Adriana's Symi-a Greek island diary: October 2007

Bunches of Holy Basil

It is a mild autumn day on Symi. A gentle but chilly breeze is blowing down the harbour, making the Symi ferry’s vehicle ramp creak and groan when it scrapes against the quay. A few world-weary cruising yachts are tied up near the pharmacy, chipped paint, folding bicycles and faded canvas dodgers telling tales of adventures at sea and ashore.

There are few people in the harbour at this time of the year. Chorio is where the activity is. Carpets and rugs airing in the sun to remove the aroma of mothballs before they are put to winter use. Women in pyjamas sweeping courtyards, the smart clothes of summer jobs stowed for another year. Children in colourful tracksuits squealing in the school playground. The hectic grind of concrete mixers as labourers hurry to beat the next rainy spell.

In the Pedi valley the rotovators putter along the terraces, turning the new sprouted grass into neat chocolate rows ready to receive barley seed and vetch. Suddenly every man is a farmer, a shepherd, a hunter or a builder. Checked shirts, jeans and camouflage gear are the uniform for the season and razors have been binned.

Traffic across the mountain to Panormitis has increased as preparations are underway for the festival next week. Pick up trucks and cars, laden with ladies in black clutching bunches of holy basil and roses, rattle up the hill every morning. Nightfall brings the heavy scent of incense rolling down from the cemeteries as this is also time for remembering the dead.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

Symi's Second Spring 29 October 2007

Everywhere there are seeds germinating and bulbs poking through. One can almost hear the grass grow on the terraces.

Ochi Day Symi 2007

Pat and Ali's Last Night

Daybreak 26 October 2007

Pedi, Symi 25 October 2007

This yacht was lucky to survive with just a shredded foresail after venturing out in the recent storms that have lashed Greece this past week.

Symi Weather Update

The low pressure system that has brought rain to the whole of Greece is slowly moving eastwards. Showers are forecast for all parts of Greece today with particularly heavy ones expected in Crete. Shipping is returning to normal, much to the relief of islands such as Mykonos and Santorini which have been hammered by winds gusting up to Force 10 in recent days. Once again Symi has been spared the worst and we should see fresh produce in Symi’s shops after the Proteus comes through from Rhodes this afternoon.

The long range forecast for Symi is cloudy skies and moderate temperatures ranging from 18 to 25 degrees centigrade for the next five or six days. No further strong winds are expected at the moment but at this time of the year storms can blow up very quickly so we will be keeping a close watch on the forecasts.

Although the season is to all intents and purposes over, visitors are still coming to Symi for the Panormitis festival in November, seasonal workers are making arrangements to go back to Rhodes, Athens or further afield for the winter and there is also quite a large group of people who have houses on Symi but work elsewhere in the summer. They are starting to return for the winter, bringing with them first hand tales of the summer fires that afflicted so many parts of Greece this year.

Regards,
Adriana

Clouds 24 October 2007

Blanket Shipping Ban

We have had 55 millimetres of rain since Saturday afternoon and it is still raining intermittently now. Fortunately, unlike other parts of Greece which have experienced flash floods and mud slides, the rain on Symi has been steady and the island is soaking it up well. There is a blanket shipping ban in effect today so the only maritime movement is the coastguard patrol and the water ship. There is a south westerly Force 8 blowing up into the Aegean and it is rough off shore. Nimos and the rocks are fringed with white. There is a big 3 masted gulet in the harbour at the moment and it has warps out in all directions. Mean little squalls are whipping across the harbour, hurling rain and spray at our windows and rattling the shutters.

The last visitors resident on the island are mooching about, waiting for shipping updates and worrying if they will be able to catch their flights from Rhodes. This is a problem with late season traveling – some years October passes without any serious weather problems and other years ferries are cancelled and flights missed. In the fifteen years I have lived on the island I have never been able to quite make up my mind which conditions could be regarded as ‘normal’ for Symi in October – aside from the obviously unpredictable!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

Clean Up Symi

Wispy clouds straggle over a suddenly empty island as the last tourists pick over the few souvenir shops still open. Walking down the Kali Strata this morning I passed a group of seriously equipped hikers heading for the hills. Grass is starting to sprout between the paving stones on the Kali Strata and the moss is turning green in the crevices of the dry stone walls.

The cooler temperatures have brought a crisp freshness to the air and an eagerness to do things outside before winter sets in. We hope that this enthusiasm will bring a good turn out for the Clean Up Symi, Clean Up the World campaign on Sunday morning.

The nights have been still and starry of late, punctuated only by the hoot of hunting owls and the occasional restless rustle from the donkey in the field behind us. We took the opportunity to cook outside last night, probably one of the last barbecues of the season, and the warmth from the fire was welcome. The aroma of wood smoke and sizzling sausages drew an eager audience of cats, both resident and stray.

The forecast is countrywide rain in varying forms from tonight right through until Tuesday evening and snow is expected on high ground in many parts of Greece. At this stage no strong winds are forecast so there are no shipping disruptions anticipated but we will be watching the situation carefully as we still have visitors on the island.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

Pedi Sunrise 17 October 2007

The Rainy Season

The rainy season arrived on Saturday afternoon with a steady succession of thundershowers and squalls that continued until Sunday morning. A total of 7 mm of rain fell over a period of about 12 hours. The weather has now turned cold and windy with a brisk northerly breeze whipping across the bay. The sea is a deep inky blue speckled with white crests and the chop is slopping against the quayside. Yachts are scudding by, sails crisp and gleaming in the sparkling light as they head towards Rhodes.

The wind should drop by nightfall with a few warm days ahead before the next rainy spell hits us on Friday afternoon. We are all hoping that it will be clear for the Clean up the World/Clean up Symi Day on Sunday 21 October.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

The View from the Symi Visitor 15 October 2007

Tiny Painted Hearts

Only one rainy day in the week I spent in England, but the clouds are rallying for some serious rain here in Greece this weekend and we could have some heavy downpours on Sunday. As we had torrential rain the same time last year, the forecast is being taken more seriously than usual and I noticed quite a few people clearing gutters and checking downpipes this morning. One little-known characteristic of Symi’s neo-classical roofs is that the gutters are set into the tops of the walls, usually with a down pipe designed to fill the cistern under the house. Any blockages mean that water can flow under the tiles and into the house in heavy rain, hence the importance of checking them at the beginning of the rainy season.

The sea is still very warm whereas the land is starting to cool off as the days grow shorter. This means heavy dewfall and misty mornings. Time to remember to bring in cushions, newspapers and anything else likely to suffer in the damp when turning in of an evening.

The change in the gardens is remarkable as Symi’s second spring has begun. The citrus trees have new shoots and the roses are starting to flower once again. The first dainty cyclamen leaves, tiny painted hearts among the stones, are emerging. If we do have good rain this weekend the island will be quite green within a week or so as it does not take much to get things growing again.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

In Pursuit of a Rain Cloud

It is the first day of a new month – and of a new ferry timetable. ANES has now updated its website www.anes.gr to show the full schedule for the month, including the Aegli and the Symi II. The Aegli is, unfortunately, out of commission at the moment, having broken down over the weekend so check that it is in fact back on stream before making any plans centred on the hydrofoil’s schedule.

Speaking of hydrofoils, Dodecanese Seaways seems to be closing early this year – at time of writing their schedule does not go beyond Wednesday 10 October.

Weatherwise, the island is basking in late summer sunshine and evening temperatures are warmer than usual for the time of year. Ambient humidity is increasing and although the heavy dewfalls that are characteristic of autumn here are still absent, mist does tend to form at nightfall, only burning off as the day heats up.

Many of the island’s regular visitors are here now and more are arriving in the course of the week. There is also quite a lot happening this month. The Symi Animal Welfare Vet Week starts on 5 October, giving the island’s strays a good start for the winter. On 21 October there is another Clean Up Symi Day which we hope will be as successful as the last one. Look out for posters with details of both of these.

Have a good week. I won’t be on line again until the end of next week as I am going on leave. Yes, while everyone else is heading for Symi I am off to England in pursuit of a rain cloud!

Regards,
Adriana

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About this Blog

I sailed into Panormitis Bay, Symi, by chance one windy July day in 1993 and have been here ever since. The locals tell me that this is one of the miracles of St Michael of Panormitis. A BA graduate with majors in English, Philosophy and Classical Civilisation, the idea of living in what is to all intents and purposes an archaeological site appeals to me. Not as small as Kastellorizo, not as touristy as Rhodes, Symi is just the right size. I live on a small holding which my husband and I have reclaimed from a ruin of over-grazing and neglect and turned into a small oasis over the course of the past 22 years. I also work part-time for Symi Visitor Accommodation, helping independent travellers discover and enjoy Symi's simple pleasures for themselves.

This page is kindly sponsored by Wendy Wilcox, Symi Visitor Accommodation.