The Tides of Global Affairs

A Symi Dog and a Winter Sky.

Puddles and Petals

The small island of Symi is once again affected by the tides of global affairs. Regular readers of this page will be aware of the vagaries of Symi’s ferry service in the winter and also that the Proteus, our ANES lifeline, is out of commission until 14 March for its annual overhaul, leaving us dependent on occasional visits from the Dodecanese Seaways catamaran at weekends and the once weekly ANEK Lines boat from Pireaus. Well, ANEK is the ferry company of Crete and our weekly ‘big boat’ has now been commandeered into service for helping evacuate foreign nationals from Libya. So right now it is easier to catch a Greek boat from Benghazi to Crete than it is to catch one from Rhodes to Symi. Kathimerini, the Greek daily paper, is reporting that the Libyan crisis is proving to be a welcome shot in the arm for Greece’s struggling coastal shipping industry which stands to make 20 million euros out of the evacuation. That is all very well but as things stand at present the next scheduled boat from Rhodes to Symi is the Dodecanese Seaways catamaran at 08.30 a.m on Friday 4 March and after the Dodecanese Seaways catamaran from Symi to Rhodes this evening, it is not possible to leave Symi again until Friday evening. This means, among other things, no post at all this week and probably none next week either as the Greek postal service doesn’t use the Dodecanese Seaways catamarans for mail bag transfers.  For further developments, please monitor our travel blog, Getting to Symi

On a more cheerful note, marooned as we are in our little corner of the Aegean, the sun is shining once more and it looks as though we will have a few clear days this week. The wind is from the north so temperatures are low but the sun is out and the puddles are starting to dry off. It is Carnival Week in Greece and the children have hectic social calendars with fancy dress parties at school and privately. Plans are being made for next week’s Clean Monday picnics. Exotic delicacies from Rhodes might be a bit thin on the ground but as long as there are kites to fly the children will be happy.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

Torrents

The Agia Marina River at the head of the Pedi Valley

Symi has been buffeted by heavy rain and thunderstorms all week with 150 mm of rain recorded between Wednesday midday and Friday morning. The water in the harbour is a muddy brown as the Kataraktis and many of the island’s other seasonal water courses have been coming down in torrents, tumbling stones, plants and debris as they go. Rhodes and other parts of Southern Greece have also experienced heavy rain and flooding. The rest of Greece is in the grip of severe wintery weather with widespread snow warnings, particularly in central and northern parts of the country and in the mountain areas. Spring has definitely taken a backward step as the long range forecast suggests that this unsettled and wet weather will continue until well into March. Not much fun for those who are trying to get houses and businesses ready for Easter arrivals – and even less fun for the local youngsters as it is Carnival week in Greece. The traditional Symi Smokey Thursday BBQ yesterday was postponed due to the wet weather – I remember one year when the big Symi ferry was here for the winter and the vehicle hold was used as an impromptu venue. I think that was the winter of 2007. The combination of oily paint, wet shoes and spray foam proved to be treacherous as was borne out by the number of slings and bandages in evidence around Symi the following day.

Pedi Bay in the Rain Yesterday

The Vigla is completely hidden in cloud.

Yialos, Friday Morning - not the usual blue view from my office window.

The deteriorating situation in the Middle East and North Africa has not passed unnoticed. Indeed the Greek government was very quick to respond with the need to evacuate Greek citizens from Libya this week.

On the local ferry front, the Proteus is now having its annual maintenance check and according to the on line ferry schedule (if one looks beyond the coming week) it reappears in service on 14 March, following the same schedule that applied in February, until 2 April. The April schedules have not been released yet so we shall have to be patient and wait and see what happens after that. In the meantime I know of at least one person who is having to leave the island on Monday to catch a plane that leaves Rhodes on Thursday. It is just as well that in the tourist season the boats are more frequent than they are in the winter.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Tweet

Read more...

A Tide of Greenery

It is a damp grey day on Symi. Tepid winter sun is struggling to break through a sheet of cloud and it is decidedly chilly in the office today. With so much rain Symi is looking particularly lush and visitors who are only familiar with the island’s summer face would be surprised at how green those dusty terraces look in the middle of the wet season.

Ancient terraces worn away by centuries of winter rain and scrambling sheep.

A lone catamaran in the calm solitude of Pedi Bay.

Rustic farm buildings surrounded by drifts of white daisies in the Pedi valley.

A lone poppy poking through a bit of rusty fencing. 

Wild cyclamens in a tide of greenery.

This little door on the Kali Strata is typical of many on Symi at this time of the year - look carefully at the bottom left panel and there is a clear boot mark where someone has had to kick the door open.

Dodecanese Seaways have released a partial ferry schedule for this year.  Unfortunately we are still waiting for ANES to do likewise.  Their schedule only goes up to the day after tomorrow.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

Down the Lane

The ruined windmills on the ridge between Chorio and Yialos.  The low stone wall on the right of the crest, just before the rocky outcrop,  is Pontikokastro (Mouse Castle).  This is a neolithic stone circle, sometimes referred to as the grave of King Nireus.

It is not just the local humans who enjoy the spring greenery - the lambs are fattening for Easter and this family of two cockerels and three hens were promenading down the lane this morning, choosing their favourite delicacies as they sauntered along.  Someone has probably noticed they are missing by now.  No, they are not mine - most of my chooks are white or speckled grey.

One of the few ruins left on the main stretch of the Kali Strata.  The moss has turned the turquoise paint on the steps the same colour as the faded woodwork.  To restore a house such as this is a labour of love but at least this one was inhabited sufficiently recently for it to have an electricity meter.

Blustery squalls marching into Yialos.

After a sunny start our little corner of Greece has become increasingly grey and blustery. Strong winds and rain are forecast overnight as the low pressure system that has been battering Southern Italy heads east through Greece to Turkey and Syria. Despite some gloriously spring-like days, the winter is not over yet and we can expect more wet and windy weather between now and the March equinox.

The shops are selling oranges, lemons, Cypriot potatoes, Greek leeks and beetroot and not much else in the fresh produce department at the moment. It is too cold and wintery in the main food producing parts of Greece for much to flourish at this time of the year and Symi is the end of the line for imported stuff from more exotic climes. Every afternoon I hear the chatter of local housewives on the hillside, picking horta, the various wild edible greens that are highly prized as a vegetable at this time of the year. Young dandelions, nettles, poppy greens, wild endive and various other greens – the Greek’s aren’t unique in enjoying fresh young leaves. The French have their mesclun, the Italians their misticanza, but in Greece horta has to be picked wild on the hill and no one has yet to my knowledge started marketing it prewashed in little cellophane bags with a sell by date.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

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

Read more...

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

Read more...

Among the Wild Flowers

Symi's Acropolis Shining in the Sun

A Symi Cat

Wild Flowers in the Pedi Valley. 

The bees really enjoy themselves on days like this.

A Small Seasonal Spring in Chorio

It is a crisp winter’s day on the small island of Symi in the Dodecanese. The torrential rain of recent days has washed away the dust and all the rocks and stones on the mountain slopes are sparkling with running water. The colours of the houses gleam bright in the cold air. Shutters and doors are open to let in the winter sun and everyone is making the most of the dry weather.

One of the characteristics of the rainy season in Southern Greece is the wild fluctuations in the temperatures. We alternate between shivering around freezing point and basking in temperatures that the British would regard as good stuff for a summer’s day. This week looks fairly settled with temperatures ranging from 7 to 20 degrees centigrade and little rain likely. As the high pressure system means calm conditions we don’t have wind chill to contend with and the new season’s lambs can munch on happily among the wild flowers.

It is a month to Clean Monday and the shops are starting to pack out the Carnival costumes. Ghouls and cowboys, princesses and witches are sharing racks outside the corner clothes shop in Chorio. Down in the harbour plastic clubs for plastic cavemen are stacked up with the cans of spray foam and streamers. This morning when I stopped off to buy a bottle of water one of the local housewives was buying 15 kilos of assorted cheeses – getting ready for the epic baking of mountains of cheese pies that are characteristic of this time of the year.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...

Winter Sun

A Rainbow over Evangelismos Church, Harani, Symi

Frost on Oxalis Leaves in the Pedi Valley -

Shady places often don't get any sun at all at this time of the year and form frost pockets.

A Bee enjoying a Sunny Interlude in my Rosemary

Deserted - Rhodes Harbour on 31 January 2011

Note the snowcaps in the distance

The View from Room 307, the Hermes Hotel, Mandraki, on 31 January 2011

This is the longest break there has ever been in my blog, since I wrote my first Symi Latest News column in March 2001, long before the word blog had been coined to describe an on line diary. In that time it has changed from a webpage on which Mike Gadd, our webmaster, would email the text I sent him as the dial up connections here were too slow to cope, to bloggerdotcom which I can update myself here on Symi, making use of the Connx connection. From no pictures through to 480x640 resolution pictures to the much higher resolution photographs I can post today, the Latest News from Symi has come a long way as technology has advanced. I wonder what changes the next 10 years will bring to this page of news from Symi.


After 2 months of travelling and visiting my family in South Africa I returned to chilly Rhodes on Sunday evening. As the first ferry across to Symi was on Monday evening I had plenty of time to recover from the journey and do a spot of shopping before catching the Proteus across to Symi. The far mountain peaks of Turkey were clearly visible, snowcaps twinkling in the winter sun. As you can see, Rhodes is very empty in the middle of winter, with no cruise ships to be seen. Just the regular Blue Star ferries from Pireaus and a few over-wintering yachts.

By all accounts it has been a wet winter in this part of the world with torrential rains in many parts of Greece and Symi is no exception. It started to rain on Thursday afternoon and by 9 a.m this morning we had measured another 50 mm of rain. All the cisterns are full and walking down the Kali Strata this morning, ankle deep in fast flowing water, I was dodging spouts of water from the overflows.

The rain is expected to ease off in the next 24 hours and temperatures will be ranging from 8 to 18 degrees centigrade. A wood fire is as much to dry things out as it is to warm things up and much more economical to run than any other form of heating on the island so there are little plumes of smoke coming from many chimneys in the lanes of Chorio.



Have a good weekend.



Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

Ged signing off / First impressions of living on Symi.

Well to start off with the good news Adriana is back on Symi and will be resuming her blog in due course(i can hear the cheers from here) In the mean time we have an impression of Symi compiled by Peter Vidal. As you will see Peter has been living on the island for the last three months and has developed a liking for the Symiot way of life.

First impressions of living on Symi.


Can it really be three months ago that I left the UK to live on Symi? It seems like only three or four weeks ago I had finally packed my car and driven across Europe to Venice, arrived in Patras, made my way to Pireaus and got on the Irepetra to arrive near the end of October. The following few days were spent getting things out of the car and settling in.

As October came to an end, it was clear that the tourist shops and restaurants in Yailos were either closed or in the process of closing for the winter. In Chorio, most shops and restaurants are still open. The weather was still warm and the sky relatively cloud free.

I concur with Ged in his post about his first Christmas on Symi. I would add that the lights in Yailos and Chorio, puts the displays in some UK towns (and cities) to shame in both quantity and quality, especially when you consider the size of the island. I was able to find the things I wanted, and even saw Turkeys, Brussels sprouts and Parsnips on sale! I was surprised at how many of the local population entered into the spirit of Christmas, especially with the amount of houses that were decorated with lights.

Sunset in Yialos. Taken on 1st of January 2011

Christmas came and went, and the New Year has been welcomed! The weather was so clear on New Year’s Day I took the time to have a walk and clear the head! Apart from two cold but clear nights, I have been surprised at how warm it still is but I know there is at least another month or two of winter to go. I also expect there will be more rain to come before April, after the few odd days we have had here and there.

Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming to a new person in their community. Having lived and worked in a small village (seaside resort) in the UK, I have been surprised at how easy it has been to start to get to know people and make friends. Never having been good at learning languages, I am finding it hard to converse in Greek, but the Symiot population are very patient and understanding- Zigar, Zigar
(my spelling)......

My whole experience of the last three months is summarised in this extract from email correspondence:-

Apart from family and friends what do you miss most? - Nothing - It would be nice to have the odd real ale, however Mythos goes down well!

Do you have any regrets? - Only one, I wish I had moved here years ago.


PV



Read more...