Adriana's Symi-a Greek island diary: May 2008

Heavenly Symi Blue

I photographed these magnificent morning glories scrambling over the walls below Giorgio and Maria's taverna in Chorio as I walked down the Kali Strata to work today. Now that Greece is in the grips of the first serious heatwave of the year and Symi is sizzling the flowers are at their best very early in the morning, before the sun shrivels them up.

It is very quiet in the harbour as everyone who can has gone to the beach. In the distance I can see the splash of swimmers off NOS beach and there are a few fishermen sitting on the end of the quay by the clock tower.

Regards,

Adriana

A Pleasant Blur

It is a bright blue and white spring day on Symi. The sun is sparkling on the water and the houses are dazzling in the pure light. A brisk northerly breeze is blowing through the tamarisk trees and ruffling the sun umbrellas. Most of the day-trippers have departed and all is quiet in the harbour, most visitors being happily settled on the beach in Pedi or further afield. Now that the water taxis and excursion boats are in operation and the weather perfect few visitors staying on the island are seen in Yialos or Chorio during the day. As we are only a month from the solstice there is no need to head for home until late in the day and a pleasant blur of twilight gatherings in bars and cafes fills the interval before dinner.

While late spring rains have given Symi a lingering verdure, the insect population this year is exceptional. Even my cats are complaining at mosquitoes biting their noses and ears and my usual supermarkets have sold out of fly-papers. Days are bad but nights are worse. The puddles of molten wax around the wicks of the citronella candles quickly become an unattractive soup of embalmed moths and leaving the window open and the light on is an invitation to a Pandora’s boxful of winged things. The geckoes and spiders, however, are delighted with this bumper crop and I have seen some so fat they are having trouble remaining aloft. White and yellow are attractive to many insects which is why they are the traditional colours for fly-papers and other organic pest traps. Although white clothes are cool they can also make you the target for unwanted attention so if all the mosquitoes in the taverna have made a bee-line for you that may well be the reason why!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Mild and Hazy

It is mild and hazy on Symi with temperatures in the low to mid twenties and a cool breeze riffling across the water. Both Yialos and Pedi are busy with cruising and charter yachts filling up the quays and anchorages. There are a number of American registered vessels in the harbour at the moment as well as Nassau and other Caribbean registrations.

The Symi ferry is docked beneath the window of the Symi Visitor office, generators rumbling away and gangplank squeaking gently in the swell. She is doing day excursion trips without vehicles and vehicle trips in the evenings (see http://www.anes.gr/) without passengers at the moment.

The wild flowers in the Pedi valley are starting to die back now as the ground hardens and the last poppies are quite small and faded. Only the whimsical spires of pink hollyhocks light up the terraces as the daisies are turning to dust. Today’s photograph was taken early this morning on the walk to work.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

A Sunny Spring Day

It is a sunny spring day on Symi with a cool northerly breeze riffling across the water. Wednesday’s thunderstorms and showers have brought a freshness to the air and the vegetation has perked up perceptibly. The snails are out in the shady places and the island’s insect life is hatching in profusion, much to the joy of the arachnids who are busy shrouding everything that does not move in cobwebs.

The roses are coming to an end, slightly battered by the recent storms and succumbing to the aphid onslaught. The geraniums are taking over in every conceivable shade and hue, from cool whites and candy colours to hot pinks, purples and sizzling scarlet. Speaking of opulent colours, Wendy has just come into the office with some perfect fresh black cherries – an encouraging sign as the recent strikes have caused disruptions in the fresh produce supply lines in Greece and truckloads of fruit and vegetables are stuck on Crete at the moment.

Speaking of strikes, the pilots of Olympic Airways propeller fleet are on strike which means flights to many of the smaller islands are cancelled. There are also strikes affecting OTE (the Greek telcom company), the air traffic controllers, various banks and health workers. INKA, the Greek consumer watchdog organization, is also calling upon consumers to boycott the fresh produce markets today in protest against profiteering and high prices. It is not just tourists who are grumbling about high prices …

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

My Symi Wildflower Garden in May

A neighbour's donkey in a cloud of oregano and fennel flowers.

A wild hollyhock in the olive grove.

The knautia attract butterflies...

... and bees...

Pink bindweed in the Agia Marina watercourse.

Wild chicory flowers in the bottom meadow.

Launching the Haskas Boat 23 April 2008

VE Day 2008

The Whole Line Up

Including Minister of Defence, Evangelos Meimarakis, General Secretary for New Democracy, Lefteris Zagoritis and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yannis Valinakis

Manos chatting with Deputy Minster of Foreign Affairs, Yannis Valinakis

Especially for Donkey Lovers

The new foal who appeared in the April edition of the Symi Visitor accompanies his mother everywhere, learning the different routes, although it will be a long time before he is allowed to carry loads. As you can see from the first photograph, he has already tried on a saddle, hence the flattened fur.

We caught up with him outside Pitini House, mooching along and nibbling the daisies.