The Island is Getting Busier

 The sun is shining and the sky is blue, interrupted only by the occasional fluffy white cloud.  A gentle breeze is riffling the water in Yialos and the sounds of happy conversation and the clink of glasses and coffee cups drifts up through my office window from Pachos Kafeneion below.  The excursion boats from Rhodes have arrived, bringing visitors from many lands.  As the old traditional tourist markets from Britain, Germany and the West dwindle, new ones from Eastern Europe and Asia are opening up and there is no knowing what languages and nationalities each day will bring.  Symi is an increasingly multicultural destination and the waterfront tavernas and cafes are increasingly putting up their menus in Polish, Russian and other languages.

The figs are ripening in the sun.

The Windmill restaurant in Chorio should be opening soon now that the weather is settling down.

Time to air blankets and pack them away for the summer.

More and more businesses are opening up by the day and the island is getting busier, with more things going on.  Water taxis are now running, although not all beach facilities are available yet.  Apparently Agia Marina will be opening tomorrow.  Visitors arriving on Symi this week to stay on the island may be interested to know that there will be a street party in Chorio this Sunday for the British Monarch’s Jubilee.  As usual this will be in aid of  local charities.  Anyone interested in participating or attending should contact Tina and Jenine at the Olive Tree, in the lane opposite the Hotel Fiona in Chorio.

Tonight there will be the usual wine night at the Symi Dream gallery.  For those of you who have not been to Symi before, every Monday evening during the summer the gallery above the Symi Dream shop is open for visitors in an atmosphere of wine and conviviality.  Those staying in the harbour often use this as an excuse to go up to Chorio for dinner afterwards.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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An Air of Optimism

Bright Bougainvillea in Chorio - next to the Cottage.

Not quite Banksy - just two little girls with a packet of crayons and an irresistibly flat rock.

One of the new solar powered street lights in Yialos. 

Zinnias and Basil in Yialos

Pots of larkspur in Yialos.  The shop to the right of the picture is Kiara Luna's new premises.

Symi is gleaming after the recent rain and there is an air of optimism about the place that is very much at odds with the impression of Greece that the foreign media loves to paint. This is not because the Symiots are in denial about the state of the nation's finances or the Eurozone crisis but because Greeks are essentially good at making the best of whatever life hands them. There is no point in weeping and wailing about what is happening elsewhere - islanders have had to fend for themselves by and large over the centuries anyway and life must go on. In answer to some of the emails I have received at Symi Visitor Accommodation in recent days, the banks are functioning normally, the ATMs do have money in them, we are unlikely to switch to the drachma any time soon as even if there was to be a Grexit it would take time to print/mint the new currency, there is plenty of food in the shops and tavernas and Symi is definitely open for business.

Yesterday afternoon I was invited to attend the christening of Yannis Moschos, the little son of Maria and Dimitri of Kampos Supermarket - the one on the corner by the bus stop in Chorio. I have put some photographs on the Out and About page - my little camera is not very good in twilight conditions and I do not have a fancy zoom lense but I hope that you enjoy them never the less. The photograph at the bottom of this blog was provided by Andrea Amerikanas of Pedi. Thank you very much, Andrea. A big fat Greek christening is a joyous and exuberant event, even in times of austerity, and everyone made a big effort. The clothes were bright and summery, the children beautiful and a good time was had by all. Memories of happy occasions are what tide us all through the rough times and I found myself heading home in a far more cheerful frame of mind than I had set out. Symi does that to people.

I apologise for any glitches in the layout today - Google seem to be tweaking Blogger.com again!


Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

Built in 1931, this little house in Lieni has seen the Italians and the British come and go.  It has survived the Stukas of the Second World War, the Greek Civil War, mass emigration and extreme poverty,  the Colonels and their Junta, the advent of tourism and Symi's Renaissance as a heritage destination.

The scooter is a box containing new clothes for little Yannis to be dressed in after his baptism.  For more pictures please see the Symi Visitor Out and About page.

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Help Save Greece, Holiday There!

Faces are a common detail on Symi's traditional houses.  See if you can spot this one.
It is in Yialos, Symi's main harbour.

Talismans against the evil eye are popular in this part of the world.
This blue glass emblem is as common in Greece as it is in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel or Egypt.  
A relic of the Ottoman Empire perhaps?

The pomegranates are in flower at the moment. Symbol of wealth and prosperity, Greece needs pomegranates as much as talismans against the evil eye at the moment.

Rain clouds over Pedi Bay at 8 o'clock this morning.

It is an unusually wet May day in Symi today. We were awakened by a torrential downpour at half past two in the morning and the day has been a succession of thunder showers and rain squalls punctuated by dazzling sunny intervals ever since.  A low pressure system hovering over Greece, Turkey and the Balkans is responsible for the inclement weather which is only expected to improve late on Saturday evening.  After several weeks of dust from Africa the rain has provided welcome relief and the air is sparklingly clear.  The harbour’s many cafes and coffee shops are full of day trippers and locals alike, sitting shoulder to shoulder in cosy conviviality under the awnings, watching the rain drops bounce off the sea.

On a more practical note, Dodecanese Seaways has released an improved ferry schedule which helps to fill in some of the gaps in the summer scheduling. The only major hiatus left now is Sunday evenings from Rhodes to Symi which must surely be filled because that is the main changeover day for the Scandinavian flights.  At present although the Panagia Skiadeni appears on the schedules she is actually doing tourist trips, not running as a ferry, so it is not possible to buy one way tickets.  It is, however, possible to buy one way tickets on ANES’ Proteus. The Proteus’ schedule is currently only up until 31 May but it is expected that she will run a similar sort of programme, starting and finishing in Rhodes each day, throughout the summer. 

If you are on Facebook remember to look at our Symi Visitor Accommodation Facebook page. We update this regularly with news from the island including cultural happenings, travel news and lots more.  You may also like to join Help Save Greece, Holiday There!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

The pelargonium, bright and optimistic and very much a part of the Greek urban landscape.
The silvery foliage behind  is an olive tree.

The Symi studio of celebrated Danish artist, Jytte Loehr, who does a great deal of her painting on the island.
The Kali Strata is home to several galleries and studios.  Ian Haycox of the Symi Gallery is hosting a new exhibition of work by local artists which is opening at 7 p.m tonight.  If you are in the area you are welcome to come along.  Many collectors have contributed works by local Symiot artists.  Look out for the writing on the stairs.

Proudly Greek - this flag pole is on the hill above the harbour.

Crisis, what crisis?  The rich are still including Symi on their cruising agenda.

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Leave the Worries of the World Behind.

Gone fishing.

Agia Marina island with thunder clouds building up over Turkey in the distance.

The little chapel on the island at Agia Marina.  This is a popular venue for wedding blessings and was where Caroline Carver and Kenny Doughty celebrated their wedding.

Even though I live here it is not often that I am able to take a Sunday off and go out on the water so this last weekend was a real treat.  The water taxi service does not start for another week or so, when they all have their licenses, and the beach tavernas are still setting up for the season, so our only companions were Symiot fishermen and locals busy whitewashing chapels and clearing weeds in preparation for the summer season.  The sea was the irresistible clear azure for which the Mediterranean is famed and the children enjoyed swimming in the warm shallows off Agia Marina.  It is easy to leave the worries of the world behind in such beautiful surroundings.

There are still some thunderstorms around, mainly over the Turkish coast, and we were treated to a spectacular display on Sunday night.   As there was a lot of dust in the air initially the lightning flashed orange and red, but once the rains started on the distant shores the air cleared to the more usual white lightning.  Much of Greece and Turkey is experiencing thunder storms and heavy showers at the moment as the hot air of the Mediterranean Basin collides with the cooler air of Continental Europe.  It will be a few weeks before this settles into the summer meltemi breezes.

If you are arriving on Symi this week make a note in your diary the opening of the new exhibition at the Symi Gallery on the Kali Strata on Friday night.  There is also live music at Giorgio’s taverna in Chorio on a Friday night, starting at about 9 so you can have a real cultural evening going from one event to another. 

Here are some pictures to whet your appetite for summer holidays to come.

Regards,

Adriana

Apostoli up the ladder, putting up the pergola over the taverna.  The other taverna in Pedi, Katsaras, is down the other side of the bay  and is already open for business. We had supper there ourselves on Saturday evening.

The foot path along the front of Pedi Bay, from Apostoli's taverna to the bus stop and the Pedi Beach Hotel.  In a few days those boats will all be launched and the shore line becomes a welcoming beach with sun umbrellas and loungers for those who want to combine lunch with swimming and sunbathing.

The rocks at the entrance to Pedi Bay are called the Paximadia which means rusks in Greek.

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Symi the Cultural Gem

It is a bright sunny day on Symi.  Temperatures are now reaching the low thirties at midday, falling to about 20 degrees at night.  Every afternoon we see the thunder clouds build up over Turkey and lightning flash over distant mountains but there has been no rain on Symi since Easter.  It looks as though the long summer drought has begun.

First of all, before I forget, the herpetologists who visited Symi over Easter have now put up their blogs and field reports.  For anyone who is interested in Symi's fauna, there are some great photographs and a lot of information.  The links are Matt Wilson,  Carl Corbridge and Ilias Strachinis For those of you who are fearful of snakes, apart from the Ottoman Viper all of these snakes are harmless to humans and even the Ottoman Viper would rather slide away than attack.  The intrepid trio had to search long and hard to find these snakes up in the mountains so even if you are a regular visitor to Symi it is unlikely that you will ever see any of them except in these photographs.  If you have any questions I am sure that Matt, Carl and Ilias would love to answer them for you.  

Photographs of the annual VE Day Parade on Symi can be seen on our Out and About page and also on the Symi Dream blog.  It was good to see the banner of the Symi Women's Association flying high.  This worthy association was formed 60 years ago to help the women of Symi cope with the difficulties of life on the island in the years after the Second World War.  As Symi became more prosperous through tourism its role evolved into one of preserving the cultural life and traditions of the island and fostering educational opportunities for the young as well as organising visits by health professionals.  Bravo to Sevasti Nikoli who has been at the helm for the past 30 years, and to all the other Symi ladies who are involved in this organisation and have helped keep Symi the cultural gem that she is.

A handsome resident of Chorio.
The grounds of the as yet unfinished undercover sports facility in Chorio.  In the light of the present economic crisis it is unlikely to be finished any time soon.

As I stopped to photograph the billy goat, a cat came sauntering past.  They looked at each other peaceably and then continued their separate ways.  All over Greece there must be similar blue boards announcing projects that came to an abrupt halt as austerity kicked in. Perhaps one day some magnanimous philanthropist will step in and see this project to its conclusion. 

It is not just houses that are decorated with posies for 1 May.  Spotted in Chorio.

The harbour is slipping into summer mode.  The cafes are open and selling ice creams to the day trippers.  That herb and spice shop next to the gyros bar has been here ever since I can remember, but the building that houses the Dodecanese Co-operative Bank used to be a sunhat shop.  Monique, the owner of the sunhat shop, used to put out card boxes for the cats to snooze in.  When she retired, the cats retired with her and now they all live round in Harani.

This old door in the back lanes of Yialos is a work of art in its own right.
The wrought iron work in the door panels is a trellis of iron roses.

The Merakles taverna is celebrating spring with cheerful petunias.  The white building behind is the new extended premises of Soroco boutique.

Pelargoniums in the Pedi Valley.  

Nasturtiums and Rosemary

Have a good weekend.  I have some Danish friends visiting this weekend who I have not seen for many years so my next blog will be posted on Tuesday.

Regards,

Adriana

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The Joys of Spring - My Walk to Work

The wild hollyhocks are in flower.  The recent strong winds have knocked their spires into various crazy angles but they are still delightful.  My little Olympus camera does not really do the color justice - a voluptuous satiny pink.

A defiant clump of poppies, hanging on despite the rising temperatures. With midday peaks around 30 degrees the flowers don't last very long.

Looking across to the windmills from Lieni, Symi is still predominantly green.  The dust of summer has yet to settle on all those shiny new leaves.

Clumps of daisies, plumes of grass. 

Symi is famous for its beautiful neo-classical architecture. While the houses seem quite uniform at first, close attention reveals all sorts of little details, like this carefully cut stone work above a doorway on the Kali Strata.

Or this eye on a pediment, also on the Kali Strata.  In this part of the world, houses and boats are often marked with eyes to protect them from evil.

The fascinating staircase leading to the current home of the peripatetic Symi Gallery.  Gallery events are advertised on their Facebook page and you can see more work by Ian Haycox on his website.

Two beautifully restored mansions on the Kali Strata.  Symi is so steep that very few properties have gardens and those that there are are usually full of useful things like lemons and oranges, as is the case with these two.

It is such a bright and cheerful time of the year here on Symi.  The sun is shining, there are people about, everything is growing and looks fresh and perky - only the most determined pessimist could be gloomy in such circumstances.  That said, this was the quietest election I have ever experienced on Symi.  Usually Pasok heartland, there was no reason for dynamite and victory toots last night.  Coming in third was a definite shock to moral and there was a lot of discussion going on in the cafeneions and lanes this morning.  New Democracy, who won by a very slender majority, have 3 days in which to create a coalition government.  If they fail, there will be another election.  For tourists this will have little impact, except that those coming to Greece from outside the Eurozone may well benefit from the fact that the value of the euro has dropped slightly on the results of both the French and the Greek elections.

Tomorrow is VE Day, a local public holiday.  If you are on Symi, come down to the harbour and enjoy the annual parade.  If you aren't on Symi, photographs of the parade will be on the Symi Dream site as they will be covering the parade as usual.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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A White Cat of Symi

I noticed that someone was searching on this blog for a white cat of Symi.  Well, here is one, enjoying the spring sunshine in Chorio.  Another famous white cat on Symi can be found on the Symi Dream website.

Chamomile growing in the Pedi Valley

A Symi sheep balances on the edge of a cliff, in search of a succulent morsel.

Not for them the lush pastures of New Zealand.  Symi sheep work hard for their food.

Spot the pigeon.

That is Pedi Bay in the background.

Olive blossom on my garden table.

A busy 5 minutes in Yialos this morning.  Yes, that is the Poseidon heading off for a round the island trip.

It is a busy weekend in Greece with the elections for the government taking place on Sunday.  Here on Symi  the lists are up for the candidates and the schools are closed as they are being used as polling stations.  As Greeks have to travel back to the place where they are born and registered to vote there will be a lot of movement around the country over the next few days.

The cheerful bunting fluttering in the harbour is because Symi will be celebrating VE Day on 8 May.  The surrender of the Dodecanese was signed here, at the building that is now the Katerinettes Hotel and restaurant, and every year the event is commemorated with a parade.

As you can see from the above photograph, the Blue Star ferry is coming through Symi on Fridays as well as Wednesdays this week - and the round the island excursions have started.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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