A good hostess

The last week of August is always an interesting one as the Italian, French, Maltese and Spanish visitors fade away and the Anglophone, Teutonic and Scandinavian ones start to arrive. The Greek visitors already began to leave last week, amid cries of ‘have a good winter’ to their friends and relations waving on the quay. The grocery shops are packing away the espresso ground coffee and the squid-ink tagliatelle and arranging boxes of English Breakfast Tea in neat ziggurats. Symi has a chameleon like quality to adapt according to the expectations of her visitors and each month’s Symi experience is different. After all, a good hostess always makes sure that her guests feel comfortable and at home and over the years Symi has learned what her visitors like.

There was heavy dew last night and this morning low cloud lingered over Nimos until quite late in the day. It is slowly getting cooler as the nights grow longer – it is not for nothing that the island’s regular visitors arrive in their droves in September, as do the many walkers, photographers and artists who come in increasing numbers.

Have a good week!

Regards,
Adriana

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Carpe diem

The haze is finally starting to clear. Small white triangles move slowly against the azure background of distant hills as yachtsmen take advantage of the afternoon breeze. While it is not exactly cool the temperatures have dropped to more tolerable levels in the high thirties. It is very quiet in the harbour at this time of the day. The day trippers have congealed in various patches of shade and everyone who isn’t working is still at the beach.

Normally this week is one of the high spots of the summer season with the annual festival and all night beach party on Nimos island. This year, however, the festival was cancelled as a mark of respect for the tragic death of a young man in a diving accident on Nimos on Monday. A dreadful business and a timely reminder that life can be snuffed out at any moment and should not be squandered. Carpe diem.

On a more cheerful note the Ministry of Culture is on the island at the moment, taking photographs and making notes for a report on Symi’s Neo-classical architecture. Not really surprising since we are, after all, living in a national monument. An enthusiastic team of photographers has just passed through our office, snapping our cherubs, griffons and palmettes from every angle. They couldn’t resist also capturing the view from my window…

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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The joys of hot summer nights

Symi report 21 august 06

Greece continues to simmer and sizzle and Symi, the windless island, is one of the hottest places in the country at the moment. It was 45 degrees at midday in my shadehouses yesterday.

Sleeping out beneath a canopy of stars is one of the joys of hot summer nights. Nature takes a break in the heat of the day so the night is punctuated by the murmuring tinkle of sheep bells as the neighbours’ flocks graze on the terraces around us. Owls come out to hunt the rats nibbling in the almond trees and shooting stars traverse the heavens. Every so often there’s a squawk from the hen coop – they sleep on the roof with their wings outstretched for coolth and every once in a while someone gets bumped off the end and wakes up in an indignant flurry. The hens have shed most of their feathers to keep cool and so far we haven’t had any casualties to heat stroke this year.

Electronics and electrical appliances are playing up in the heat and our office telephones have gone mad again. Anyone trying to contact us is requested to please email as the phones have a mind of their own at the moment and alternate between all ringing in unison or not at all!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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A scorching hot day

It is a scorching hot day on Symi. Temperatures have been in the forties all week and the media are warning of a major country wide heatwave. For Symi that usually means temperatures in the high forties – not a pleasant thought. Fortunately we are on the cool side of the harbour and the shortening days means that we are already not getting as much direct sunshine as we did a few weeks ago. The meltemi is blowing quite strongly now which brings some relief but there are forest fire warnings for the whole country as high temperatures and strong winds can be a lethal combination.

There are huge storm clouds heaping up over Turkey and the horizon has vanished in the haze. It is not entirely unheard of for us to have a short sharp thundershower in August so perhaps we will be in luck!

It is fairly quiet in the harbour as everyone who is not working has gone to the beach. All the little hire boats are out – just a row of cheerful red buoys remains, bobbing gently off the clock tower.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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The secrets of perpetual motion

This is the busiest week of the year in Greece and Symi is no exception. Cleaners have discovered the secrets of perpetual motion and taxi-drivers are the most sought-after people on the island. Everyone is working flat out to help visitors enjoy their time on Symi and there is little opportunity to say more than a passing ‘hi’ to friends and colleagues. We’ll all start to catch up with each other again in September when calm returns to the island. (And my diary entries will start to get longer again!)

Celebrities spotted in passing this weekend included tycoon Sokrates Kokalis whose yacht was moored outside Mythos restaurant, and popular Greek singer Notis Sfakianakis who is staying at a local hotel.

The accompanying photograph gives an idea of what the anchorage off Harani looks like most mornings when I come down to work. By midday they’ve all departed for the next pretty anchorage and by late afternoon the new arrivals are jockeying for the prime spots.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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The golden light of summer

It’s a hot and hazy day on Symi. The meltemi may be blowing briskly out in the Rhodes channel but there’s little more than a cat’s paw riffling the water here. The golden light of summer burnishes Nimos and makes the ochre houses of the harbour glow. The magenta bougainvilleas are at their most magnificent and the grapes ripen plump and sweet on the vine-draped pergolas.

August is a month where the nights are, if anything, busier than the days. Apart from the festival events (the Symi Women’s Association will be dancing in the town square this evening and there will be a play in Symiot dialect on Saturday night) there are also various beach parties and the tavernas and bars remain busy until late into the night at this time of the year. The same haze that gilds the days also turns the moon into a voluptuous orange and dims the stars.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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The island is filling up

Oh dear. We are back on ISDN again. Our telephone lines went totally haywire and this is not a good time for the phones to play up so until the cause of the problem has been traced we are back to 52 kbps… Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

It is very hot and humid with low cloud hanging over Nimos and wrapped around the Vigla early every morning. This burns off in the course of the day, building up again after sunset when the dew starts to fall at sea level. It is still quite warm at night though with temperatures staying in the mid to high twenties at midnight away from the sea.

The island is filling up and it is becoming difficult to get seats on the more popular hydrofoil and ferry routes. Accommodation is also in short supply with very few gaps to be found. Anyone arriving without prebooked accommodation may find there is no room at the inn.

The effects of the exceptionally dry conditions last winter are becoming increasingly apparent in the Pedi valley as whole trees are starting to die off. It looks as though we ourselves will probably lose several almond trees and figs. The almonds and peaches are sweating resin and many have lost all their leaves. We hope that this winter will bring normal rainfall as the last one was the driest winter we have experienced in the since 1993.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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The whiff of grilled fish

It’s a sizzling hot day on Symi with only the gentlest of breezes shimmering through the heat haze. Only the ants and the lizards are moving with any speed. Every patch of shade seems to have a cat napping in it and there is very little human activity to be seen.

Most of the Mediterranean countries are now on holiday – the sensible thing to do when it is too hot to do much thinking – and Symi is bustling with Italians, French, Spanish, Maltese…and a fair number of Greeks from Athens and Thessalonica too. Greek television news bulletins devote vast tracts of air time to covering the exodus from the big centres and the crowds boarding the big ferries to the islands. Now would probably be a good time to visit Athens – there’s no one there!

Enthusiastic monitors of this website may have noticed that our webcam has been running since about 9 o’clock this morning… Yes, we can now provide more extensive webcam coverage so you enjoy the comings and goings in Symi harbour wherever you are. If I could also send you the whiff of grilled fish from the taverna next door I would do so! All this progress comes at a price, however, and there are gremlins in the telephone lines at the moment. We hope to have them sorted out this afternoon but in the meantime please email rather than fax.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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