An Interesting Mix

The rest of the country has been coping with gales, snow, sleet and rain since Saturday. Here on Symi conditions have been calm so far and the last two days have been clear with sharp sunshine and chilly breezes. This idyll is unlikely to continue for much longer as the clouds are gathering and heavy rain is forecast for tonight.

Those who are not sneezing with pollen induced hay-fever from the myriad white and yellow daisies are enjoying the sweet scent of abundant cyclamens and alexanders. It has been a topsy-turvy winter weather wise and we are now having an exuberant if premature spring.

There is a hawker doing the rounds of the islands at the moment, selling carpets and onions, an interesting mix.

Down in the harbour workmen have been busy along the edge of the quay on the road out of town, putting up equidistant green poles with little red reflectors on top, evidently to mark the water’s edge. As the big lorries that negotiate the harbour often swing out over the water as they manoeuvre round the bends and often have a wheel over the edge, the poles are unlikely to last long but they look quite neat at the moment. Old hands remember how long the street lights and utility boxes lasted which were erected within the arc of the ferry ramps and the new poles make for vehement conversation on the bus.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Torrential Rain and Bright Sunshine

The weather alternates between torrential rain and bright sunshine, with low cloud, heavy dew and mist in the early mornings. Temperatures have remained between 10 and 15 degrees centigrade and with the lengthening days and recent showers the vegetation is becoming lush once again. The long range forecast remains unsettled and more rain is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, possibly accompanied by strong winds.

Indigo blue lupins, glossy yellow buttercups and starry white daisies light up the terraces and the tall scented alexanders are taking over on the Kali Strata. The lambs are fattening fast on such a rich diet and deals are already being negotiated for the Easter feast.

A curious phenomenon on the island this week has been the appearance of forlorn and bemused day-trippers, mainly American, who have been sold tickets for day return trips to Symi on the Dodecanese Pride without being told that the tourist season has not started yet and nothing is open. When I went round to Elpida’s to collect a copy of the Athens News I was stopped by an elderly couple who were more than mildly angry at having been so duped. They had been wandering around the harbour since half past nine this morning and there is a limit to how many cups of coffee and gyros one might want to consume.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Carnival, Yialos 18 February 2007

A lone Zorro!

The black apparition on the left is Cerberus ... just in case you were wondering...

For more pictures, please see Out and About.

Adriana

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Carnival Party at Syllogos Friday 16 February 2007

As you can see, a good time was had by all!

The main carnival parade starts in half an hour so see you later...

Regards,

Adriana

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Showery Spells

It has been a squally week with fleeting sunny intervals and lots of showery spells. The photograph was taken from the deck of the Proteus on Wednesday afternoon as the wind started to pick up. I was fortunate to be able to complete my business in the three and a bit hours allocated on a Wednesday morning as those who were counting on catching the Aegli at 15.00 wound up spending the night in Rhodes. Some of the bodies draped over the salon in the Proteus were vehemently wishing that they had gone for the ‘missed the boat and spent the night at the Hermes’ option!

The forecast for the next 5 days remains unsettled but at this stage it looks as though it will at least be dry for the carnival procession on Sunday.

Monday is Clean Monday, a bank holiday in Greece usually celebrated with the flying of kites and picnics in the country so we hope that the rain holds off for that. For anyone who is travelling this weekend, there have been adjustments to the ANES and Dodecanese Seaways schedules to take the holiday into account. Please check www.anes.gr and www.12ne.gr.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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An Early Spring

The weekend followed a pattern that has become all too familiar this year with gales and shipping disruptions. This time as the storm swept in from the South it brought with it driving rain and flurries of hail. Although it has now settled into a grey drizzly day with diminishing wind, the Aegli remains secured to the dock outside Armara supermarket and shows little sign of going anywhere today. Next week is the carnival pageant weekend and all eyes are on the weather forecast as a great deal of trouble and effort is going into the making of costumes and other preparations. The theme this year is Greek mythology – not something that goes too well with anoraks and umbrellas.

One advantage of the recent rain is that the gardens are perking up. The oranges are ripening and the weight of lemons is bowing the trees. Some of the almond trees in Chorio and the Pedi valley are starting to flower, often in conjunction with new leaves. Out in the terraces the lupins are in bloom – flowers which normally only appear towards the end of March – and the poppies are starting to open. A late winter is overlapping with an early spring.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Smokey Thursday

Yesterday was Smokey Thursday – one of the celebrations that forms part of the Carnival season before Lent. As the weather has been so wet this week the town hall took the precaution of arranging to use the vehicle hold of the Symi ferry as a party venue. In the event this proved to be a wise decision. This was the first opportunity for the children to show off their fancy dress costumes and there were some splendid ones. The town hall laid on a plentiful supply of souvlaki, wine and soft drinks as well as music. For pictures, see the Out and About page.

On a more solemn note, we are sorry to report the death yesterday of Symi’s ‘tin man’, Yiannis Patsakis. There can be few people who do not own at least one of his delightful creations, whether it be a lantern, oil can or dust pan. His passing marks the end of an era on Symi. Our condolences to his family – the funeral bells are tolling even as I write this.

Despite calm conditions and no weather warnings the Aegli did not travel yesterday and this morning failed to depart until midday, much to the annoyance of many Symiots who had business to do in Rhodes or planes to catch. The wet weather is expected to continue for several more days and strong winds are forecast for Saturday and Sunday so further shipping disruptions can be expected.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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A Different Kind of Tourist

Stormy weekends are becoming par for the course around here and with each one the island becomes progressively colder. There was a thin film of ice on the puddles this morning and snow is visible on the most distant peaks on the Turkish coast. The inhabitants of the island go about their business heavily muffled under a tepid grey sky. The long range forecast indicates more of the same to come, with snow and sleet expected on high ground on Crete and many of the other islands as well as the mainland. Temperatures on Symi are likely to remain in single figures this week.

Yialos is quite busy this chilly February morning. A Greek battleship has been in Symi since Friday, bringing a different kind of tourist to the island - sailors in navy uniforms taking glove-fingered snapshots of each other at the war memorial and munching gyros on the bridge. A big blue boat, the Captain Comminos, is lying alongside below the office balcony, off loading pallets of bricks, bales of fish meal and random heaps of polystyrene fish packing boxes with a rhythmic creak of crane and rattle of fork lift. Crisp sounds sharp in the cold air.

The water ship is rumbling away by the clock tower, her load almost fully discharged. This week it is the Olympic, sadly in need of a repaint judging by the amount of rust revealed as she rises slowly out of the harbour. The Symi remains alongside, blocking the view from Stella to Elpida.

Up in Chorio cement mixers grind on as the seasonal building work continues. As Friday’s rain caused many building projects to lose a day, labourers worked through Sunday to catch up. One project which is not showing much sign of progress is the Big Hole – this has filled up with rain water yet again, the edges of the excavations becoming increasingly blurred with each mud slide. Local residents are apprehensive that work on the new sports stadium will only resume in the summer, disrupting tourism in Chorio the same way as the road works did back in 2004. We hope that their fears are unfounded but their skepticism is not inexplicable, given that most major projects seem to take place in the summer season on Symi, whether they be widening the harbour, laying pipes or tarring the road.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Hardy Souls

The day started with the rumble of thunder and drumming of rain on the roof – and the disgruntled squawks of poultry complaining at being so rudely awakened in the predawn gloom. Despite purpose built roosts and shelters my Symi hybrid chickens insist upon sleeping on the roofs of their hutches rather than inside, hardy souls that they are.

The Aegli left in a downpour at half past eight and it rained all morning. The sky is starting to clear now as the wind shifts to the north because, oh what a surprise, we have another northerly gale forecast for this weekend and this one is supposed to hit us Friday evening. We are hoping that the Aegli makes it back this afternoon, not least because the February Symi Visitor newspapers are on board.

The accompanying photographs were taken yesterday afternoon, as the rain clouds started to gather. A very different mood to Sunday’s windswept view of Pedi.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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