June Postcards from Symi

Symi's famous amphitheatre harbour, as seen looking down from the windmill bus stop.  Our office and the Sunflower Laundry, the water taxis and excursion boats are all to be found at the narrow end.  Spiti Grand Helene and Villa Iris are on Mavrovouni, the Hill towards the back right, above the town square.

View of upper chorio, looking across from the windmill bus stop.  That scar across the hillside at the top is the motor road to Panormitis.  Chorio is much older than Yialos and is the original village. This is the area where you will find Villa Rose, the Little Blue House, Villa Anastasia, the Two Fishes and others.

The approach to Yialos, with the mansions of the Kali Strata on the left.  The red dome is Lemonitissa church for which Lemonitissa apartment and studio are named.  Other rental properties on this hillside include Villa Anastasia and To Plio.

Heading for the ferry - those are mountain bikes and cases lashed to the roofrack.

Roadworks ahead! The road is being resurfaced at the moment with a lot of disruption, unavoidable really as Symi only has the one motor road so there is no where to divert traffic and the work has to be done. The taxis refuse to run but everyone else, bus included, carries on regardless. We'll be picking the wet tar off our shoes for a while to come.

A mad moment in the harbour earlier this week.

The floating crane.  The calm before the working day begins, rearranging the seabed for the construction of the new commercial quay to take the big ferries and cruise ships.

St John's Wort flowering on the Kali Strata. There are lots of properties for sale on Symi at the moment, including the mansion in the background.

Unravelling a fouled anchor in Yialos yesterday.

Coming back from a night's fishing with a load of fish traps.

The swallows on the power line outside my office window early yesterday morning.  Their nests are actually in the light fittings in the high ceilings of Taxas supermarket round the corner.  Sometimes they take a short cut through our office, coming in through one balcony and out through the other.

After yesterday's heatwave with temperatures close to 40 degrees, today is quite pleasant at 25 degrees and is actually overcast with thunderclouds threatening.  I have just had a phone call from someone in one of the little Turkish bays along the opposite coast and she said it was pouring down.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana