Sparkling Off the Water

After a day’s solid rain the sun is once again sparkling off the water and we can look forward to at least three days of clear cold weather before the rain creeps in again at the end of the week. It is about 10 degrees centigrade on Symi today but the windchill makes it feel much colder. Much of Greece is under snow and you can read more about this on news.ert.gr. It is going to be a chilly New Year on Symi but at the moment it looks as though it will be a dry one so outdoor festivities for New Year’s Eve can be planned with some degree of confidence.

In the Pedi Valley the new lambs are running about in the winter sunshine. This anxious ewe has triplets, all too bouncy to stop and pose for the camera. Some very premature corona daisies are flowering near the new sports’ stadium in Chorio and the first tentative pink cyclamens, somewhat battered by the elements, are flowering in sheltered corners of stone walls. The Kali Strata is green with moss and tufts of vegetation are sprouting among the ruins. The most wintry weather may still be ahead of us but the days are growing longer and the buds are swelling on the almond trees.

Down in the harbour the fishermen are bailing out their boats after yesterday’s 35 mm of rain and the gulls are wheeling white over the deep blue sea, swooping to pick up any edible scraps washed in by the recent storms. Many Symiot housewives are taking advantage of the dry weather to open the shutters and air their homes. Balconies are draped with brightly coloured quilts and rows of damp jeans. With most of the island’s active male population employed in the construction industry over the winter, keeping up with the endless muddy jeans and sodden socks is a challenge in Symi’s tiny neo-classical houses. The local architecture features lofty ceilings but the rooms themselves are often small with little floor space for clothes’ driers. For much of the year the washing is crisp after an hour on the line outside but in the winter drying the dobhi is a tedious business and every ‘good drying day’ is exploited to the maximum.

Have a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
Regards,
Adriana

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Cold Crisp Light

Christmas officially started on Symi on Wednesday morning when the town tannoy crackled into life. A male voice said, ‘Ela, ela ’ (the Greek equivalent of ‘come on’ or ‘let’s get on with it’) and then the rickety strains of ‘Greensleeves’ bounced around Yialos harbour. Meanwhile the Proteus came in early, on a marathon run combining Wednesday and Thursday’s routes and bringing all the Christmas provisions onto the island. There were protests in certain corners of Chorio when it was discovered that the fresh produce market had omitted to put the long-ordered Brussels Sprouts on the ferry. Personally I prefer red cabbage braised with apples and Symi honey for my Christmas dinner and eat my Brussels Sprouts as a warm salad in the spring with toasted hazel nuts (on those rare years that the sprouts actually survive on Symi), but I can see that for those in the Anglo-Saxon community who have more traditional tastes this was something of a blow. Apart from roast suckling pig (there is an unfortunate specimen hanging from hooks in the display fridge at the butcher next to Antoniades), Greek festive food has its emphasis on abundance rather than any specific menus or dishes – a combination of traditionally making the most of what is available locally and in season rather than hankering after the unobtainable, and relatively mild wet winters which make this the middle of the growing year rather than a period of scarcity. Great bunches of fresh rocket and dill, magnificently muddy beetroot with fresh purple-veined leaves still attached, crisp Kos lettuces, citrus fruits glowing in heaps of golden yellow and orange on the back of the hawker’s truck – these are a celebration in themselves.

Christmas Day was clear but very cold. The thermometer only made it as far as 8 degrees centigrade at midday and on 26 December we woke to frost on the back window of the car. It is starting to warm up again as the next rainy front reaches us but will turn cold and windy again from Monday with bitterly cold weather expected for New Year’s Eve. The winters in Greece alternate between relatively warm rainy weather with southerly winds and cold clear dry spells when the wind blows from the north. There is snow on the Turkish mountains quite close by now and more heavy snow is forecast for both Greece and Turkey.

The photographs show Pedi bay, first in the cold crisp light of Christmas Day and again this morning under the lowering skies of a new weather front. This view is enjoyed by many of the houses in the upper part of Chorio and is one that I never tire of looking at. Whether one is looking at the pretty amphitheatre harbour with its tiers of neo-classical villas or the play of light and shade on sea and slopes, it is difficult to find a bad view on Symi!

Have a warm and peaceful weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Cuddling Coffee Cups

Today’s rain started with a rumble of thunder at about 5 a.m. Five hours later it is still raining steadily. Nicholas gave me a lift down to work this morning as the Kali Strata was in waterfall mode and we did not see a single other vehicle apart from the bus. Down in the harbour there are a few damp figures cuddling coffee cups in the cafeneions and many of the shops that are normally open at this time of day are firmly closed with plastic sheeting nailed over doors and shutters that are known to leak. The ANES hydrofoil left this morning despite the deteriorating forecast – they are optimistic that they’ll make it back this afternoon before the anticipated northerly gale arrives. It is a wind direction from which Symi is largely protected by the Datca peninsula but out in the open sea it can be very rough. Pireaus is already closed as Beaufort Force 10 northerly gale is blowing out in the central Aegean.

The Hellenic National Meteorological Service says this will be the coldest Christmas in Greece in a decade and the snow ploughs are already out in many parts of Greece. Perhaps the plunging temperatures and inclement weather will force the rioting youth of Athens and Thessaloniki back into their homes for the festive season. Here on Symi there is little sympathy for such anarchic behaviour, indeed on Greek television the commentators are becoming increasingly irritated by the situation. While the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos is undoubtedly tragic, using it as an excuse to burn shops, businesses and private property and set fire to the Christmas tree in Syntagma Square is fast wearing out the sympathies of the Greek population at large, many of whom depend on festive season trade to help their businesses through the long winter before the next tourist season and in a time of economic hardship such self-indulgent behaviour is now being perceived as unpatriotic. At the risk of seeming frivolous, we may see counter-riots as angry shopkeepers fight back.

On a more cheerful note, the global drop in the price of fuel has finally filtered through to the petrol stations on Symi where it is now a euro a litre for the first time in over a year. If oil remains at a reasonable price, the ferry companies may be able to lower freight and transport costs, at which point the price of goods in the shops on Symi will fall too. Like many small islands the world over, Symi is dependent on imports from the outside world for its everyday necessities and it is the cost of bringing in these items that determines to a large extent the local cost of living.

Have an enjoyable Christmas and I will be back with a blog on Boxing Day.

Regards,

Adriana

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White Christmas for Symi?

It is a mild drizzly day on Symi and a large area of low pressure is hanging over Greece. The hydrofoil could not run yesterday due to strong winds but the sea is calm and glassy this morning. This is not set to last, however, if the weather boffins are to be believed. Wintry weather is normal around the solstice but looking at the long range forecast, the Greek meteological service is forecasting strong northerly winds, plummeting temperatures and countrywide snow and ice for Greece next week, with conditions at their worst on Wednesday and Thursday. The cold weather is expected to start from Sunday as the wind moves round to the north. Time to hunker down, stoke up the wood fire and fill the house with the aromas of Christmas baking. Who knows? Perhaps it will be a white Christmas for Symi? The shepherds in the Pedi valley have lots of new lambs to worry about. It is not unusual during cold winter weather on Symi for the new lambs to be kept warm by the fire in household kitchens – a biblical touch appropriate to the season.

With the inclement weather there are very few people around and the streets are quiet. The inhabitants of Symi are either in Rhodes doing their Christmas shopping or tucked up snugly in their homes. As I was walking down the Kali Strata to the Symi Visitor Accommodation office this morning the sounds of Christmas carols on Greek breakfast television drifted out through many closed shutters. The municipality is busy putting up more Christmas decorations including a small tree tethered to a lamppost at the bus terminus in Chorio and a row of similar small artificial Christmas trees along the water front outside Pachos. Some of these will be visible from the Symi Visitor webcams at night. The balconies of many of the neo-classical houses are also decorated with models or illuminated silhouettes of caiques and sailing boats, a traditional tribute to Symi’s sea-faring past.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Out and About in Yialos, Symi

The dividing line between rural and urban is always a bit blurred on Symi, particularly in the winter.  This fine specimen of free range Greek poultry, complete with collection of Symi cats, was spotted in Symi harbour recently.  Let's hope he avoids the Christmas pot!  For more conventional Out and About photos of life in Symi during the winter have a look at http://www.symi-photos.com/

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Winter is Never Dull

First of all, apologies for the lack of a blog on Friday. Like so many other Symiots I was stuck in Rhodes, waiting for the storm to abate. The Hermes Hotel in Mandraki was full, not just with people who had come over from Symi to do their Christmas shopping, but also similarly marooned orphans from Tilos and Nissyros. We had come over on the Proteus on Thursday afternoon, the ‘last boat out’ before all the harbours in Greece were closed. Several of our fellow passengers from Symi were people with planes to catch who had originally intended to leave on the Dodecanese Express on Friday evening. Children were plucked from school and suitcases hastily packed as it was unlikely that anything else would be able to leave Symi for Rhodes before Saturday morning at the earliest and rescheduling family flights in the festive season is a nightmare not worth contemplating.

Many of the other Symiots waiting to leave Rhodes had come over on the Aegli hydrofoil on Thursday morning, intending to go back on the Aegli at 14.00 on Thursday afternoon, but this trip was already cancelled and the foyer of the Hermes was a mountain of bags from Jumbo Bebe and other popular Christmas shopping venues when we checked in in the late afternoon.

When the Proteus arrived in Rhodes commercial harbour it was already half an hour late due to a large trailer which had problems embarking in Symi – and even more problems disembarking as the mechanical horse was late fetching it. Then there was a military vehicle which required a military police escort which took a while to sort out. Down in the bottom vehicle hold the last cars from Symi waited impatiently to emerge from what is quite literally the bowels of the boat. Meanwhile a fretful crowd was hopping up and down on the quay, anxious to board and get off to Kastellorizon before the storm hit. The ANES crew did a sterling job in crowd control and managed to please everyone eventually.

Within a matter of hours Rhodes harbour was cleared and shut down in anticipation of a strong easterly gale. The storm was originally expected to hit on Thursday night and ease by midday on Friday but, as is often the case, the storm lasted longer than expected and the swell in Mandraki and Rhodes commercial harbour remained high until late on Friday evening. As is often the case with shipping bans there was a lot of ‘we may know at x if it will leave at y’ and then when x comes the answer is still inconclusive and the deadline deferred again. Luckily in these days of the mobile phone one can call for ferry details from anywhere and there was no need to hang about at the hotel, waiting to find out if we were leaving in two hours or two days.

As Nicholas and I had taken our car with us we took the opportunity to fit in a spot of unscheduled sight-seeing. ANES had told us that the Proteus was sheltering down at Kamiros Skala so we decided to take a spin down the sheltered side of Rhodes and see if we could find her. We didn’t find the Proteus but we did find one of the Spanos catamarans, the Symi water boat and most of the usual ships based in Rhodes commercial harbour sheltering in the lee of the island, off Ialyssos beach. We turned off to have a look at Kritinia castle (built by the Knights of Rhodes) before heading inland through the forests to Embonas. By that time it was far too dark for photographs as heavy black cloud had descended over the high ground but we found a pleasant winery and bought our Christmas wine from a very friendly fellow who was doubtless only too happy to have visitors on a wet and windy winter’s afternoon. He filled the bottles himself from a barrel, corked, labeled and sealed them before our eyes. That is one of the nice things about shopping in this part of the world – the personal touch is still alive and well.

The Proteus eventually left Rhodes at 12.00 on Saturday, a whole 24 hours later than scheduled. The Aegli had already made an early morning foray and quickly made up for her lost time. The Proteus then did Saturday’s schedule on Sunday and is back to normal – until the next gale arrives which, looking at the long range forecast, may be as soon as Thursday!

Life on Symi in the winter is never dull as even the most mundane activities can become adventures – and Symi’s neo-classical architecture is even more attractive after a day or so of looking at Rhodian reinforced concrete!

Have a peaceful week.

Regards,

Adriana

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The View from the Hermes Hotel, Mandraki, Rhodes in the Winter

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Symi Sunset

The rainy season in Greece brings with it some amazing skies.  Note how clear the Turkish coast is on the far side of Pedi Bay - a rare sight in the summer but a regular occurence in the winter when the wind is from the north.  In a week or so we will be able to see snow caps on some of the more distant peaks as some of the Turkish mountains are under snow from December until early April.  Many of the mountains in Greece have already had their first snowfalls too.  I took this photograph at sunset on Monday evening from the dirt road below my farm in the Pedi Valley.

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Blinding Sunshine

It is that time of the year where those of us who travel around Symi on foot shed layers as we proceed and wind up carrying more garments than we are wearing, while those who whiz around on bikes are dressed like Scott of the Antarctic with concessions to the Michelin Man. Blinding sunshine bounces off bright whitewash under a bruised purple sky and random raindrops spatter the dust on the lemon trees. Fleeting rainbows flash across the bays as yesterday’s southerly storms and subsequent mist have been replaced by brisk northerly winds and fast-flying thunderclouds. The air has cleared and the distant Turkish coast is a kaleidoscope of alternating light and shade.


The power is off once again today, in both Yialos and Chorio. Apparently most of Symi is being rewired and these disruptions can be expected to continue for some time yet. Some areas are also without mains water and the bus is out of circulation for maintenance. The philosophical are sipping Greek coffee in the sun outside Elpida’s, watching the clouds scud across the mountain top and discussing possible plans for Christmas and New Year which may or may not come to fruition, depending on boats, weather, shopping trips to Rhodes and other variables that inject an element of adventure into life on Symi in the winter. The butcher next to Antoniades’ hardware store has optimistically put up a sandwich board, requesting patrons to place their orders for festive pork, lamb, turkey and goat but the shops generally are cautious about carrying too much perishable stock in the light of the on-going power cuts.


Meanwhile in the Pedi valley the young broad bean plants are marching in staggered rows across the terraces, just visible above the encroaching greenery, and the locals are out gathering horta, an activity which requires neither electricity nor mains water – at least not in the gathering process. Shoots of fresh young wild chicory, nettles, dandelions, poppies, wild carrots – and a separate carrier bag for the succulent snails found in the process. On Symi the concept of living off the land takes on a very real meaning during the rainy season. The modern world may have brought mangoes and microwaves to the remotest islands in the Aegean, but the traditions that have evolved over centuries of hard living provide an insurance for survival independent of outside resources.

Have a peaceful week.

Regards
Adriana

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Surf's Up, Symi Style!

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Little Sign of a Down Turn

The wind has been howling round Symi since Wednesday night as a strong south easterly gale has been buffeting the island. The whole of Greece has been coping with winds up to Force 10 on the Beaufort Scale and shipping is only now starting to catch up with its schedule as all shipping movements were banned yesterday. The Proteus is running a day late and as it is only passing through Symi at midday today en route to Rhodes, it will be late for its normal northbound trip from Rhodes to Symi, Nissyros and Kos which usually leaves Rhodes at 12.00 on Fridays. Meanwhile, a serious forest fire broke out at Kameiros on Rhodes. More information on this can be found at http://news.ert.gr/en/greece/politics/16305-se-katastasi-ektaktou-anagkis-perioxi-tis-rodou.htm. Conditions are expected to improve for Saturday and Sunday, deteriorating again on Sunday night as the next front reaches us. This time it will bring a drop in temperatures as the wind is expected to come from the north whereas this last blast was actually quite warm, nudging the thermometer up into the low twenties for a while.


The other repetitive theme apart from the weather at the moment is the travails of the Public Power Corporation – Symi was once again without electricity yesterday. They are not, however, the only work crew currently in evidence on the island. A large boring rig is drilling for water in the vicinity of the Pedi Road, hunting for Symi’s elusive water table. As they lubricate the drill bit with vats of industrial detergent, a bizarre tide of soapy slurry has been a feature of the Pedi road this week – enough to slow down all the motorbike traffic and force motorists to observe more caution than is usual at this time of the year. This exercise is, apparently, part of the eventual installation of the desalination plant at the Pedi Road reservoir. Meanwhile, the floating crane is systematically laying out the new mole and breakwater for the yacht shelter in Pedi bay. Work is also progressing steadily at the new undercover sports stadium in Chorio – the workmen are busy putting up the scaffolding for the tiers of seats for the basketball court. While the ‘credit crunch’ may have brought construction to its knees in other parts of the western world, here on Symi there is little sign of a down turn and everywhere one looks there is a bustle of activity.


Have a good weekend,

Regards,

Adriana

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Ochre and Rose, Azure and Peppermint

Despite early morning showers and ominous grey clouds rolling around the mountain top until midday, a stormy Sunday slipped into a perfect evening and Kleanthi (from the Symi Visitor) and Kostas were able to celebrate their wedding at Panormitis monastery with nary a cloud to mar the festivities. See www.symi-photos.com for photographs of this joyful occasion.

Monday meant another all day power cut for much of the island of Symi, which is why this posting is a day later than usual and the webcams were off line for much of Monday. Today it is Pedi’s turn to be in the dark as the Public Power Corporation is replacing several poles down there. Meanwhile in Yialos it is business as usual as we all catch up on yesterday’s chores. With Christmas only weeks away the post office is an inevitable port of call. More shops now have Christmas items in stock and decorations are going up in the businesses that are open for the winter. Santa Claus is climbing a ladder at the kiosk at Kampos which has just reopened under new ownership and every evening reveals more fairy lights in homes around Chorio. Watching the street lights come on over Chorio in the early evening, Symi’s dainty neo-classical houses in all their shades of ochre and rose, azure and peppermint take on the air of a cosy toyland that is very different to the sunsets of summer.

1 December is officially the first day of winter in Greece and, as you can see from the webcam images, it is indeed a grey and wintry day on Symi. The long range forecast for Symi for the next week is overcast with strong winds and occasional showers as weather fronts pile into the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. We can, however, be grateful that we are not flooded as is the case in Venice this morning. Even on Symi it does not take much of a storm surge to bring the waves lapping across the customs slipway and much of the harbour widening work in the last twenty years has been intended as much to reduce flooding of sea level properties in Yialos as to facilitate vehicle traffic round the harbour.

Have a peaceful week.

Regards,
Adriana

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