In the Sunshine on Saturday

The Taxiarchis Hotel surrounded by daisies at the border between Chorio and the Pedi Valley.

Wild Pear Blossom

Waiting for warmth - no new leaves yet on the Valonia oaks.

The Nireus Hotel is still wrapped up for the winter.  As are Sofia's House and Sofia's Apartment next door.
 In May the waterfront here is pretty with umbrellas, cafe tables and sunbeds.

The Proteus lies alongside in Yialos, awaiting her fate.  To the right, the waterfront tavernas have taken their tables outside so that the interiors can be repainted and cleaned for the first visitors in April.

Small boats like theser are used by the locals to go out fishing  on sunny days in the winter.

After a gloriously springlike weekend winter reappeared all over Greece in the course of Sunday. Many parts of Greece have experienced heavy snowfall, not just in mountainous areas but also in Athens and as far south as the Peloponnese. Here on Symi we have had torrential rain since Sunday evening and the usual Clean Monday activities of picnics in the countryside and the flying of kites were a complete wash out. The waterfront cafes in Yialos were relatively busy as locals sought refuge from the weather and the lone taverna open on the waterfront at this time of the year was packed. With gale force winds and a shipping ban we are unlikely to see the Blue Star ferry anytime soon as the weather is not expected to improve before Thursday. Anticipated lows for Rhodes and Symi tonight are in the region of 3 degrees centigrade and it is unlikely to climb much over 6 degrees centigrade tomorrow. There is a good reason why local farmers don't believe winter is over in our corner of the Mediterranean Basin until at least 15 March. Lent is off to a soggy and sombre start.

As I am sure everyone knows what a rainy day looks like at this time of the year I decided to share with you some photographs I took in the sunshine on Saturday - a reminder that every cloud does indeed have a silver lining.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Civil Unrest? No, Haggling over Fish.

Civil unrest?  No, haggling over fish.

Today is one of those early spring days where everyone one meets exclaims, ‘What a glorious day!’ and yearns to be out of doors.  Indeed, looking through my office window, this is the most people I have seen out on the streets since I returned from South Africa 3 weeks ago.  No they are not having a protest meeting or staging a demonstration, despite the sensationalist obsessions of the foreign media and the alarmist propaganda of the British Foreign Office.  They are standing around in the sun, buying fish for Clean Monday and discussing the merits of the different kinds of seafood that have just been brought in on the fishing boats.  It is the final weekend of Carnival and Clean Monday, a day traditionally spent in the countryside, flying kites and eating seafood picnics, marks the beginning of Lent for Orthodox Greeks.  Speaking of the media, there is a Greek film crew on the island today, filming Symi in the sunshine.  Something that the international press often forget to mention is that Greece is actually a very safe country  and has an enviably low crime rate.  This is particularly apparent in the areas mainly visited by tourists.  One of the reasons why a place like Symi is so popular with single women as a holiday destination is that one can walk home alone at any time of the night without fear or threat and there are not many places in the world where one can truly say that.

A Welcome Sight

 The sky is cloudless blue, the sea calm and clear.  Spring flowers blanket the hills and valleys and the first poppies are opening.  Walking to work I saw munching sheep and, oh joy, the Blue Star ferry!  While the car ferry situation is still precarious with no long term schedules available as yet, it is reassuring that the Blue Star is flexible enough to make a detour through Symi en route from Pireaus to Rhodes. As the Blue Star Diagoras then continues to Kastellorizon the departure from Rhodes will be quite late this evening but it does mean that goods and vehicles have another opportunity to reach the island. For regular updates on how to get to Symi, my companion blog written by Andy Ward is a mine of information on the subject and is not just aimed at British visitors either.  He covers flight details from other countries of origin too, as well as monitoring the ferry situation.  If you are a Facebook person, you can also catch up with the updates on our Symi Visitor Accommodation Facebook page.  For day to day life on the island, www.symidream.com is also entertaining reading.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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A Walk in the Winter Sun

Wild cyclamens growing from a gate on the Kali Strata.  

Somehow the fat purple tubers find enough space between the dressed stones to survive from one year to the next, inaccessible unless the masonry is actually taken apart, and provide a charming floral interlude each winter.

Sunshine and shade in a lane off the Kali Strata. 

That is the little monastery on Nimos visible across the water in the background.  The puddle on the paving is the only clue to the recent heavy rain, that and the small clump of weeds at the base of the wall.  It is not unusual to find sheep browsing on the wild flowers on the Kali Strata at this time of the year.  Free grazing is always welcome.

Arbour Day?

Much to the amazement of many, Symi Town Hall has embarked upon a tree planting campaign in the town square in Yialos.  It is a strange location to be planting a new forest but no doubt the story behind it will be revealed eventually.  The first hurdle will be how well the saplings survive the annual carnival festivities that will be taking place in the square this weekend.  The children present their tableaux on the stage currently half-hidden by the diggers and plastic chairs are laid out in rows on the area now being planted.

A place in the sun.

At this time of the year many houses, such as Villa Iris and Spiti Grand Helene, are still closed up for the winter but those that are occupied are easily identified by the rugs and blankets airing over the balconies on sunny days.

Some Chorio cats soaking up the winter sunshine. 

This is the lane that leads from the Cottage to the shops and tavernas in the village.  In a few weeks that green patch will be a mass of yellow daisies and by the time the July tourists are here the same path will be baked bare.  Only the cats remain constant.  Symi's face changes with the seasons and there is always something new to look at, even as one walks the same paths and byways.  

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Still Beautiful

Storm clouds over the Kastro

After a week of grey skies and squally weather Symi is in bright winter sunshine today.  The north wind froze the puddles on the Vigla overnight and it was only 4 degrees in my kitchen this morning.  February is often the coldest month of the year, even though Easter is only weeks away.  The first tourists arrive in April, including an international team of herpetologists, a classicist and visitors from all over the world who want to experience Greek Easter at first hand and enjoy the spring flowers.  The forecast for the next few days looks promising, with wind and clouds rather than hail and thunderstorms on the menu.  For those who associate Greek islands with endless sunshine and blue skies, I have taken some photographs of what Symi really looks like at this time of the year.  Still beautiful, but not the land of the travel brochures.

I wonder what stories this old barred window in Chorio has to tell.

Even the walls become gardens in the rainy season.

Back yard chickens are an increasingly common sight.

The Proteus has made her last trip of the winter to Rhodes before going in for her annual maintenance and inspection.  Dodecanese Seaways have put up their schedule for March which, at present, seems to be the same as February, with boats to and from Symi only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The Mayor is negotiating for the Blue Starferry to stop at Symi more often until the Dodecanese Seaways car ferry, the Panagia Skiadeni, comes into service.  Getting people to and from Symi is only part of the equation – it is getting vehicles and freight on and off that is the real challenge as the old network of trading caiques that was operational around the islands as recently as 25 years ago has long since been replaced with big refrigerated trucks and long-haul lorries which require big car ferries to deliver their goods.  

Leafless and dormant - the oldest oak tree in Lieni waits for spring.

Lemons in Lieni

Despite all the gloom about Greece in the international press there are plenty of people, regular visitors and new comers, who are expressing their solidarity with the Greeks and booking their holidays here.  It is when times are hard that true friendship shows.  Thank you very much to all of you.  The politicians cannot take away Greece’s beautiful scenery, lively culture and friendly welcome.  These ancient hills and bays have seen thousands of years of history – the latest news is only a brief blip on the timeline.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Clear, Calm and Warm in the Sunshine

Looking towards Nimos and the resorts along the Turkish coast.

Looking down on Pedi Bay from the top of the Vigla

Saturday was a perfect winter’s day – clear, calm and warm in the sunshine.  We went up the Vigla, Symi’s highest mountain,  in the afternoon, in search of snow views across the water, but the little row of clouds on the horizon perversely remained lined up along the Turkish mountain tops, masking the snowcapped peaks.  Vigla means sentinel and the name as apt as you can see from the photographs.  The ancient inhabitants of Symi would have been able to monitor any threat from the sea from all directions.

The cats of Agios Thanassis.

I wonder who put this optimistic geranium out amongst the ruins.
 Rain-streaked whitewash flakes away to reveal the colours of previous spring-cleaning.

Up in the lanes of Chorio a cat makes his mark on someone's new washing machine...  Getting domestic appliances up through the narrow lanes is quite a business as the nearest vehicle access is a good 10 minutes away - and routes have to be planned carefully to take into account sudden narrowings such as that at the top of this flight of steps.

New blossom and the last of the old nuts right at the top of the tree.

On Sunday the rain resumed and this morning the Proteus was unable to do her scheduled trip to Rhodes due to heavy swell in Rhodes harbour.  She will be going tomorrow instead.  Even in years when we have had a regular winter ferry schedule, weather frequently interferes with the most carefully made plans.  It only takes an easterly or south-easterly wind to close Mandraki and Rhodes’ commercial harbour or a Force 9 gale in the Aegean to bring shipping to a standstill.  On days like this Symi and the other small Greek islands scattered across storm tossed waters are almost as isolated and dependent on their own resources as they were in ancient times.  No wonder the island Greeks are a tough and resilient people and it is this fortitude that will help Greece survive the present economic storm.

 Have a good week.

 Regards,

 Adriana

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The Small Island of Symi

Almond Blossom in Chorio

Today’s blog from Symi starts with the sad news of the untimely passing of Gabriella Gaze.  We will all miss her.  In her short life she added greatly to the sum of human happiness with her bright smile, delectable cakes and winning ways with small children.  In a small tightly knit community such as Symi we share each others sorrows as well as joys and the sense of loss is profound.  Fortunately, however, the same strong sense of community will help the bereaved to cope in the long term, for such is the way of life on the small  island of Symi.

There is a brief lull in the stormy weather that has battered Symi all week and the rain has finally stopped.  It is a bright clear day with a cold dry north wind and walking down to work this morning there was plenty of washing hanging over the balconies of Chorio.  More rain is expected from Monday so everyone is working hard to make the most of the dry sunny weather.  The Blue Star ferry from Pireaus passed through yesterday, bringing fresh produce to the island in the form of a truck laden with cabbages, cauliflowers and oranges.  The first tentative wild flowers are appearing in the Pedi Valley in the form of small white daisies and shy cyclamens.  

Here are some pictures taken around Symi  to give you an idea of how the island looks on a sunny winter’s day.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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Winter Blues

The fjord-like entrance to Pedi Bay with the mountains of Turkey in the distance.

It is a cold and windy winter’s day on Symi.  February is often the worst month, weatherwise, in the Greek winter and howling gales and low temperatures are nothing unusual.  Flying back to Greece last Wednesday the whole of Turkey seemed to be under heavy snow apart from the coastal strip and it was snowing in the northern suburbs of Athens.  Schools are closed and villages snowbound.  The airport at Ioannina has been closed due to the freezing conditions and it looks as though there is more snow to come as the same weather system that has covered Rome with snow heads slowly eastwards.  Here on Symi the local car ferry, the Proteus, is tied up by the clock tower, riding out the Force 9 gale that has stopped shipping throughout the Aegean.

Yesterday I went for a walk in Pedi Bay.  Pedi is very quiet at this time of the year.  The tavernas and hotel are closed and many of the locals move up the hill to the more sociable and cozy village, Chorio, rather than braving the cold isolation of the bay.  Pedi in the winter is the preserve of fishermen and those who like to spend a sunny winter’s day painting the bottom of family boat.  Here are some photographs to help drive away the winter blues.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

The controversial Pedi 'Marina' may not be finished for many years but local fishing boats still find it useful to tie up to.

Looking across the bay from the Pedi Katoi.

Looking up the bay towards the Vigla mountain (700 metres) with the upper village of Chorio just visible on the right.

Flowering asphodels and sunshine sparkling on the waters of Pedi Bay.

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