Clear for New Year

Today’s photograph shows some of the new lambs and their mothers, in a field near the new sports’ stadium excavations in Chorio.

It has been a numb-fingered week. The new plants round the harbour front have suffered somewhat under a battering of freezing winds and liberal dollops of salt water. The whole of Greece has been bowed beneath the onslaught of wintry gales, sleet and snow and heavy frost. Greek television news bulletins show farmers lamenting the state of frozen citrus orchards and children making snowmen. Here on Symi it is calm today and quite clear, though the thermometer is still hovering around freezing. The Aegli hydrofoil ran this morning and should have no difficulties in making the return journey this afternoon.

Symi’s glorious high ceilings and tall windows do not lend themselves to effective heating and few houses have central heating systems or radiators due to the difficulties involved in obtaining heating oil, not to mention the expense involved in installing something that will only be used for a few weeks in the year. Air conditioners can be used for heating but few Symiots enjoy that luxury in their homes. Electricity is expensive here and many people are on seasonal incomes. Most Symiots resort to halogen heaters and, in old houses with functioning fireplaces, log fires. Keeping the shutters closed helps to keep the heat in and serves the same purpose as double-glazing. On a cold day in Chorio with everything battened down against the wind, the only indication that people live there is the whiff of wood smoke from chimneys and the aromas of cooking seeping through the chinks.

Light rain is forecast for tomorrow although it should be clear for New Year. From Monday night the weather is expected to take a turn for the worse once again, but this time with strong winds and rain from the south. After the downpours of October Symi has been quite dry and the rain is needed. The wild cyclamens that clad the hillsides at this time of the year are wilting instead of flowering.

Happy New Year!

Regards,
Adriana

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An icy blast

It is a wild and windy day on Symi. Apart from a few muffled figures hunkered down behind the plastic drop-cloths of the coffee shops there is not a soul to be seen. This was one weather forecast that proved to be hundred percent accurate as the clear mild conditions of Christmas changed to an icy blast on Boxing Day and all shipping has ground to a halt. It is 5 degrees centigrade on Symi today, with a wind chill factor around minus 7. The photograph shows the white caps rolling past Pedi early this morning. This particularly wind direction always hits Yialos hard but by passes Pedi. Fortunately conditions are expected to improve in the course of the day and shipping should be back to normal by tomorrow. We are still waiting to find out what is happening with the ferry schedule for January but at least it looks as though the weather will be reasonable…

Agios Vassilis (St Basil) traditionally delivers presents on his name day, 1 January, so there are still a few shopping days left for gift buying in Greece. These days Agios Vassilis is dressed in a Santa Claus suit, so we have one saint disguised as another, but as Santa Claus owes his red and white ensemble to the Coca Cola company anyway, who is to say where tradition really starts. The British didn’t have Christmas trees until Prince Albert married Victoria and the ‘traditional’ Christmas turkey is a post World War II American import. Who knows what new traditions the 21st century will bring to the celebration of Christmas?

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Fair if a Little Chilly

Today I have two photographs for you. One is of a poinsettia in Yanni’s garden on the bend in the road in Lieni. A far cry from those small gift-wrapped pots from the florist at Christmas. Yanni has one of the most efficient small gardens I know. There is always something in flower and always something for the kitchen.

The other is of the mail bags waiting to be loaded onto the Proteus today. When we went to the post office this morning they were still buried under the mountain of bags that arrived from Rhodes yesterday afternoon. Never mind email, there is still a lot of snail mail out there!

Despite some very pessimistic forecasts from the Hellenic Meteorological Service Symi has seen nothing more than a sprinkle of rain last night and a few clouds. It looks as though Symi will have good weather for the Christmas long weekend and those who will be travelling tomorrow and Saturday will be in luck. Other parts of Greece are experiencing rain and snow at present but down here, in God’s Little Acre (as some regular visitors fondly refer to Symi) all is fair, if a little chilly.

For those of you who missed it on the Noticeboard, ANES still has not released the January ferry schedule but will do so as soon as the mail boat contract is decided. They have told me to assure you that they are as anxious as everyone else to know what is happening to the boats in January (if not more) and as soon as the mail boat contract is finally announced they will put up the schedule on www.anes.gr.

Have a very enjoyable Christmas long weekend. The Symi Visitor office will be closed for the holiday as we have our own turkeys to baste and sprouts to boil…

Regards,
Adriana

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The Twelve Days of Christmas

It is a cold grey day on Symi and the clouds have been rallying since dawn. It is becoming darker as the day progresses and rain is expected later this afternoon. One can already smell it on the air. Fortunately it is quite calm so the hydrofoil was able to run this morning, packed with potential Christmas shoppers and those going away for the holidays. It is very quiet in the harbour today with so many people off the island.

It is a day for hunkering down by the fire with a book, giving simmering pots of fragrant lemon chutney an occasional stir. My fingers are still black with the juice of the olives I have been pickling in coarse salt and neat little jars of bright green coriander and basil pastes are lined up in the pantry, ready to add a zing of summer to the cold days of February.

Workmen have started to put up the shuttering for the concrete foundations of the new sports centre in Chorio so we can expect the rumble of concrete mixers soon after the holidays. The sheep that used to nibble on the verges of the old football pitch now graze on the edge of the excavations and look on with that bemused expression that only masticating sheep can achieve.

As the schools close for the holidays posters and fliers are appearing on public noticeboards and lamp posts, advertising end of term parties, fund raisers, cinema nights and other forms of entertainment. At this time of the year the kiosks sell triangles, the traditional accompaniment to the kalanda, the Christmas songs that are sung door to door throughout the twelve days of Christmas.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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A Sparkling Starry Sky

Today’s photograph is of the Christmas tree in the town square in Yialos. For more pictures of Symi Christmas lights, please see the Out and About page.

There’s a cold wind blowing across Yialos and the sea is rumpled indigo. The early morning clouds have blown away and the air has the clarity only the north-easterly wind can bring. The weather is turning once again. It rained all day on Tuesday, steady drops that started shortly after 8 in the morning and only faded away in the early evening as the clouds parted to reveal a sparkling starry sky.

Rain is expected to move in again in the course of Monday and strong winds are forecast for next week. This is not unusual for the time of year as we are approaching the solstice and there are often storms around this time. Many parts of the country have already had snow and more is on its way. Here on Symi day time temperatures should remain in the mid-teens but will feel colder in the wind. Fortunately the moderating effects of the sea which is still quite warm mean that it is not as cold on the islands as it is on the mainland where night time temperatures have been below freezing for some weeks already. Those coffee shops, bars and restaurants that stay open at this time of the year are swaddled in plastic drop cloths to keep out the cold, turning them into conservatories.

The new town councillors are being sworn in at the town hall this morning. (See Out and About photos).

The great ferry schedule mystery continues and as at this morning what happens after 31 December is still terra incognito. One of the ANES employees is herself heavily pregnant and worrying about how she is going to get off the island when the time comes.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Force 8 Northerly Expected

The rain is supposed to catch up with us again tonight but at the moment it is clear with a brisk northerly breeze. Snow is forecast for high ground in much of Greece over the next 24 hours, with a significant drop in temperatures for all areas and a force 8 northerly expected in the Aegean tomorrow.

The dock workers’ strike in Pireaus shows no signs of being defused and the implications are starting to be felt throughout the country as unopened containers mount up and goods from other parts of Europe and the rest of the world accumulate. According to the Athens News the tailback of trucks was already 18 kilometres long on Thursday.

Yesterday a flotilla of sailing yachts passed through Yialos. Today, the rather ugly grey megayacht in the photograph. No, it isn’t a naval vessel. It just looks like one!

Have a quiet week. I’m going to Rhodes on Wednesday, weather permitting, to do my Christmas shopping.

Regards,
Adriana

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Deep Red and Gold Ribbons

It is cold and cloudy on Symi today with isolated patches of wintry sunshine drifting across Nimos. The weather is changing again and becoming less settled. We had quite a lot of rain on Wednesday night, at least 20 mm up our way, and there is more rain forecast throughout Greece over the next few days. The wind is expected to strengthen mid week when the next front comes through but at the moment it is still glassy calm in our corner. The smoke from bonfires puddles in the valleys and mist lingers over Pedi until late morning.

As you can see from the photograph, we’ve been putting up Christmas decorations in the Symi Visitor office. It looks very cosy with the tree twinkling in the corner and swags of ribbons up the stairwell. The painted cherubs on the ceiling are quite at home among the trimmings and even the griffins look brighter as the deep red and gold ribbons bring out the colours in their wings.

Out in the gardens the lemons are turning from green to yellow and the scented narcissi are starting to open. Everyone agrees that the roses are the best ever, happy beneficiaries of the early rains. The ploughed terraces are covered in fresh young shoots and the first broad beans are punching their way through the mud.

In case you missed the notice on the Noticeboard and in the December edition of the Symi Visitor, the first English broadcast for foreign residents takes place on Symi municipal radio this evening from 6 pm until 8 pm local time. This will be on 107.9 FM. Terri Baker is presenting the program which will be on every Friday evening at this time and will include local news and information, as well as Terri’s personal selection of music.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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So Much to be Done

The clouds are back, low white mounds sliding behind Nimos, and the sea is smooth mother-of-pearl. It is likely to stay chilly and overcast for the rest of the week, with the possibility of showers increasing towards the weekend. Temperatures are currently in the mid-teens.

At this time of the year I seldom come down into the harbour. The hours of daylight are few, there is so much to be done around the farm and these days just about the only things one cannot do in Chorio are the post office and the pharmacy. Chorio is much busier than Yialos in the winter as it is the area where the majority of the population resides and, unlike the harbour, there are no totally tourist-dependent businesses up there so just about everything is open. (The atmosphere is pretty laid back too – it is not unusual to see young mothers still in dressing gown and pyjamas, nipping the kids to school on the scooter or popping out to the shops. Few of the men, Symiot and foreigner alike, bother much with shaving in the winter so beards are proliferating.)

That is not to say that the harbour has turned into a total ghost town – it’s just that the atmosphere is different. One well-known Yialos entrepreneur has converted two of his shops into outlets dealing exclusively in Christmas decorations and the third has become a very popular toy shop with – oh wow- a mini-railway and other fair-ground rides much loved by the local toddlers. Christmas lights are spreading out through the community as the municipality, businesses and householders set to work. While the Kali Strata is practically deserted – too cold and damp for winter so hardly anyone lives there – and is thus in almost total darkness, other areas are ablaze every evening. The combination of twinkling lights and the full moon is quite magical.

Have a peaceful week.

Regards,
Adriana

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A Pleasant Time of the Year

As you can see from the photograph the harbour is very quiet. Note the vivid red of the Virginia creeper over Pat’s bar and all the closed shutters along the front. Apart from a few locals drinking coffee at Elpida’s there is not much going on.

The calm clear weather continues and everyone is making the most of it. The locals are in agricultural mode at the moment and the hills hum to the burble of rotavators. According to local lore this is the last week to plant grazing grasses as after that it becomes too cold and dark and the seeds don’t germinate properly. We’ve been planting broad beans and early potatoes, and lots of spring onions and different kinds of greens. Days spent out in the fields, evenings spent by the wood fire – it is a very pleasant time of the year.

There are a few clouds on the horizon with a faint chance of rain early next week, the first in some weeks. Fortunately the exceptionally heavy dewfall has kept everything growing steadily and the olives are plumping up very well.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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