Cruise Ships of All Shapes and Sizes

Winter has come to the small island of Symi in the Dodecanese.  The trappings of summer are being packed away and the winter drop cloths and weather proof furniture being packed out at the various coffee shops around the harbour. It is only a matter of time before the gas space heaters appear behind the plastic weather curtains.   Most tourist businesses are now closed and it is only those who get some lingering day tripper and yachting trade that are still open down in Yialos.  As business life on the island winds down, Symi’s winter cultural life is perking up.  Last weekend Ian Haycox’s art classes for adults and children began and and the posters are now up to advertise Rhiannon Wheeler’s very popular ballet and dance classes. 

Cruise ships in Rhodes on 19 October 2011

Rhodes has a large pack of feral dogs and while we were taking the photograph above, the whole bouncing crew came out of the gate of the Old Town, waited for the traffic lights to change, and then rushed across the road to the beach.  In the past on hot days we have seen them swimming at this little beach between Kolonna and the main commercial harbour but this time they were intent on checking for left over sandwiches and other edibles.

 With all the strikes many of the fuel stations around the country are running low on fuel. We tried several before finding this one near Akandia which still had one pump open.

Fresh food for Symi - with no car ferries at the moment Symi and the other islands are dependent on whatever can be crammed onto the Dodecanese Seaways catamarans as they pass through.

This cruise ship was anchored off Nimos on Wednesday. Guests came ashore in small boats to visit Symi.

I was in Rhodes earlier in the week, sorting out my Aegean Airlines flight to the UK which was affected by the strikes mid-week so I am now flying tomorrow instead.  Rhodes was packed with cruise ships of all shapes, sizes and levels of glamour.  They did not seem to be affected by the various strikes whereas the commercial ships were all lying at anchor off shore and there were no ferries, just the trusty Dodecanese Seaways service from Kolonna.  In the absence of a car ferry service to the islands this week this was packed with produce when we came back on it on Wednesday morning.  Mr Spanos himself was supervising the loading when we left Kolonna and the slickness of the operation is impressive.  When the ferry got to Symi and the saloon doors opened to let the passengers out, the wheeled crates with all the goods and luggage for Symi were already on the dock for locals to unpack.  Those crates which were emptied in the time it took for the new passengers to embark were hauled back on board and the remainer left on the quay to be picked up when the boat passed through again on her south bound route in the evening. Turn around time 10 minutes.

Rhodes reflects the changing demographic of tourism in the area, with many signs up in Russian, Polish and Hebrew.  We hired a car to get to the airport and back as it worked out cheaper than taking the taxi both ways and as we were in Rhodes anyway we had other errands to do to make the most of the time.  The man from Budget Rent-a-Car who served us was a Lebanese Greek from Beirut, fluent in Greek, English, French, Arabic and Hebrew.

All being well I will be in England until 10 November so my next blog will be on my return.

Regards,

Adriana

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Green Shoots in Symi's Second Spring

It is raining again on Symi and all over Greece the winter growing season is now well underway.  October is like a second spring as rain combines with moderate temperatures and revives the island's flora and gardens from their summer dormancy.  October might not be a good month for beach goers but it is certainly an interesting one for botanists.

Scrubby oregano bushes turning from dusty bundles of twigs to soft green leaves.

A vivid display of bougainvillea in the lanes of Chorio.

The early rain is fattening the olives and these will soon be ready for picking.

Lupins punching their way up through the sun-baked earth.

The first cyclamen leaves. These will only flower after the winter solstice and remain in bloom until April.

And the first leaves of the little monks' cowl orchids

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Freshly Washed

The little island of Symi is gleaming brightly, freshly washed after several days of heavy rain, thunder showers and squalls.  A luminous green haze of new vegetation tinges the hillsides and terraces and the moss and ferns are reviving from the summer drought.  Symi received over 40 millimetres of rain in the recent bout of wet weather and it certainly shows.  This weekend the Pedi valley will be humming with rotavators as everyone takes advantage of the freshly softened earth before the next bout of showery weather moves in on Sunday.

Here are some photographs of Symi in her autumnal colours for you to enjoy.

The windmills of Chorio catching the late afternoon sun.

Looking across Yialos from the sunny side towards the Kastro and the Kali Strata.  The hill in the far background is actually the Vigla, Symi's highest point at 700 metres.

Sponge sellers and tourists along the waterfront in Yialos.  

This is definitely the sunny side at this time of the year.

The pediment of this building in Yialos was part of the cover of an old Symi guide book 

written by J. Farmakides.  Now out of print this was a very interesting and 

informative book and worth looking out for.

If you look carefully there is a face under the balcony, partially masked by the light fitting.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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Symi’s International Art Scene - More Good News from Greece

The small Dodecanese island of Symi has appealed to foreign artists for many years. One only has to think back to Daniel Spoerri, an exhibition dedicated to whose work was presented by Walter Blumberger in the downstairs of the old Symi Visitor office in 2007.  Jytte Loehr,  Cobi Sanders, Wolfgang Rehbach and many others have found Symi an inspiring and stimulating environment in which to pursue their muse.

As the summer season draws to a close Symi’s main art galleries report a very successful season.  The Monday evening wine nights at the Symi Dream Gallery at the top of the Kali Strata steps have drawn at least 857 people to date, many of whom have then spent the rest of the evening in the various tavernas, restaurants, bars and cafes in Chorio.  Apart from providing a venue for ODAS, the Symi art group headed by Aruni Konstantinidi, for the past 4 years, the Symi Dream gallery has hosted the Symi Dreamers rolling exhibition, displaying works by artists from Greece, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Holland, the USA, Cyprus, France, Norway and Italy amongst others and at least 10 pieces are known to have been sold, not counting the four sold by Christina Kirk and the ones she auctioned which raised 80 euros for art materials for the junior school. 

Local artist in residence, Ian Haycox, whose work can be seen at the Symi Gallery, the upper floor of an old Kali Strata mansion house, just down from the Kali Strata bar has sold 7 pieces to a wide range of  nationalities and provided the following observations:

I came to paint in Greece after a period of working as a lecturer in charge of an art history section in a further education college.  In this role I often read all kinds of research relating to the subject.  One interesting study completed by an American university was an analysis of viewers responses to pictures exhibited in galleries and museums.  The conclusions reached stated simply were that the majority of gallery visitors would spend around three to five seconds looking at pictures.  Anyone spending six to ten seconds would be looking at a piece that they really liked.  Anyone looking at a painting for over eleven seconds was generally found to be some kind of arts professional.  A dismaying conclusion for artists!

I have been exhibiting in many different locations throughout Greece for a number of years now.  I can confidently state that these conclusions do not bear any relationship to a Greek audience.  Most Greek visitors to my shows have come as couples and they have generally spent many minutes looking at works both individually and together.  They would often return to pictures repeatedly to discuss their thoughts.  Rather than the bleak picture that the American research paints the Greek experience gives artists a huge compliment.  It is very flattering to have such attention whether this leads to picture sales or not.

This situation also pertains to my experience as gallery director here in Symi.  I have hosted work by artists from all over Europe and America and the Greek response has been the same; a huge amount of attention paid to the work on exhibition!

In addition the Greek audience is prepared to buy art.  Around 50% of my sales have been to Greeks as against the rest being split between foreign visitors and foreign residents.

There is a clear message to artists - Exhibit in Greece!!

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Good News from Greece

A little frayed at the edges but still flying high.

Greek flag at Agios Emilanos - photograph by Ged Horton

Despite what the international media might have one believe, things in Greece are not all bad. 

Wednesday’s general strike was certainly inconvenient but the taxis and ferries ran as normal and we have had some very positive feedback from people about how various airlines handled the air traffic controllers’ strike.  For example visitors travelling with Easyjet were rescheduled to fly the next day and offered a free change to their return flight so that they could extend their stay in Greece if they wanted to.  Monarch contacted all of their passengers as soon as the strike was confirmed and informed them of their new departure times.  In the case of one couple we know, it enabled them to spend another day on the beach in Symi and that is no bad thing.  To the best of our knowledge no one was left stranded.

Tourist arrivals in Greece in general continue to increase with Corfu, Crete and Rhodes reporting bumper airport figures.  While a large proportion of these people will be staying in all-inclusive hotels and may not be spending much in the community, they are enabling hotels to remain open and provide employment and we know from past experience here on Symi, today’s package resort holiday maker is often tomorrow’s enthusiastic independent traveler.   

Another item on the tourism and transport front is, of course, Dodecanese Seaways’ acquisition of a small car ferry which should come into operation soon.  Dodecanese Seaways has also commissioned a new high speed catamaran similar to their existing highly successful ones.  This should go some way to meeting the needs of the Dodecanese islands while ANES has a rethink.  Dodecanese Seaways can never be a replacement for ANES and in any case it is unwise for Symi to be totally dependent on the whims and fortunes of one private shipping company.

The recent ruling by the ECJ in favour of pub landlady Karen Murphy in the UK has brought Greek satellite provider Nova into the limelight – and goes to show that a Greek company can provide a quality affordable service, the antithesis to ‘rip off Britain’.  

While overall food production in Greece has diminished as small companies fade away and consumers cut back on their spending on anything other than essentials, there has been a big increase in organic farming. This is a particularly interesting development given that the subsidy system for organic farming is coming to an end.   

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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Aegean Glory

There's a new face in Symi harbour this autumn and definitely something to smile about. She is the Aegean Glory and she is bringing day trippers over from Rhodes.  For more information please see our travel blog.

Regards,
Adriana

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On a Clear Day in Chorio

In these troubled times it is easy to forget the good and the beautiful.  Here are some photographs I took while watering gardens in Chorio yesterday afternoon.  Enjoy.

Regards,

Adriana

This bougainvillea looked so lovely, draped across the steps.

The pomegranate, symbol of fertility and prosperity, is in heavy fruit now.  

The simplicity of stone and whitewash.

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Welcome to October on Symi

The houses on the Kastro gleaming in the morning sun.

All in a row - a flotilla of yachts lined up outside the Alpha Bank.  

October is a month for late season flotilla groups and bargain charters for those who don't mind windy days and some brisk sailing.  

A dainty leaf on the apex of a roof.  

Architectural detail on the Kali Strata.  Faces and flowers are common motifs.

The grass is back!  Last week's rain has brought a gentle regreening to Symi's summer-scorched slopes.

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Exploring the Island

It is a bright sunny day on the small island of Symi in a quiet corner of the Dodecanese.  A perfect autumn day for a party of 156 French visitors to spend exploring the island.  Organised by Accomplish Conference and Events Specialists of Rhodes in collaboration with Symi VisitorAccommodation, the group arrived on the Dodecanese Seaways catamaran at 9.30 this morning, collected the fleet of hire cars and bikes from Glaros Rent-a-Moto, Katsaras Rent-a-Moto, Symi Tours and Jimmy’s Rent a Moto and Kyriakos of Rhodes and set off to explore the island.  To avoid congestion in the harbour and facilitate collection, most of the hire vehicles and bikes were parked in the town square in front of festival stage.  Lunch will be at the Nireus Hotel by the clock tower and they will all go back to Rhodes on the Dodecanese Seaways this afternoon.  We hope that they enjoy Symi so much that they decide to come back again, for a longer stay next time.  For more photographs please see the Out andAbout page.

We are all waiting to find out when the schedule for the new Dodecanese Seaways car ferry comes into operation.  I should imagine that the hit counter on their website is showing above average interest.

The weather remains exceptionally warm and calm for the time of year. Light showers are forecast for Sunday but temperatures will remain around 30 degrees at midday and evenings are mild. 

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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