Conversation in the Streets and Cafeneions

Today started with a new variation on the Symi all-embracing rain theme – sleet in Chorio, light snow (yes, snow) on the top of the Vigla and the regular wet stuff down in the harbour. It was a bit weird driving down to work early this morning, watching the blobs of dissolving ice slithering down the windscreen. The sun is out now but the temperature is still around 7 degrees with a windchill of 3 degrees centigrade and the forecast for the whole of Greece for the next few days remains chilly and unsettled. There is a surreal feeling about this time of the year – the calendar shows that the holiday season starts in about 6 weeks, but nature has decided that this is mid-winter and all plans for preseason preparations and titivations are put back on hold.

Meanwhile down in Pedi work on the new marina has ground to a standstill again, apparently due to cash flow problems from the various Greek government bodies responsible for funding the project. As the quayside has been ground into a morass, the construction site covers a wide area and the floating crane is an unlovely object, even those locals who initially thought the marina was a ‘good idea’ and would have the people of Pedi ‘eating with golden spoons’ are starting to grumble about the interminable delays and mess. The undercover sports stadium in Chorio, on the other hand, is looking quite promising and even though the project is taking longer than anticipated it is not proving to be as disruptive as many feared. The other hot topic of conversation in the streets and cafeneions of Symi is the fact that Greece has once again made the international press for all the wrong reasons. The BBC World News even paused in its Oscar coverage to report this one, probably because this sounds so much like something Hollywood would dream up. Here is ERT’s report on yesterday’s astonishing gaol break from Athens’ high security prison.

It is not all bad news, however. Greek heart-throb Sakis Rouvas is heading for Moscow with Greece’s Eurovision hopes pinned to his sleeve.  It is his second attempt – last time he lost with good grace to an energetic Ukrainian . In a country where virtually everyone has an active interest in music, whether it be singing or playing an instrument, and even small communities like Symi have a thriving musical life, Eurovision is taken very seriously and the cynicism with which it is regarded in the United Kingdom is rare.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana