Three Dimensional Damp

It is a clear calm day on Symi. Drenching dewfalls spangle the grass and moisture drips from the trees. Walking in the Pedi valley is a wet experience, even in sparkling sunshine. Humidity is currently about 75% and temperatures are in the low teens so every surface feels damp and chilly to the touch. Washing dries by gravity and yesterday’s bread is green by lunchtime. Where lizards basked in summer the snails leave trails now. For those who have only previously visited the island in the arid months of summer this three dimensional damp reminiscent of rain forests is a strange experience. Those of us who live here know that this is a normal phenomenon at this time of year. It is why Symi’s doors and shutters need repainting on an annual basis as they shrink and expand in response to these seasonal fluctuations.

Today’s photographs show some of the ferns and moss currently growing in the dry stone walls and the tangles of wild clematis that is taking over the fences in the Pedi valley.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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For Every Feast There is a Fast

The fog turned into clouds and squalls and it has been raining intermittently since early Thursday morning. A strong south-easterly wind has waves breaking along the Nimos shoreline and both sea and sky are uninviting shades of cold grey. The barometer is quite high and Symi harbour is fringed with green weed where the sea level has dropped. The Agios Nikolaos is in her winter berth, anchored four square and ready to ride out any winter storm, several metres off the north quay. Apart from a few fishing boats the annual ‘haul out’ is well under way.

The palm trees outside the police station are waving despondent fronds in a forlorn semaphore. Amazingly the pallets of bricks which have decorated the quay next to the clock tower for what seems like eternity, have finally gone. They have been replaced by a heap of sand and some shuttering has been put up around one of the palms which would indicate that a planter is intended. Apart from the bank and Elpida’s all the other doors on that side of the harbour appear closed and the only movement is a solitary muffled figure, head down in the wind and scarf streaming like a windsock, fighting a path to the post office. The weather is supposed to be clearing from tomorrow although temperatures will remain between 10 and 15 degrees.

The first Christmas lights have been put up – small stars and angels on streetlights around the harbour. The ones that were never taken down, in the remoter corners of Chorio, have been plugged back in. A few chocolate Santas have arrived in the supermarkets, as have large quantities of frozen mussels – Advent, like Lent, is a fasting time and many Greeks eat shellfish instead of meat during this period. For every feast there is a fast to balance it.

Have a warm weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Strange Weather

The silvery fingered fog that has been creeping across the Greece for the past few days wrapped itself around Symi during the night and we woke to a pearlescent gloom. Flights and shipping have been disrupted as visibility has dropped to less than 2 kilometres in many areas. Rain is expected to move in tonight and the rest of the week is likely to be wet and squally with some quite strong winds expected around Thursday.

The strange weather has certainly confused the plant life - some of the almond trees have started to flower as though it is February and many of the other deciduous trees are covered in new leaves when they should, right now, be in the process of losing the old ones and heading for a period of winter dormancy. The grapevines are still sprouting and the bougainvilleas which are normally bald by now are sending out mad shoots in all directions.



The Aegli is finally running again so the winter timetable as given is now operational. Although having a high speed connection is useful, albeit not very reliable due to its great age and inability to cope with wind and waves, there are problems with only having the Proteus running for vehicles and goods. As this is serving other islands as well as the Symi-Rhodes route it cannot provide a daily service. As things stand at present it is only possible to do a 'there and back' on a Wednesday, and the amount of time in Rhodes is only a few hours, so there are plenty of complaints, particularly from local businesses, many of which are accustomed to sending refrigerated vehicles over to the suppliers and having them filled and put on the returning boat. The glitches in the supply lines are already apparent in the island's shops and many perishable goods are in short supply or are arriving so close to their 'use by' dates as to be a liability to the shopkeepers. As the Pireus boats are ignoring us for the moment, anything being shipped from the mainland has to come via Rhodes or Kos and then connect with the Proteus, causing further logistic complications. After enjoying an extremely efficient transport system last winter this seems to be a retrograde step in the island's infrastructure and the locals certainly aren't happy about it. As they say, we await developments with interest!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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Huge heads of green broccoli

It is a cool clear day on Symi with only the lightest north westerly wind blowing down the harbour. Gulls are drifting gently past Harani and a fisherman in a small rowing boat is laying bright yellow nets just off NOS. The 'Olympic' is alongside the clock tower, low in the water, and there is only one solitary yacht in the harbour - a fibreglass production boat of about 11 metres overall - belonging to a Turkish charter company.

The photograph was taken on the way to work at 8 o'clock this morning, as the mist was starting to dissipate and before the morning breeze began. The dew falls the moment the sun goes behind the mountain and shady places remain damp all day. Ferns and moss sprout in unlikely places and neatly painted cyclamen leaves poke out from between the rocks and even among the paving stones on the Kali Strata.

Temperatures currently range from 8 and 18 degrees, perfect for growing cool weather crops. Those coriander plants which survived the extreme cold two weeks ago (cloched under bubble wrap for the duration) are still providing bunches of leaves for the kitchen but I don't expect them to last much longer so we are enjoying them while we can. What is left will join the last green chillies and fresh lemongrass in a jar or two of homemade green curry paste. The seed has been gathered from the Italian basil plants in the greenhouse, ready for sowing in the spring.

The vegetable hawkers that come onto the island now have splendid purple beetroot, huge heads of green broccoli, tender leeks and other delicacies that are just coming into season now and the market gardener on the corner in Chorio has an impressive display of Kos lettuces. Summer is the time to enjoy the sweetness of tomatoes and the voluptuous velvet of aubergines - the rainy season brings its own gastronomic pleasures.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Flurries of Rain

It’s a damp day, a chequerboard of ponderous clouds and brilliant sunshine. The gaudy awnings of summer have been packed away and the houses around the harbour are tightly shuttered against whatever winter might bring. Cars are parked where sponge stalls and postcard racks stood only a week ago.

The island is very quiet at the moment. The children are all in school and there are few people around. The excavators are still busy in Chorio, preparing the site for the new sports’ centre behind the Taxiarchis Hotel. At the moment it looks like a huge open-cast mine. Apart from the clatter of their machinery and the lumbering lorries of rubble grinding slowly up the Panormitis road, there is very little ambient noise. At night we are surrounded by a cocoon of softly tinkling sheep bells punctuated by flurries of rain on the tin roof.

Many parts of Greece have had bitterly cold weather with heavy snowfalls on high ground, gale force winds in the Aegean and flooding in Crete. Symi, dozing quietly in protective embrace of Asia Minor, has had little more than showers and the next few days are expected to be cold and clear.

The winter ferry schedule is rather less settled than the weather and although the ANES website still shows the Aegli as running in conjunction with the Proteus, in effect it was actually the Symi which left Yialos at 8.30 this morning.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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A Miraculous Day

After the gales and downpours of recent weeks the miracle of this year’s Panormitis Festival was that the weather was absolutely perfect. There were no transport problems and everyone was able to enjoy themselves without worrying about how to get home. I went across in the early afternoon with a friend and the monastery grounds were still buzzing with people. Stalls selling everything from lurid lingerie and lavender lipstick to camo pants and caged canaries jostling with icon and candle sellers, all under a thick pall of smoke from souvlaki braziers and doughnut friers. Gossiping visitors from other islands gathered at trestle tables strewn with the remains of retsina-fuelled lunches. To give regulars an idea of just how important this is as a local holiday, even Taxas supermarket was closed yesterday! With so many Symiots named either Michael, Panormitis or Gabriel it is a major name day celebration. The next ‘big one’ is, of course, 6 December, when all the island’s Nicholases celebrate theirs.

The visibility was astonishing and it was possible to see Kos quite clearly. Here is a picture of the harbour, taken from way up. It was a bit hair-raising stopping to take photographs as the traffic was heavy and not all drivers were as prudent – or as sober – as one might wish!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Chopping Firewood

Brrr. We have hurtled from the wettest October to the coldest November and there was ice on the puddles yesterday morning. My chickens have stopped laying eggs and are busy growing their winter feathers as fast as they can. The cats don’t want to get up in the morning (who can blame them) and there’s a scramble every evening for the warmest spot closest to the fire. Chopping firewood is, in itself, a warming activity if attacked with sufficient zeal.

There was a shipping ban over the weekend which delayed the arrival of many of the stall holders at Panormitis but things seem to be back to normal today, give or take the odd procession of white crests rolling over the cold blue sea. At least it isn’t raining! Indeed, apart from a few wind-blurred vapour trails the sky is a blank indigo canvas.

Out in the gardens of Chorio the figs are looking a bit frost bitten but the pomegranate trees, laden with ruddy bronze orbs are a splendid sight.

Have a warm week.

Regards,
Adriana

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The First Serious Cold Snap

It’s a wild and stormy day with thundershowers alternating with brief patches of sunshine. The first serious cold snap is forecast for this weekend with strong northerly winds and low temperatures. Definitely time to pack the remaining basil and chilli bushes into the greenhouse and lay in supplies of dry firewood. Today's pictures shows the sea washing up the customs' slipway and into the road - although the Mediterranean is technically tideless, it is strongly affected by fluctuations in barometric pressure and it is not unusual when a 'low' passes through for the water to cover the harbourside.

The island is slowly filling up with people for the Panormitis Festival which takes place on Tuesday. It will be the first one since the death of the Abbot, Papa Gabriele earlier this year which will be a bit strange for all of us. An anxious eye is also being kept on the weather forecast as stall keepers and pilgrims alike have had bad experiences of deluges and quaysides awash with breaking waves.

The ferry system is in disarray as the Aegli hydrofoil has broken down and the news that the Spanos won’t be calling in at Symi this winter has been met with great dismay. Costas Sikalos, the agent (Symi Tours) is collecting signatures for a petition to have it reinstated, as well as trying to get the big boats from Pireus to call in more often than once a week.

Have a warm dry weekend. I think I’ll be spending mine planting potatoes!

Regards,
Adriana

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