A truly Homeric sunrise

Yesterday was one of those gloriously clear winter days where one can see for miles in all directions and the sunshine is quite dazzling. I went to Rhodes, braving the top deck of the new ferry to enjoy a truly Homeric sunrise - nearly 3 millennia later, dawn is still rosy-fingered over a wine dark sea so it can't be all bad! The 'new' ferry is quite pleasingly old-fashioned, with elegantly curved lines and an impressive turn of speed. We left Symi promptly at 6 am and arrived in Rhodes at 7.40. Twenty minutes later she set off for Kastellorizo.

There was a huge cruise ship in Rhodes harbour, one of those ones that looks like a cross between a block of flats and a Stalinist hospital. I overheard a taxi driver explaining to one bemused group of Germans that the reason why they could not see the Parthenon was because it is in Athens and they are in Rhodes. Makes sense, I suppose, but I wonder what the brochure said...!

The snow-caps on the Turkish coast from last week's snowstorms are still in evidence and it is not exactly warm. Another wet weather system is rolling in and the sky turned a uniform gunmetal grey mid-morning today. Heavy rain and force 8 south-easters are on the cards for tonight, tomorrow and Thursday and the alerts have changed from blizzards to flooding. Well, it is winter and February is often the coldest and stormiest month of them all.

DEH, the Public Power Corporation, is busy upgrading Symi's grid at the moment. This means frequent power cuts. There has just been an announcement over the tannoy telling us that the only places that will have electricity tomorrow will be Pedi bay and Panormitis. The verge of the road going out of the harbour has become a dumping zone for the cable drums, transformers and poles that have been arriving daily on the Proteus. It would be nice if at some point some of the old poles would be taken down when they put new ones up as the sky over Symi is becoming a tangle of wires on a par with downtown Beirut in the early 90s.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

Read more...

Thunder is growling

Photo: the new ferry, the Proteus, unloading in a thunderstorm, on its north-bound trip to Tilos, Nissyros and Kos. At present this is the only part of Greece where shipping is still moving.

The whole of Greece is battened down as the bitter cold front that has frozen much of Europe sweeps down upon us. There are 30 snowploughs out on the streets of Athens today and much of the country is under heavy snow. Shipping has been disrupted since Sunday and Athens airport has been closed intermittently since Sunday evening due to ice on the runways. In many prefectures schools have been closed and people are advised to stay at home and avoid unnecessary journeys. Kefallonia and several other islands are currently without electricity which with temperatures as low as minus 8 cannot be much fun.

Here on Symi the situation is fairly calm at the moment. The sky grows blacker by the minute, thunder is growling and the temperature and the barometer are falling steadily. Will we have a repeat of the snowman on the Vigla for February 2006's front page? We shall see...

Meanwhile the bird flu crisis continues and announcements are being made at regular intervals over the town public address system, warning that those who do not get their poultry under cover will be punished with fines. Although the Greek authorities have stopped short of forbidding traffic between Greece and Turkey, they are advising against travel between the two countries unless it is absolutely essential and all ferries, vehicles and people are being disinfected when they come back into Greece. The freezing temperatures are driving migratory flocks of birds south into Greece from Russia and the Balkans so the alert has been stepped up, hence the clamp down on keeping poultry out of doors.

Photo: a double rainbow over Yialos as the Proteus steams north.

So here we are, a little island sheltering in the lee of Asia Minor, under siege from winter weather and bird flu alike...

For further developments, watch this space!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

Read more...

Perfect pink azalea blossom

Last night the wind blew up in a flurry of freezing rain drops and today Symi sparkles in cold winter sunshine. I awoke to a garden strewn with almond petals and olive twigs and a perfect pink azalea blossom bobbing gently in the dog's water bowl.

Rows of white crests march across the inky depths of the Mediterranean and it was more by luck than design that the ferry was allowed to run today. Surfing downhill to Rhodes isn't too bad but pounding back into solid walls of water is not for the faint hearted. On days such as this from the top of the mountain one can see clean across the Datca peninsula to Kos and beyond and the wind howls around the peaks, bending the trees into the contorted shapes that puzzle summer time visitors who have never seen anything stronger than a meltemi bluster.

The long range forecast shows plunging temperatures and strong winds as we move into the coldest weeks of winter and rain is forecast for Sunday. Time to retreat to the greenhouse and plant up the little trays of tomatoes, peppers and aubergines for summer. I have managed to nurse several chilli bushes and some clumps of lemon grass through the cold thus far as the only access we have to such exotic ingredients here is by growing them ourselves.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

Read more...

We have been planting our potatoes for the year

Watching the full moon rise over Pedi bay is an excellent reason for living here, particularly in the winter when the cold night sky magnifies the stars and the distant shapes of the opposite shore frame the gold and copper sea with sweeps of black and purple. Wrapping up warmly, we go and stand on the roof of our cistern to look out over the treetops and watch the spectacle. There are some things in life for which it is definitely worth leaving a warm fireside - and the kitchen seems all the cosier afterwards.

The day time sky is nowhere near as interesting as each morning we have woken to sheets of low grey clouds and the distant promise of rain sweeping across the hills behind Datca. Sometimes a light sprinkle is tossed in our direction but on the whole it has been a dry winter so far and rainfall figures are well below normal levels. It is just wet enough to keep the moss green on the Kali Strata and uncurl the ferns in the stone walls but the island's trees need much more if they are to put on any growth this spring and the olives are still shrivelled on the branches.

We have been planting our potatoes for the year. This is quite a mucky business as it starts with the cowshed up by the windmills. We load our trailer with manure which is then dug into the potato trenches. Nothing grows in Symi's rocky terraces without the best preparation possible, but with each year's labours the ground improves and the piles of stones around the periphery grow higher. The manure has to be buried very deep as otherwise it is a bit like planting instant lawn and the sprouting hay strangles the young potato plants. It turns hot too quickly to grow main crop potatoes here but the new potatoes are worth the effort. We've just eaten the last of the ones we planted in October and very good they were too, steamed and tossed in a little unsalted butter.

Have a good week.

Regards
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

Read more...

I am typing this with my gloves on!

Greetings from a chill grey island. It doesn't often rain from the north but when it does it means that it is either snowing or sleeting in the rest of the country - which it is currently doing in generous measure. I am typing this with my gloves on! Although it is calm enough here on Symi the Port Authority has closed all the ports in Greece for the time being as there is a northerly force 9 thrashing the Aegean at the moment and the only reason it is so quiet here is because we are neatly tucked into the armpit of Asia Minor.

Speaking of Asia Minor, the new outbreak of Avian flu has precipitated some measures winter travellers in these parts might like to bear in mind. Traffic between Turkey and Greece is being very closely monitored at the moment with a view to restricting the spread of the disease. Athens airport is screening passengers on the flights to and from Istanbul and those islands which have winter ferry links with Turkey such as Rhodes are checking passengers, confiscating potentially contaminated items and disinfecting vehicles. Now is not a good time to be travelling with a heavy cold and a suitcase full of foie gras! We all hope that the disease will not spread in this direction and that the situation will improve by the beginning of the season. If, in the meantime, you are put through anything undignified or inconvenient in transit, do remember that this is a potentially fatal disease, that right now poultry farmers in affected areas are having flocks culled en masse which is considerably more traumatic for all parties concerned than a brief delay at border control, and that any sacrifices we might be called upon to make are minor ones when one looks at the alternatives.

On that cheerful note I see that Lakis the bus driver is back so I can speed up the hill to check on my chickens. Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

Read more...

Rhodes, like Symi, is fairly quiet

Yesterday I made my annual pilgrimage to Rhodes Traffic Police to renew the license on our three-wheeler. This involved the usual early morning two hour ferry trip to arrive in time before the queue closes for the day. We were late leaving and thus only arrived in Rhodes a few minutes before 10. I dashed round to Mandraki only to find the office door closed and the policewoman on duty informed me that the licensing department was shut as the chap responsible is sick. I told her I had come all the way from Symi especially to do this and asked if there was anyone else who could help me. 'It's okay,' she replied, 'you have until the end of the month and he should be better next week!'

Rhodes, like Symi, is fairly quiet at this time of the year. There was not much in the shops as with three consecutive holiday long weekends supplies were depleted and it takes a while for the supply lines from the mainland to kick in again. The January sales here don't start until 28 January (this is by government decree, unlike other western countries, and is supposed to impose some kind of fairness on pricing and give all retail businesses an equal chance...) so the shops are in a sort of post Christmas limbo as they pack away the seasonal stuff for another year and tend to leave the shelves fairly empty until they are allowed to put out their sale stuff.

The weather continues unsettled with electrical storms, strong winds and rain across the country. It is expected to turn very cold towards the end of the week and strong northerly gales and plunging temperatures are forecast for the weekend. We can't really complain as it has been a very mild winter so far - the Agia Marina river that runs through my property hasn't flowed once yet!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

Read more...

Symi was hit by a heavy hailstorm

Greece was struck by a deep barometric low yesterday, resulting in torrential rain and extensive flooding in many parts of the country. Most ports were closed and the Blue Star with 655 passengers on board spent some time wallowing off shore before being able to dock safely in Rhodes. Symi was hit by a heavy hailstorm and strong winds, confining the Symi to the quay until this morning when she was finally able to depart, taking much of the island's student population with her as Epiphany marks the end of the winter holidays and the universities and colleges reopen next week.

This was the first real storm of this winter and I was in the office at the time, working on the newspaper until the point when the lights went out... When I went up onto the roof-terrace to clear the hailstones which were clogging the drains before the trapped water started to come through the french doors and down the stairs I was amused to see that I was not the only one with a similar problem. 'Mr Tasty' was on his roof with a broom, sweeping the hailstones off and several other householders were similarly engaged. The ramp was a torrent, leaving a trail of rubble in its path. The last baseball cap of summer, some tourist legacy of a day trip long gone, is still draped damply round one of the 'no parking' cones. (see Out and About pictures)

The traditional booths of cypress and oranges used for the Epiphany celebrations today had to be rebuilt after the deluge but there was still a good turn out for the celebrations. It is a perfectly calm day with a few dark clouds hovering on the horizon and visibility of about 30 miles. Rhodes is clearly visible from the top of the mountain.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

www.symivisitor.com

Read more...

The valley below us is full of mist

A puddle of grey rain clouds has pooled over Greece and the forecast remains overcast and damp with temperatures in the low teens for the next few days. We have seen neither the sun nor the stars for some time. The clouds are so low that some mornings the valley below us is full of mist and Profiti Elias above us is wreathed in white. It is that time of year when laundry dries by gravity and every kitchen is festooned with wet socks.

New Year was very quiet with little in the way of conspicuous celebration. Apparently the new 'club' opened on the Pedi road over the holiday weekend but as it is heavily sound-proofed any festivities within were definitely not audible without. Gone are the days when we could sit in our garden and listen to the strains of bouzouki wafting across the valley on a Saturday night. Mind you, they've probably been replaced by techno-pop in which case it is just as well they are muffled by a reinforced concrete bunker.

The crew members of the Symi have resumed their grinding and chipping in the vehicle hold and large plastic buckets of red primer are lined up on the ramp, ready to deploy. Apart from a chap on the upper deck, cleaning seats, there is not a soul to be seen. Symi in January in the complete antithesis to Symi in August and it is possible to walk down the Kali Strata, spend several hours in the office and walk all the way back again afterwards without seeing a single other person.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

Read more...