The Sunny Side

Spot the cat in charge... 

The little old lady in black who feeds him has just departed down the lane.

It is a warm and humid day on Symi. The overnight drizzle has cleared, leaving a fluffy fringe of thunderclouds on the eastern horizon and a faint whiff of damp in the air. The long range weather forecast remains unsettled with the possibility of more showers later in the week as Symi slips into autumn. Temperatures are still around the 30 degrees mark at midday on Symi and evenings are mild. The September moon is always the brightest of the year and the moon rises over Pedi have been very dramatic the last few evenings with the ruddy moon blazing through the wind-streaked clouds. Definitely one of those times when I wish that my camera was a bit more sophisticated. Even with a tripod night shots come out woolly… But here is a link to one taken by our chat page moderator, Allan Robinson.

This bridge over an arch connects the main museum with the Hatziagapitos House. 

These arches and tunnels are characteristic of the oldest parts of Chorio.

Symi is still quite busy with regular visitors, walking groups, flotilla yachts and island hoppers but there is a sense that the season is drawing to a close. The water taxis knocked St George’s beach off their routes last week on the grounds that now that it is in the shadow of the cliffs from so early on very few people want to go there. While the east facing beaches may be experiencing shorter days and early shade, the bars and cafes on the sunny side of the harbour are doing brisk trade and the round the island excursion boats are busy. Away from the bustle of the harbour Symi is very quiet indeed and the cats of Chorio are discreetly in charge.

This lane is only just wide enough for a person to fit through in single file.  Small wonder that rebuilding and restoring ruins can be an expensive business.  No laden donkey would be able to squeeze through this one.

Today’s photographs were taken in the area of the museum at the top of Chorio on Saturday.

An ornate front door in Chorio.  This house is in the same lane and only one door up from the tin roof and the cat in the first photograph on this blog.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...

Purple and Lilac

It is an overcast day on Symi today with low purple and lilac clouds rolling across the sky. Much of Greece is experiencing heavy rain and thunderstorms and there is the possibility that we might have a few drops of rain ourselves over the weekend. Temperatures are in the high twenties with a pleasant breeze. When the sun breaks through the clouds the sunshine is quite dazzling. The combination of the equinox and the full moon always bring a bit of a blow to this part of the world.

As I was walking down the Kali Strata this morning and stopped at the corner to look at the boats I noticed that one particular Symi landmark was on the move. The Eye of the Storm, the big steel three-masted schooner which gained notoriety for bringing 147 illegal migrants onto Symi a few years ago and which then remained in Symi harbour, unloved and unused while awaiting her fate, was finally on the move. After several months out on the hard at the boatyard at Harani she was relaunched recently and I spotted her setting off from the clock tower with her new owners. We wish them well with their venture and hope that the boat has a happier future.

This is very much the sailing season on Symi as these photographs of yachts sailing past Pedi bay earlier this week show.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

A Perfect Match

Regular Symi Visitor, Roy Young sent us this charming photograph that he took from the roof terrace

 at Villa Wookie in upper Chorio.  Two views of Pedi Bay in one photograph.

Read more...

Tall Ship Visits Symi 20 September 2010

The only clue that this was taken in the twenty-first century is the electricity cable...

Anyone standing on this hill top a hundred or so years ago would have seen a very similar view. That is one of the things I like about living on Symi.

Read more...

Symi Magic

It is a breezy late summer’s day on Symi. While many parts of Greece and the Balkans have been experiencing heavy showers our small corner of the Dodecanese remains warm and sunny with only raggedy wisps of high cloud to tell us that autumn is on its way. The sunrise this morning was particularly striking today, truly a Homeric ‘rosy fingered dawn’. By the time I had stopped gawking and found my camera it was past but luckily the other Symi blogger, James Collins, was also up early and a bit more organised so you can see something of a Symi sunrise on his site. The long range forecast hints at a small possibility of a minute about of rain falling on Symi on Saturday night but as it is likely to evaporate as it hits the dust it is unlikely to spoil anyone’s party.

While the 2010 tourist season had a slow start, everyone is agreed that September is proceeding well with many new faces as well as regular visitors and high levels of occupancy. There was an expat cricket match on Sesklia on Sunday, photographs of which can be seen on Out and About. Please note the photographs were carefully vetted to avoid anyone exposing more flesh to the world at large than intended. After all, we all like to be flattered.

We are receiving a lot of last minute  accommodation enquiries for October, despite the fact that the ferry schedules for that month still have not been finalized, so there is still the chance to grab a little Symi magic before the winter sleep settles in.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

Infinite Blue

A pensive cherub on a tiny church behind the Kastro.

It is a bright sunny day on Symi, a small but extremely pretty island in the southern Dodecanese. Temperatures are in the mid thirties and there is a light breeze to take the edge off the heat. The sky is the infinite blue of the Greek flag and there is a sparkle to the light today.

A quiet lane in Chorio



There is a fancy new cruise ship, Le Boreal, alongside the clock tower in Yialos so the harbour is full of French and American tourists for a few hours. The water taxis are busy and through my open window I hear the sound of many happy reunions as Symi’s regular September visitors get together at Pachos cafeneion and plan their activities for the day. Webcam watchers will have noticed a lot of webcam waves and an increase in the size of the stack of beer crates next to Pachos.

One of the many similar church towers on the island.

This one is at the base of the ramp leading up to the Kastro.

 It is the time of the year when serious walkers and photographers arrive on Symi in droves. The combination of lovely architecture, passing clouds and lengthening shadows is irresistible, as is the fact that one no longer needs to rise at 4 a.m to catch the spectacular sunrises over Pedi Bay. Energetic days of climbing hills and steps are followed by restorative swims and convivial taverna meals. The days may be getting shorter and the ambient temperature cooler but our patch of the Mediterranean Sea remains warm enough to swim in until Christmas, long after the first rains have set in.

These olive trees are in the grounds of the Panormiteion high school. The house in the back ground is on the Kali Strata and that is the dome of Lemonitissa Church on the Kastro Akropolis.

 

In the Pedi valley the olives are swelling on the trees and men are clearing terraces for ploughing as soon as the first rains fall next month. The second spring that is characteristic of this part of the world is already underway. Seeds have started to germinate once more and trees and shrubs are developing new buds, shoots and leaves in anticipation of the rain.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

Le Boreal Cruise Ship Visits Symi 17 September 2010

Symi woke up to Le Boreal, a very glamorous new French-flagged cruise ship, this morning.  Symi might not be getting as many mega yachts and cruise ships as we used to but we are certainly getting some very up market ones.  Le Boreal is one of a new generation of smaller sophisticated cruise ships that are also designed for Antarctic cruises and cruising in environmentally sensitive areas. 

Read more...

Some of the Reasons Why I Live on Symi

The old part of Chorio, at the top of the Kataraktis. 

More and more of these old ruins are being restored, many with foreign money. The owners put aesthetics over modern conveniences and don't mind not having vehicle access.

It is a bright sunny day on Symi and we are all very relieved that the satellite telephone station at the top of the Vigla is up and running again. When I first came to Symi there was an undersea cable which was wobbly at best but as the island did not have ATMs, credit card machines, on line ferry booking systems or the internet it wasn’t the end of the world on the (frequent) occasions when the line failed. As this was in the dark ages before mobile phones it was not unusual for Symi to be really cut off for days. Nowadays we expect everything to work all of the time and the failure of some small part brings the whole lot to a crashing standstill. Visitors to Symi also have higher expectations. After all, if something looks modern and appears to have all the same facilities as home, surely it ought to at a functional level. The reality is that on a small island if something breaks or there is a failure in the system, it is not that easy to fix and there aren’t easy back ups. Visitors expect to have air conditioning and electrical appliances but grumble about Symi’s valiantly hard working power station that rumbles away 24 hours a day on the Pedi road. While an undersea cable to Rhodes might be considerably quieter, those islands who have this kind of power supply often find themselves without power for days either due to cable damage or because the air conditioners of cities and towns take precedence over the needs of smaller communities. No one can ever divert power from Symi’s trusty powerhouse and if it is ever replaced by a wind farm we hope that the island’s electrical autonomy will remain intact. We have also made it through this summer with remarkably few water shortages in comparison to recent years.

Chorio laundry fluttering in the breeze. 

A quiet lane on the slopes of the Kastro.

 The washing line in the photo above is just round the corner, where the sacks of cement are stacked.

This bougainvillea has patches of orange instead of the usual Symi hot pink and white.

The older visitors to Symi who have been coming here for decades compliment Symi on the improvements. First time visitors, however, often forget that it is unrealistic to expect a small island to have the same amenities as a big city and lose sight of why one visits a place like Symi in the first place. As someone said to me in my office last week, if I wanted to stay in a 5 star hotel where all the rooms are identical no matter which city I went to world wide I would take my holiday in New York or London, not on Symi. Now that the weather is milder and walking is a more attractive activity this is a good time to explore Symi’s lanes and areas that are further off the beaten track. Symi’s main attraction is its beautiful architecture. The houses may be quirky but they are delightful and full of surprises. Here are some photographs I took on a bit of a bummel around the Kastro at the weekend. They give an idea of some of the reasons why I live on Symi.

Grumpy on the pediment, circa 1900

His modern equivalent.  Spot the dwarf!

Have a good week.



Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

Mayan Queen Visits Symi

This mega yacht spent the night of 12 September 2010 on Symi.

She belongs to Mexican Billionaire Alberto Bailleres.

Read more...

A Sunny September Day on Symi

The Castro and Chorio as seen from a vantage point near Agios Thanassis Church and the Museum

It is a sunny September day on Symi. Temperatures are in the thirties and a refreshing breeze is rippling across the harbour. A few feathery white clouds hint at strong winds out in the Aegean but here in our little corner of the Mediterranean, protected by the sheltering promontories of Asia Minor, there is little more than a fluttering of flags and a few distant white caps. It is still hot but not unbearably so and night time temperatures are very pleasant indeed. With less need for air conditioning windows are opening all round the island and there is less pressure on Symi’s hard-working power station on the Pedi road.

From the same vantage point, looking towards the ridge that divides Yialos and Pedi.  If you look carefully you can see the remains of the row of windmills along the crest.

It has been a busy morning at Symi Visitor Accommodation as many of the island’s regular visitors, even those who are not actually staying in one of our houses this year, pop in to say that they are here and catch up on the news.

Looking into Yialos from the fuel station at Petalo.

If you are arriving on Symi this week and will be here on Monday 13 September, there is a charity tea party in aid of the British Lymphoma Association and the Greek Lung Cancer Association taking place at the Olive Tree in Chorio (opposite the Fiona Hotel). The event, in the memory of Lemonia Tsirimona of Syllogos Restaurant who died tragically earlier this year, will take place between 14.30 and 18. Entry is 10 euros per person which includes a 5 euro donation split equally between the two charities, a full English Afternoon Tea (Symi style!) and a free entry to a ‘guess the weight of the cake’ competition.  More details can be found on Facebook.

A fine example of an old wrought iron gate near the top of the Kali Strata.  It is so old that it is riveted together, not welded like the more modern ones.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

Bright Sunshine

Mavrovouni, the hill that frames the north side of Yialos harbour, catches the morning sun.

Autumn has rolled into Symi on a brisk westerly wind. All the haze and dust of summer has blown away and the island looks newly painted in the bright sunshine. Daytime temperatures are in the thirties, falling comfortably into the twenties in the evening. Suddenly we all feel much more awake and there is an energy to the island that is lacking in the hottest months of the summer. Even the island’s cat population has become galvanized by the drop in temperatures and more time is spent on the prowl and rather less snoozing in the nearest shady spot.

The shadows of the tamarisk trees on the wall of the priest's house in Lieni.

Many of Symi’s regular visitors are already on the island and more will be arriving in the coming days. Old acquaintances are renewed and new ones forged. Changes are commented on, for good or bad, and those who first came here as back packers in the 70s and 80s now pass around photographs of children and grand children.

Many of Symi's houses are really tiny, as typified by this charmingly restored doll's house in Chorio.

Some interesting architectural detail at the butcher's shop on the Kali Strata. 

Note the traditional carving on the doors of the house next door.

Today’s photographs were taken on the walk to work this morning and give an idea of the changing quality of the light at this time of the year. It is hardly surprising that September and October are popular months for photographers, both professional and amateur, to visit Symi. It is a delightfully photogenic island.

Freshly painted, this shop on the upper Kali Strata is looking for a new tenant.

That is the Symi Dream shop next door.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...