An Irresistible Invitation

It is a hazy humid day on Symi and very quiet. The volcano fizzing over Iceland may be a long way from our quiet corner on the south-eastern border of Europe but it is also affecting Symi as apart from Symi visitors who have not been able to leave or arrive and Symi property owners who have not been able to get here to open their houses, there are also very few visitors arriving in Rhodes and that means fewer day trippers to Symi – a blow to the businesses in Symi harbour who opened up for Easter and depend on the day tripper trade to tide them over until the number of visitors actually staying on the island starts to increase in May. While volcanic ash may be dominating the news, it is a fine haze of Saharan sand which is turning the skies over Symi pink and grey at the moment. The seasonal sand storms that prevail over the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East at this time of the year are often thick enough to reduce visibility to a few kilometers and yet seldom cause flight disruptions. Stormy unsettled weather is forecast for the whole of Greece this week and any rain that falls is likely to be of the ‘red rain’ variety due to the high levels of dust in the air.

Symi may be relatively empty but the island is becoming warmer by the day. Tangles of pink bind weed clamber over the fences, the yellow corona daisies are waist high in places, the sinister Dracunculus vulgaris lurks odiferously in shady corners and everywhere the spring chirruping of migratory birds. The seaside villages of Nimborio and Pedi are still closed up with storm shutters on many of the properties and boats hauled up on the beaches but the sea is warming up, particularly in the shallows – an irresistible invitation to remove shoes and paddle in the welcoming waters of the Mediterranean.

Have a good week, wherever you are.

Regards,
Adriana