Symi Spring Holiday

After a week of squally weather and thundershowers Symi is enjoying a brief sunny interlude before the next front arrives on Saturday. With mild temperatures and lengthening days the island’s vegetation is growing at an amazing rate. Anyone venturing out for a walk between showers cannot fail to return with bunches of delicately scented pale pink cyclamens. Indigo blue lupins and scarlet poppies are unfurling in the sunny spots and ribbons of small white daisies and flowering garlic edge the verges. Silvery pink asphodels poke up through the rocky slopes and everywhere there is the sound of munching as the sheep do what sheep do best. For those of you coping with winter snow and floods, you can take a 5 minute Symi spring holiday by clicking here and joining Symidream for a walk in the Pedi valley. Yes, it really is like that – when it isn’t raining.

Down in Yialos the annual preparations for the season have begun. With Easter so early this year everyone is off to an early start despite the weather. There is much wrestling with swollen doors and shutters as businesses that have been closed since October are assessed by the owners and job lists drawn up. Carpenters, painters, electricians, plumbers and metal workers are psyching themselves up for the frenzy that is March. February is a hard month in the islands and there are many who will be glad to be back at work after a month or so of drinking coffee in Pachos and watching the rain come down.

The Symi II is making a trip to Datca tomorrow. It was supposed to make this trip last Saturday but gale force winds prevented the Symi II from ever leaving Rhodes. The usual Datca excursion boats, the Triton and the Poseidon, are both still on the hard in Harani, being repainted and prepared for inspection for licenses for the forthcoming season, as are the water taxis. Apart from a few fishing boats and the occasional ferry or naval patrol Yialos is empty at this time of the year and it will be some weeks yet before cruising boats pulling out of Turkish marinas after the winter start to call into Symi before heading off into the Aegean and Mediterranean

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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Innocently Fattening

It is a cool clear day on Symi, a peaceful interlude after a stormy weekend. Once again the barometer dropped so low that the harbour was flooded in places on Saturday and there were heavy showers and strong winds overnight. The captain and crew of the Piraeus-Rhodes vessel, the Ierapetra, had to do some complicated manoeuvres to dock in Symi harbour on Saturday afternoon. With a strong on-shore wind blowing it was uncertain whether they would manage to get the ramp down safely and all the vehicles aboard without being blown across the harbour. At one point there was a huge amount of tension on the warps as the boat was winched into position and the ramp had to be raised again to prevent it demolishing the navigation light at the end of the quay. Yes, that is a bit of the Nireus Hotel, well wrapped up in plastic drop cloths, just visible on the right hand side. It is amazing how different Symi looks in the winter… Not an umbrella or sun-lounger to be seen.

The gaudy revolving dinosaurs have moved from the waterfront and are now part of a Luna Park which is currently set up in Symi town square. Carnival might be over in the rest of Greece but on Symi the party lingers on.

The weather forecast for Greece remains unsettled for the rest of the week with more wind than rain on the horizon for Symi as we move towards the spring equinox. The days are getting longer and warmer with temperatures around 20 degrees at midday, dropping to around 10 degrees at night. The Easter lambs are fattening innocently on a diet of lush spring grasses and the local ladies are stocking up on ingredients for the traditional Easter baking – little cheese pies, koulouria and other seasonal delicacies. The countdown to Pascha 2010 has begun.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Sheep and Laundry

It is a still spring day on Symi. The almond trees are humming with contented bees and sheep are munching on every patch of greenery. There was heavy dew last night and walking to work this morning down the mossy Kali Strata I had to tread carefully on the slick stones. Humidity is currently at about 90%, a marked contrast to the dry dust storm conditions of last week. Unfortunately this brief spell of settled weather is set to break on Sunday as the front currently raining over Italy heads our way and we can once again look forward to strong winds, thunderstorms and rain sweeping across Greece. The housewives of Symi are hard at work, washing and airing what they can before the next onslaught. As you can see from the photos, sheep and laundry do mix on Symi!

The new ANES timetable for next week is finally available on line. It only shows a limited service with the Symi II, which has just had its annual maintenance, as the Proteus is due for her own inspection. As this means that for the rest of February there won’t be boats every day do check carefully if planning to travel. The Proteus only comes back into service on 5 March. The Dodecanese Seaways catamaran still only stops at Symi on Sundays. There is a big Pireaus boat twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, but as this can be delayed or cancelled if the weather is bad in the Aegean this is not to be relied upon if timing is tight.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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The Sunny Side of Pedi Bay

It is a blustery winter’s day on Symi. As the wind is from the south temperatures are fairly mild but the sky is grey and the sea lumpy. The few boats left in the harbour are tugging restlessly at their lines and gulls are wheeling over head. This is all a marked contrast to Clean Monday where the sky cleared as if by appointment at midday, just as everyone was starting their picnics, and the howling gales of the weekend were replaced by a steady westerly breeze. At the Pedi Katoi on the sunny side of Pedi Bay where we held our celebrations the water was actually warm enough in the shallows for some brave souls to take a dip. The long range forecast remains unsettled but with rather less rain than we had in January.

Lent proper has now begun and the handful of tavernas still open at this time of the year are offering traditional fasting foods such as mussels, calamari and octopus. The island’s butchers have cut back on their meat stocks and topped up their freezers with fish and shellfish. In traditional communities such as this one seasonal eating habits still prevail and every shop and household has a calendar of the saints and name days, identifying the various fast days and dietary prohibitions throughout the year.

Here are some scenic shots taken in Pedi on Monday afternoon. For more holiday photos, see Out and About.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Carnival in Greece

It is Carnival in Greece and a long weekend as Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece. Despite gale force winds and a shipping ban a brightly coloured children’s merry-go-round has appeared on the waterfront, a jolly sight in the economic gloom. We just hope that it is only passing through for the holiday as Symi in the long term isn’t really plastic dinosaur country. The shops and kiosks are selling kites and pickles for Monday’s kite-flying picnics and masks, streamers and fancy dress costumes for Sunday’s revelleries.

The long range weather forecast remains unsettled with the possibility of showers over the weekend and some very strong winds, mostly from the south so temperatures remain mild for the time of the year, around 17 degrees centigrade at midday, dropping to around 10 degrees at night. Other parts of Greece are not faring so well though as they are experiencing strong northerly winds and snow.

The ferry schedules are still in disarray after the storms of Wednesday and Thursday and at the last minute today’s Symi-Rhodes-Kastellorizo-Rhodes-Symi run was replaced by Symi-Rhodes-Tilos-Nissyros-Kos with the result that a lot of people who thought they had a 10 hour shopping trip to Rhodes had to either get everything done in 2 hours or stay overnight and catch the big Pireaus ferry back which leaves Rhodes at 17.30 on Saturday afternoon. Although Monday is a public holiday at present ANES is showing a Rhodes-Tilos-Nissyros-Kos route. As usual, we advise anyone intending to travel at this time of the year to double check all arrangements – and always have a Plan B just in case the unexpected turns Plan A on its head.

As this office will be closed for the holiday, I will post my next blog on Tuesday.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Local Ingenuity at Work

Saturday was a glorious winter’s day, clear, calm and sparkling. Which is just as well because the rain clouds crept in again on Saturday night and it has been raining more or less continuously ever since. February is usually the worst month of the winter when it comes to wind, rain and shipping disruptions and so far this February is true to form. According to the long range weather forecast, there will be a brief pause in the rain on Wednesday to allow a South Easterly gale centre stage but once that blows itself out there will be yet more rain. As this is Carnival Week all this wet stuff is not much good. Shopkeepers have given up putting their wares on display outside but there are still fancy dress costumes, masks and other novelties to be had if one ventures inside. The problem is that Carnival on Symi is very much a children’s event with lots of fancy dress parties and the opportunity for the little ones to show off their costumes and getting children through the torrents and downpours without damage is a challenge facing many parents at the moment. We hope that it will be clear and dry for the main Carnival event on Sunday. Gales aside, wind is a definite requirement for Clean Monday, a week today, when tradition dictates kite-flying and picnics in the countryside.

Symi’s steep and rocky terrain is well known to visitors but have you ever wondered about how they get building materials to some of the less accessible sites? The ones where not even a donkey would be able to do the trick? Here are some photos taken during a sunny spell last week showing local ingenuity at work.

No, those are not hard hats, they are woolly ski hats...
Have a warm week.

Regards,

Adriana

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On a Clear Day

It is another chill winter’s day on Symi. Temperatures have been in single figures for days and the deceptive glow of cheap Chinese halogen heaters creates an illusion of warmth in the shops and salons of Symi. The strong northerly winds have blown away all the clouds, leaving the air as bright and clean as any soap powder commercial. From the top of the Vigla the distant snow caps of Turkey form a white rim on the eastern horizon and it is possible to see as far north as Kos. Summer time visitors may be surprised not just to see how complex the coast line opposite Symi actually is with all its inlets and islands but also how very different Symi’s interior looks after several months of rain.

The clear conditions are expected to last until Saturday afternoon when the next low pressure system reaches our part of Greece and Symi is once again enveloped in rain and thunderstorms. In the meantime we shall do our best to enjoy them!

For some photos of the Smokey Thursday festivities in the Chorio Square, remember to have a look at Out and About.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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Farewell to a Regular Symi Visitor

Symiots and visitors alike cannot help but recognise the distinctive lines of Cockatoo, a restored British Admiralty pinnace, which has been calling in at Symi several times a year for the last 20 years or so. We are sorry to report the passing of her captain, Roy Edwards, in Turkey on 19 January 2010. In recent years Roy had been in poor health and spent most of his time on board and it was his wife, Sarah, who was the face of Cockatoo ashore in Yialos and Pedi, a familiar face as she walked the dogs and frequented local shops. Our sincere condolences to Sarah and we hope to see Cockatoo once again adding character to Symi harbour during the sailing season.

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Always Pack an Overnight Bag

We have had every kind of weather short of snow on Symi in recent days. On Saturday afternoon we went up to the dump where they are making great progress with Symi’s first proper landfill. As we were leaving the day changed from tepid winter sunshine to gloom as low dark clouds rolled in rapidly from the north. As you can see from the accompanying photographs taken from the Panormitis road as it snakes round and down the Vigla, the effect was quite dramatic. Yialos was still in the sun at that point but by the time we reached the harbour the rain was pelting down and continued for some hours. The road to Panormitis is in surprisingly good condition this winter as there have been very few rock falls and not much erosion. The pond below Agios Konstantinos is full to the brim and springs are also seeping from between the rocks at many places along the road.

Unsettled weather is forecast for the rest of this week with temperatures ranging from 5 to 15 degrees centigrade and some showery days. There may be some shipping disruptions due to windy conditions so do check the forecast before travelling. It is that time of the year when those leaving Symi to go shopping in Rhodes always pack an overnight bag in case the boat can’t get back.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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