Today is Ochi Day

Today is Ochi Day and everything is perfect for the parade. The sun is shining. There is not a cloud in the picture book blue sky. A gentle breeze is riffling the flags colourful as a crayon drawing and the younger children are scampering about in their unfamiliar uniforms, worn only for special occasions such as this. The webcam is currently aimed at the War Memorial, where the wreath laying ceremony will take place later this morning. At the moment the red truck belonging to the municipality is parked in front of it as municipal workers are doing final tweaks to the sound system and Sousa marches are resonating tinnily on the town tannoy.

The high school children are now streaming down the ramp past the office, all crisply pressed shirts and ties,long pants, pleated skirts and white gloves, teachers teetering behind them in high heels and smart black dresses. One of the nice things about living here is that there is still a sense of ceremony and special occasions really are special occasions.

I went to Rhodes yesterday - the usual pilgrimage for chicken feed, fence posts and the other bits and pieces necessary to keep a small holding tidy and functioning. The ferry coming back was packed with people returning to the island for the holiday long weekend. We were half an hour late leaving Rhodes as it took so long to get all the vehicles stowed. As it is the Panormitis Festival next weekend people are already starting to arrive for that and there were all kinds of trailers and items of fairground paraphenalia to be squeezed into the hold. Our car was squeezed in so tight it was twenty minutes after we docked before we could reach the driver's door to climb in - the passenger side being flush up against a large truck. We can expect such situations for the next 10 days as the ferry first brings everything over and then, after 8 November, takes everything back.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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The dew is slowly drying off the flag stones

The November edition of the Symi Visitor is finally at the printers in Rhodes and we are already putting our minds to the next as that will be our 100th issue as well as being Christmas.

It is a still calm day with no perceptible wind. A hazy horizon seems to drift on the gently shimmering opalescent sea and departing yachts and fishing boats appear suspended in space. It is about 18 degrees centigrade and the dew is slowly drying off the flag stones. .

The Symi has just docked below our window and disgorged a boat-load of day trippers. It may not be beach weather but it's great for exploring and many seem armed with those walking sticks that look like ski poles, not to mention cameras of all sizes. The cafeneions do well at this time of the year and several have adjusted their chalk boards to the changing season, replacing images of frosted beer mugs and ice creams with steaming coffee cups and invitations to enjoy warming measures of Metaxa.

Ice cream fridges are being packed away for the winter and displays of cooler boxes and beach toys have been replaced with heaters and quilts. The hawkers are becoming quite competitive with their wares and there are periods when the Kampos corner in Chorio looks like something from the Casbah with carpets arranged on both sides of the road by rival sellers, not to mention bedding, cooking pots, children's clothes and sensible shoes. In the midst of all this there is a local chap selling fresh fish from an upturned crate. The kiosk at the bottom of the ramp has finally opened and does a brisk trade in chocolate bars and crisps to the gypsies as they wait for the next crop of potential shoppers to hop off the bus.

As no one is too sure how long the fine weather will last the builders are working at full speed to finish plastering and roofing jobs before the rains come.

Friday is Ochi Day, a big public holiday in Greece, and the children have been practising their marching to the increasingly demented whistling of schoolmasters for several days. While traditional Greek dancing requires incredibly fiddly footwork and a fine sense of rhythm, the mundane one-two of a basic march does not seem to capture the imagination of the local children, much to the despair of those trying to drill them. On the other hand, the spirit is there and the costumes are usually magnificent!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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The full moon is quite spectacular

It is still unseasonably cold in Greece and the sun is little more than tepid today. Evidently the beaches of Rhodes hold little attraction in this chill bluster as the excursion boat was full this morning. Visitors coming into our office to check their departure details are all muffled up and worrying about gale warnings and the charter yachtsmen breezing past the window are in full Round the Horn oilies. The angle at which some of the yachts heel over as the Nimos Channel blast hits them, they need them. While the sun may not be putting in much of an appearance, the full moon is quite spectacular and the same clouds that make the day so dull are quite dramatic scudding across the picture-book night sky.

It is expected to remain cold and windy for the rest of the week, until the wind changes to the south at the weekend, in which case temperatures should creep back up into the twenties. There may also be some rain showers.

The circuit court is in town, bringing with it the unusual sight of men in tailored suits, crisp shirts and discreet ties - lawyers over from Rhodes to attend the various hearings. This is where all the small cases, from traffic offences to 'noise after midnight' violations are tried, plus various domestic disagreements, boundary disputes and the like. The court is held in the ground floor of an old pension behind the pharmacy and as half the island is there has the air of a family outing. It is only the men in suits who add solemnity to the proceedings. So, if the next time you are on Symi, you see formally attired gents with briefcases striding about the place as though they have been beamed in from The City or Wall Street, the chances are good the court is in town!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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Pale drifts of lilac autumn crocuses are erupting

There's a chill north wind skittering through the harbour, tugging at the flags and flipping the fringes on the awnings. Those whose normal method of conveyance is the motor bike are already clad in scarves and gloves to stave off hypothermia and the French doors to our balcony are firmly closed for the first time in months. It is much colder than usual this October and wind chill is bringing temperatures down to below 20 degrees centigrade. While our northern cousins may wonder what the fuss is about, Symi in October is usually a bit warmer than this and it has caught a number of the regular visitors by surprise. Needless to say the tourist shops have packed away their bikinis and replaced them with cheap sweaters and anoraks. The coffee shops are doing a brisk trade and here in the office caffeine consumption is reaching ear buzzing levels as hot drinks find favour over the usual bottles of water.

In the Pedi Valley pale drifts of lilac autumn crocuses are erupting in the stony fields and the flush of green is spreading, nurtured by the heavy dew each night. With such a marked difference between sea and air temperatures it has been quite misty this week and the sunshine has been diluted by high cloud, giving the light a rosy glow.

Yialos and Pedi are still bustling with yachts and we have seen a few classic beauties at anchor this week. We have also seen some interesting capers on the quayside as yachtsmen unfamiliar with deep Greek harbours find themselves running out of chain long before they reach the dock. A brief survey of the flags suggests that we have Austrians, Belgians, Germans, Danes, Finns, Swedes, Americans, Canadians and some New Zealanders in the harbour at the moment.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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The grass is growing before our eyes.

A light sprinkling of rain awoke us before dawn this morning and the roads were wet coming down into town. There are still plenty of clouds around, perfectly reflected on a smooth opalescent sea. The long range forecast remains mild and calm for the rest of the week with midday temperatures in the twenties and night time temperatures around 18 degrees. The grass is growing before our eyes and the moss has turned from brown to green. The roses in my garden have been transformed from moribund brown twigs to masses of shoots and buds and some of the lemons have expanded to the point of splitting after last Sunday's downpour.

There are still a lot of people around and regular visitors are all commenting on how the island seems busier than usual for the time of year. The cafes and tavernas are doing well and even the beach tavernas seem to be deferring closure for a few more days. The harbour and Pedi are full of yachts of all shapes and sizes every night - everything from the smallest steel yacht I have ever seen (about 25 feet) to enormous varnished gulets and gleaming white gin palaces bristling with the inevitable Inmarsat domes and water toys.

One sure indicator however that the season is drawing to a close - apart from the clouds - is the reappearance of the hawkers and their lumbering lorries laden with carpets, blankets, quilts and gumboots.

Have a good week!

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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It is a mild calm hazy day

It is a mild calm hazy day. Thin high clouds streak the sky and there is a slight chill in the air, as though it is raining somewhere not too far away. The forecast, however, is for fair weather until Tuesday when we may have another spell of thunder showers. Last Sunday's downpour has seeds germinating wherever moisture has pooled and a fine green bloom is appearing over the drought-brown terraces. The first cyclamens are already poking painted leaves through the leaf-mould in the shady places and squills are shoving their way through the packed earth on the rocky slopes above the motor road.

An army of black and yellow caterpillars, new hatched and hungry, is making short work of my caper bushes at the moment. Fortunately we cut the capers back each year anyway as they become woody with vicious thorns, so this is no great disaster. And it is a fact of life that one cannot have butterflies without caterpillars!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana
The Symi Visitor

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Photographers are having a wonderful time

We were awakened in the early hours of Sunday morning by the quick patter of rain across the tin roof. This rapidly increased in velocity and within the space of 3 hours we had 22 mm in the rainwater gauge, 3 tonnes in the cistern and 2 cm of water in the house as the gutters could not cope with the volume of water and overflowed. Long after the rain stopped we could hear water roaring down the Panormitis road and even this morning, more than 24 hours later, large parts of our road are a lake. Fortunately it did not come through the bedroom and we were able to divert the flow in the workshop so that it went out through the drains drilled in the front wall to cope with previous inundations.

This is the heaviest rain we've ever had this early and by mid-morning we had the plough out and were taking advantage of the now loosened soil to get some early sowing in. Normally we have to plant our winter vegetables in seed trays as the ground is too hard to plant in until November.

The snail gatherers were also out in force, an unusual sight this early in the autumn. One regular visitor to the island was amused to witness an absent-mindedly placed bag full of snails escape all over a neighbouring roof terrace, much to the consternation of the woman who had gathered them in first place and forgotten to tied up the bag.

The weather should remain fair and dry until the end of the week with temperatures in the mid twenties. Visibility is marvellous as the rain has settled all the dust and photographers are having a wonderful time - the horizon has just shifted by about 20 miles!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
The Symi Visitor

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