Pink and White

A cold north wind is keeping the rain clouds at bay and it is a bright dry day here on the small Greek island of Symi in the Southern Dodecanese. In the last few days the almond trees have started to blossom, celebrating the lengthening days with delicate pink and white confetti. Spring is still weeks away but the number of wild flowers in bloom is increasing daily.

A hydrographic survey ship took advantage of calm seas earlier in the week to spend hours out in the channel between Pedi and the Turkish town of Bozburun. As it is over 100 metres out there who knows what mysterious secrets they were recording but as most of the nautical charts for this area are based on original surveys by Captain Beaufort over a century ago it is probably high time for some new ones.

A luxury cruise ship full of Italian tourists was diverted into Rhodes this week to avoid the problems in Egypt. It is highly unusual for cruise ships to pass through Rhodes in February, a month usually famous for its appalling weather in this part of the world, but the word got round quickly and it was amazing to see how fast the tourist shops in Rhodes town could open up their winter shutters and pack out some souvenirs for the impromptu visitors.

The weather is likely to break over the weekend with the possibility of showers on Sunday and in the early part of next week. It could be a damp Valentine’s Day but there will be more about that on Monday.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana