Cheerful Pink

It is a warm spring day on Symi. The low cloud that was draped across the Vigla at daybreak has burned off in the heat of the day. Yialos is full of school children on a day trip from Rhodes and the Nicolaos has just come in with a party of tourists. Yachts are milling about, looking for berths. The Poseidon has taken a group of Symi reps and business people across to Bozburun and Marmaris for the day to promote the new day excursion for this summer and has just returned to Symi with the mayor of Bozburun and a delegation who are similarly visiting Symi. While the Greek financial crisis occupies centre stage in the international media and the government struggles to keep everyone happy, small communities such as Symi are doing their bit at a grass roots level to promote tourism which, after all, does account for a sizeable chunk of the Greek economy.

Tomorrow is May Day in Greece and many businesses will be closed as it is an official holiday. Greece does not, however, subscribe to the practice of making this a long weekend so the banks will be open for business as usual on Monday. A local May Day tradition is the picking of flowers with which to make wreaths or posies to hang on the front door. Wild flowers, garden flowers, florists’ hothouse flowers and, occasionally, plastic or silk flowers, decorate the doors of houses, shops and businesses in a celebration that winter is finally over and summer has begun.

The corona daisies are drooping in the drought but the cheerful pink of hollyhocks and bindweed still lights up the countryside. Scarlet poppies, drifts of white oregano blossom, tiny blue pimpernels – the island isn’t quite in its summer wardrobe of dull gold and brown just yet. The gardens are bright with pelargoniums and old fashioned scented roses. The long range forecast remains dry with a few hazy clouds and no rain apart from the small chance of a dust shower. It should be sunny for the next big celebration on Symi, the VE Day Parade on 8 May.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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The Arrival of a Water Boat

Hoorah. Never has the arrival of a water boat in Yialos been met with so much jubilation. Up in Chorio the collective rumble of hundreds of washing machines rolls through the lanes and housewives are out in their courtyards, scrubbing carpets. Down in the harbour windows are being washed and pot plants watered and a sudden air of optimism prevails. Water, such a fundamental thing, and yet still in such short supply, even in modern Europe.

People often email me, asking me about all the doom and gloom they see about Greece in the international media and wondering how the state of the Greek economy is affecting life on Symi. Well, one thing that has become very obvious this winter is the increasing number of Symiots making use of their various bits of family land to grow vegetables and keep livestock in an effort to keep living expenses down. Terraces that have lain fallow for years are being cleared and fenced for allotments and the most unlikely people are to be seen leading tethered goats to patches of public grazing.

Despite the popular myth in the foreign media that Greece is a poor country full of rich people, the fact is that while there may be some fat cats around somewhere, the majority of the Greek population is not well off by Western European standards and for pensioners in particular life can be very hard indeed, especially in the rural areas and the islands. There is, however, a gritty determination among the Symiots who have seldom had much faith in central government at the best of times and if planting beans and potatoes is what is necessary to get through the tough times ahead, so be it.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Daydreams

Happy St George’s Day! There are so many Georges on Symi that today is practically a public holiday. Most years St George’s Day falls in Lent and Greek Georges have to celebrate their name day on Easter Monday, but this year, with Easter exceptionally early, Symi’s Georges have free rein to celebrate their name day on the proper day. With several churches dedicated to the saint, including the little chapel on the beach at St George’s bay, round the corner from Pedi, there are parties all over the island. It is good to have something to celebrate on the island as Symiots are generally quite fed up at the moment. Aside from the ripple effect of the Icelandic volcano on Greek tourism and the interminable saga of the Greek economy, something has gone seriously wrong with the island’s desalination plant and Symi has been on increasingly strict water rationing for the past fortnight. Rumours and speculation abound as Symiots eke out the meager dribble that passes for a water supply and some wags are saying that it is all a central government plan to rejuvenate the economy and buy its way out of debt by forcing us all to bath in bottled water. Apparently a technician is expected to arrive on the island any day now to sort out the problem with the desalination plant – in an election year the town hall cannot afford to allow this problem to continue for much longer, particularly with the tourist season looming on the horizon.

Meanwhile, down in the harbour, the Diagoras and the Poseidon excursion boats are bobbing cheerfully on their moorings, grinders humming as the crew get on with the varnishing and other bits that can be finished afloat. The Triton should be following them into the water soon, and then the water taxis. Soon the Lazy Days will once again be alone and forlorn on the shore at Harani – inspiration for the daydreams of many regular visitors.

The weather remains warm with midday temperatures in the mid twenties and a refreshing breeze. It is now highly unlikely that we will have significant rain again before October – the summer drought has begun. The lizards basking on the rocks are growing fatter by the day and the cats are too drowsy in the warmth to be bothered to chase them. The wild flowers are starting to die back now but there should still be enough left for the traditional May Day posies.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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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

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A Welcome Drink

Late on Saturday night the first tentative raindrops began to fall and Symi was treated to nearly 12 hours of gentle soaking rain – a welcome drink for an island that last had rain on 27 February. The rain was followed by a chilly north-westerly breeze so the air is very clear and visibility excellent this morning. The wild flowers have perked up and the oaks and olives look newly washed and very green.

Webcam watchers will have noticed an increasing number of yachts in Yialos as charter flotillas leave their winter quarters and head for their summer bases and cruising yachts emerge from their comfortable berths in marinas along the Turkish coast and start the summer cruising season. Sailing conditions alternate between becalmed and brisk at this time of the year, often with very brief transitions from the one to the other. Today definitely falls into the brisk category and anyone trying to head north from Symi today is in for a wet ride. Round in Harani the crews of the Poseidon and Triton excursion boats are hard at work, painting their boats for the summer and the area is humming with activity as the various waterfront businesses prepare for the forthcoming tourist season.

The whole of Greece will experience unsettled weather for the rest of the week, with thundershowers and squally conditions in the Ionian, the mainland and northern Aegean. Symi should, however, remain dry with occasional cloudy spells and some windy days. Temperatures should creep back up into the low twenties mid week but will be cooler in the wind.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Delightful in the Sun

It is a breezy spring day on Symi, chilly in the shade but delightful in the sun. Midday temperatures are in the twenties and evenings are still cool. In the Pedi valley the lizards and snakes are waking up, sunning themselves on the warm stones but never far from the safety of hiding places in the old dry stone walls and terraces. In Yialos and Chorio feral cats are snoozing on sunny dust bin lids, delicately alert to the next interesting deposit to come their way. Looking out of my office window, a local fisherman is busy whacking an octopus against the quay to tenderize it. The Proteus is due in from Rhodes shortly so trucks are gathering on the dock. It is always a scramble on a Friday as the boat continues northwards and there is only a short interval in which to get passengers, goods and vehicles off the boat before it leaves again.

Other parts of Greece are still experiencing quite blustery weather and there is the possibility of showers and thunderstorms throughout Greece over the next few days with winds touching Force 8 in the Aegean. It might be sunny on Symi but the weather in the Mediterranean does not really stabilize until June so if you are visiting our part of the world in the next few weeks do remember to bring some warm clothes as well as summery things.

If you are on Symi at the moment, the local dancing school is giving a free concert at the convention centre at the Opera House Hotel at 18.00 tonight.

In answer to those of you who have emailed, asking if Symi is being affected by current economic crisis and strikes, life is still very quiet and undisturbed on our little island on the far side of Greece but if you are travelling via Athens you may see picket lines in central Athens if it is a protest day. The only strikes likely to affect visitors are those of air traffic controllers and taxis and these have been happening for years!

Have a good weekend,

Regards,

Adriana

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Burnished and Rosy

Symi basked in exceptionally fine and sunny weather over the Easter long weekend this year and everyone who took a gamble on the weather to come to Symi for the Easter break was happy that they did so. The clouds are rallying and we may well be in for some stormy weather across Greece in the days to come but by that time the Easter visitors will be heading home, burnished and rosy. Mike Gadd and Wendy Wilcox are sorting through the hundreds of Easter photos taken over the festivities so you can expect to see some on Out and About soon.

After the early Easter flurry Symi will go quiet again for a few weeks until the tourist season officially starts in May. The excursion boats and water taxis are still in the boatyard in Harani or on the beach in Pedi. The Nireus Hotel opened its doors and put up its nice new umbrellas for the Easter holiday but there is still a lot of painting and decorating going on in that part of the harbour and many businesses that opened for Easter will be continuing with their annual maintenance and refurbishments in the lull before the season proper begins.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Ceremonies and Festivities

It is a breezy spring day on Symi. Birds are chirruping in the lane and gulls are wheeling over the harbour, chasing bits of bread tossed on the waves by passing visitors. The island has been steadily filling up as Symiots from all over Greece return to Symi for the Easter celebrations and every ferry arrival brings happy reunions. There are lots of young people around as the universities and colleges are closed for the holidays and Symi’s youthful population has returned to help with the ceremonies and festivities.


Visitors who have never been to Greece at Easter may be surprised at the seriousness with which Easter is celebrated here in comparison to the commercial chocolate fest that it has become in many Western countries. Indeed for many Symiots nothing more substantial than halva is consumed this week as even those who don’t fast for the whole of Lent do so for Big Week. In the Greek islands Easter is definitely a religious event rather than an excuse for a four day bank holiday and being able to share all aspects of the festival with close family members is important. Tomorrow evening, Good Friday, the bells will toll as each parish has its candlelit procession with icons and funerary biers. It is taboo for carpentry work to be done on Good Friday and Easter Saturday. On Saturday evening everyone goes to church to celebrate the Resurrection at midnight with the customary fireworks and dynamite, followed by the traditional breaking of the fast with mayeritsa soup. Early on Sunday, fires are lit for the roasting of lambs and the day is spent in convivial celebration, culminating with the burning of the effigy of Judas in the harbour.

Have a good weekend, and Kalo Pasca everyone!



Regards,

Adriana

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