought was wonderful. By the way, it's still nice and gold and shiny seven months on and I do the washing up in it and everything. The 'rubies' are still there too. So I think we made the right decision to keep it and the drunk really should have minded his manners and held his tongue, whatever his grievance was with the jeweller.
Tomorrow we go to Lemon Tree Apartments, set in a lemon grove in Pefkos and we catch the local bus to get there. The apartments sound gorgeous don't you think? But there was disappointment looming.