Bank Holiday Long Weekend

The bank holiday long weekend has brought quite a lot of activity to the harbour and there were more boats in Yialos early this morning than we have seen in a long time. The Symi was also quite full when she docked at 13.00. Lots of schoolchildren on an excursion, accompanied by teachers sounding ever more desperate.

The town crier has been announcing over the tannoy at roughly 15 minute intervals that a special ceremony to honour the director and scriptwriter of the Greek soap opera, Joanna of the Heart, will be taking place at the Opera House hotel function room tonight.

The weekend’s strong north westerly winds have blown away the dust, revealing rows of cut out purple hills on the opposite shore. The last spot of snow on the Turkish mountains visible from our garden has vanished completely. Temperatures are still in the low twenties but it is just that bit too cold to be sitting outside much after sunset. The fireside beckons.

Our adolescent rooster is driving everyone crazy with his attempts to crow. He still can’t quite get it right, even though he practices all night, and the cockerels in the valley respond by demonstrating exactly how to do it. The new crop of spring chicks are now a month old and practicing flying.

Have a good week, and an enjoyable break to those of you on holiday.

Regards,
Adriana

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The View from My Office Window

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Nocturnal Activities

It is a peaceful hazy day on Symi. Cat’s paws of wind dab at the water and the distant shores of Turkey are pale mauve against a lilac sky. Apart from a handful of modest yachts the harbour is quiet – it will be another 45 minutes before the Symi ferry arrives from Panormitis with its attendant hullaballoo (the crew are chipping and grinding off the rust spots – a noisy business).
Yesterday morning when the Proteus came in on her southbound journey a new wooden kiosk was trundled off the boat. It is now sitting over by the clock tower, awaiting paint and attention. A new ticket office perhaps?

Strong winds are forecast for the Aegean this weekend and many parts of Greece are experiencing stormy weather but at the moment it looks as though it will pass us by, sheltered as we are by Turkey on three sides. Only streaks of wind-blown cloud reveal that there might be more happening out there than the delicate breeze plucking at the faded flag on the Italian boat moored outside Mythos.

In the Pedi valley the sinister purple Dracunculis vulgaris lurks odiferously, pollinated by flies. The swallows are back, swooping across the evening sky, and the moonlit night is restless with the hoot of hungry owls as they go about their business. Every morning the cats present to me the fruits of their own nocturnal activities, mainly baby rodents that the owls missed.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Serenade the Moon

April is drawing to a close. The sky dripped sandy red rain sporadically all Sunday, clearing only at nightfall. St George’s Day was perfect and today is still and warm in the sun.

The vegetation is dying back rapidly now. Mud showers do more harm than good as the fine floury Saharan sand coats all the leaves as a fine desiccant, clogging leaf pores and choking the plants if it is not washed off straight away. The insect life, on the other hand, is flourishing. It is important to close the windows and doors before turning on the lights in the evening. Otherwise rooms fill up with moths, mosquitoes, daddy-long-legs and anything else one might care to mention. Suicidal moths hurl themselves at the gas flames and the geckoes that live behind the icons grow stouter by the day. The proliferation of newly hatched insect life has brought many birds onto Symi and every tree and shrub seems to be a-twitter. Forget peace and quiet – nature is noisy and exuberant at this time of the year. Cockerels and donkeys serenade the moon and sing rounds in the afternoons. The Lieni cows moo sonorously. I have two house guests at the moment and neither had realized just how noisy rural life can be!

The Symi is humming outside our window, waiting for the last stragglers to board for the return trip to Rhodes. There are still only a few day trippers around and the island is very quiet, even in the middle of the day when the boat is in. At present only the Symi is doing day trips and the souvenir shops in the harbour know how the day is going to fare within a few minutes of the ferry docking at one o’clock.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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St George's Day at Drakounta 23 April 2007

Chronia Polla to all the Georges out there! There are some more photos on our Out & About page.

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Frolicking in the Bay

Symi has been abuzz with abnormal activity for the past few days. A big Chinook helicopter visited on Wednesday, sending up huge clouds of dust as it landed on the football pitch in Pedi. Thursday saw naval crash boats doing manoeuvres in the harbour and the island is swarming with security personnel. The bus and taxi shelters have been repainted and there is a lot of quick paintwork and tidying up taking place around the harbour area. The reason for all this activity is the visit, later today, of the Foreign Ministers from 20 EU countries. Security concerns prevent us from giving more information on this at the moment but we will be covering the event in greater detail later. Please note the road through the harbour is closed from 16.00 to 18.30 today.

It’s not just the Greek Navy boys who have been disporting themselves in Yialos harbour this week. A school of porpoises paid Symi a rare visit earlier this week, frolicking out in the bay between the fuel station at Petalo and Harani. We stopped to watch them from the top of the hill – definitely one of those occasions when I wish that the zoom on my camera was better!

It is a mild still day with steadily diminishing visibility as the dust storm currently blanketing North Africa and Egypt creeps slowly this way. The daisies have all gone from the Kali Strata and Themistocles is working his way back up the steps on his knees with a whitewashing brush. The garden furniture hawker has returned to the island, trundling up and down the streets of Chorio with a loudhailer and a truckload of plastic chairs and tables.

ANES has put up a notice on the kiosk, advertising that the Aegli will be doing a day trip to Datca tomorrow – a sure sign that there are more people on the island. Summer is a-coming!

Have a good weekend.
Regards,
Adriana

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The Whiff of Gloss Paint

After a windy weekend we woke to a cloud-streaked sky this morning and it is chillier than it has been for some time. Much needed showers are forecast for many parts of Greece.

The Symi ferry is docked beneath our window. There is a dinghy in the water and the crew is taking advantage of the calm conditions to catch up on some maintenance. A handful of small cruising yachts is dotted along the quay but the overall scene is quiet. Some of the excursion boats are back in the water but the taxi boats are still on barrels on the beach at Tolis in Pedi, waiting patiently to slide back down the greased ways, Homeric style. The whiff of gloss paint is on the air as final preparations for the season are underway.

The daisies on the Kali Strata have met their nemesis – Themistocles from the town hall is working his way systematically down the steps with a mattock and a bundle of black plastic refuse bags.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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New Inhabitants

The Pedi Valley in the region of Lieni has some new inhabitants. We have been puzzled by frequent baleful lowing reverberating round the valley at odd times in recent days and yesterday I tracked down the source. A small herd of cows just below the footpath to Drakos. While Symi has never really been cattle country, occasional bullocks have been seen in the grounds of the power station over the years as much of the island’s beef arrives ‘on the hoof’ and there used to be a slaughterhouse down there, but these cows have an air of bucolic permanence. Shamble-gaited kine certainly make a change after the frolicking of the late lamented lambs.

Now that the Easter holiday is past the island is much quieter with fewer people in residence. There are, however, more day-trippers as Rhodes is becoming busier and it is still a bit chilly for all but the hardiest beach goers. The Symi ferry has just docked with several guided groups of Germans and Scandinavians. The Proteus is coming in at the clock tower as its berth has been taken by the Symi.

Greek television is still dominated by the sinking of the Louis Lines cruise ship, the Sea Diamond. Aside from the investigation into the cause of the accident and concerns about the environmental impact of the diesel spill on Santorini, there is the matter of the French father and child who are missing, presumed drowned. It has not been a good time for Louis Lines as it was in one of their hotels last year that two children died of carbon monoxide poisoning. When one thinks, however, of the millions of people who stay in hotels and travel on cruise ships and ferries in Greece in a year without mishap, tragic though these deaths are, Greece is still a very safe destination.

Have a good weekend,
Regards,
Adriana

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Distant Dance Music

Despite fears to the contrary, Easter on Symi was a tremendous success. The weather was perfect and all the processions and ceremonies took place without a hitch or mishap. Watching the Good Friday processions of the Epitaph through the harbour, it struck me just how dramatic it must have been back in the days before Symi had streetlights, when the ribbon of lights and flashes making its way through the streets and lanes was the only source of light. On Saturday night we went up to the topmost part of Chorio, where we could look down upon all the churches – an amazing sight as they erupted with sound and light and way down at the bottom of the darkness of the Pedi valley, little plumes of fireworks spurting from the church on the quay.

On Sunday the town square was filled with music and dancing and the celebrations culminated in the burning of the effigy of Judas. There were also many family parties and the aroma of spit roasted lamb wafted on the air until late in the evening with the strains of distant dance music. Donna Summer seems to have enjoyed a revival somewhere in the Pedi valley!

Symi has suddenly become much quieter again as the weekend visitors have returned to work and those early tourists who came to experience Greek Easter are packing their bags and heading homewards.

The long range forecast shows warm and sunny conditions for the next few days as the high pressure system continues to hover over our corner of the Mediterranean.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Pachos 5 April 2007

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A Family Celebration

The Easter Exodus is in full swing and all internal flights and ships are full as the Greeks vacate the mainland cities for the islands and rural villages for the Easter holidays. Easter is very much a family celebration here and everyone tries to get home. Every boat that docks in Symi brings more students back to their families – a happy time as, of course, a large number of the island’s young people are forced by circumstances to live a long way from home in order to continue their studies and are not able to travel to Symi as often as they might wish.

The television news is full of market surveys and scandals, mainly focusing on the Easter Feast and its essential component, lamb. Greek lamb commands a very high price in the market and the scandals involve butchers in places like the Athens meat market trying to pass off cheap imported lamb from neighbouring countries as the more expensive local product.

The weather is very unsettled and many parts of Greece are experiencing stormy weather and, in the case of Florina and other mountain areas, snow. We have had strong winds since yesterday afternoon with intermittent flurries of rain. The wind is slamming at our shutters and there are several yachts rolling violently as they try to shelter in the harbour. The Dodecanese Pride left Rhodes this morning but disembarked all passengers apart from those destined for Symi as it was uncertain if it would be able to continue northwards. The Aegli was unable to do its 8 am trip to Rhodes and is still sitting outside Katerinettes. The Symi, on its scheduled tourist run, came straight to Yialos and gave Panormitis a miss. Squally conditions are likely to continue until Saturday. Easter Sunday should be clear but windy and the outlook for Monday and Tuesday varies wildly from balmy breezes to howling gales depending on the pessimism of the respective forecasters.

Just in case I don’t get near a computer again between now and Tuesday, happy Easter everyone.

Regards,
Adriana

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Oops!

The municipal truck and crane taking abandoned vehicles to the dump hit a problem yesterday - a low branch of the big oak tree in Lieni.

Fortunately no one was injured and everyone rallied round to clear the obstruction as quickly as possible. The photographs show the torn off branch being lifted from a local's slightly squashed motor car.

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Still Quite Slow

Brrr. It may be April but there’s a chilly north wind blowing and the heaters and sweaters are out again. Saturday was wet and blustery with thundershowers – but only delivered 15 mm according to my rainwater gauge. Enough to perk things up again though and there is more rain forecast for later this week. It looks as though the Easter period may also be quite windy and many parts of Greece are still experiencing wintry weather with sleet and snow at high altitudes.

In addition to the traditional packets of Easter egg dye, some of the Symi grocers are stocking pre-dyed eggs in Paschal red and, by way of novelty, rather strange metallic rainbow paint. The nocturnal bangs have started, much to the alarm of many of the island’s dogs. Meanwhile, down in the Pedi valley the sheep munch on, eating their way through breaking waves of yellow marguerites.

Down in the harbour, the Symi ferry has just come in. Although it is running a ‘day trip’ schedule, in practice the main passengers at the moment are army personnel and people returning to Symi for the Easter holidays. Windy days usually mean more day-trippers in the shoulder seasons as it is not good beach weather in Rhodes but this early in April it is still quite slow, probably because there aren’t that many tourists staying on Rhodes at the moment.

Walkers are enjoying the unusual juxtaposition of January’s cyclamens and May’s daisies all flowering at once in botanical confusion.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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