On the Islands

Daisies growing wild in the top of an old dry stone wall.

A lone yacht glides past the entrance to Pedi Bay, destination unknown.

The lanes in Chorio often make use of existing rocky outcrops to save on paving.

A cyclamen finds a home in a dry stone wall.

A Symi cat enjoying a spot of winter sunshine.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Symi woke to rumbles of thunder just before dawn and the day has been showery so far. The forecast for the week is for continued unsettled weather with sporadic rain and thundershowers and the possibility of strong winds towards the end of the week. Temperatures are still around 16 degrees at midday, dropping to about 6 degrees at night. As the air is very humid the temperature feels lower than it actually is and shady places that don’t receive direct sun at all remain wet all day. It is the season for mushrooms and moss and all other lovers of damp dark places.

There have been power cuts, both the scheduled variety announced in advance over the town’s public address system and the unexpected where some circuit is overloaded in the wet and goes pow! At one point on Sunday afternoon it did sound as though the citizens of Symi had blown up the power station on the Pedi road but it was just the local football team celebrating with generous amounts of dynamite. For those of you who have not been to Symi before, the power station and the football field are side by side – and the Greeks like to celebrate with loud bangs.

Dodecanese Seaways has put up its ferry schedule for March but we are still waiting to see what ANES has to offer. The present schedule for February has been well supported and we hope that there won’t be too many changes – while it usually means having to spend a night in Rhodes at least the timings have worked well with Rhodes business hours. It is the time of year when those of us who live on the islands are trying to get doctors’ appointments and other time-consuming stuff out of the way that it is not possible to do in the summer while working. What looks so close on the map is quite a distance when ferries are involved and people who live on the smaller islands such as Kastellorizo, Tilos and Nissyros really have to plan carefully when they want to have their eyes tested or other specialist treatment.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana