Monday Musings from Symi

The Church of the Dormition of the Virgin of the Castle is having a facelift. Symi has no shortage of churches and there are several on and around the Kastro.

The Blue Star Patmos came through from Piraeus on Sunday after the shipping strike was temporarily suspended, bringing with it such high bulk items as toilet rolls and kitchen paper.

The dress shop in Chorio, flaunting a fabulous Christmas bow.

A flourishing fig among the ruins on the Kali Strata.

A glimpse of Christmas spirit near the bottom of the Kali Strata.

Storm clouds looming over Mavrovouni this morning. Rain is forecast from this afternoon through to early on Tuesday  morning, followed by a sharp drop in temperatures.

Yialos.

Wash day at Lemonitissa church.

The ferry didn't just bring practical things like loo paper.  It also brought these cheerful poinsettias.

The Petrides school at the back of St John's church looks wonderful with its new paint.  Whoever undertook to do that elongated meander frieze had a lot of patience and an incredibly steady hand.

Hibiscus in flower in the Metropolitan's garden next to St John's church.

Angels on an old grave stone incorporated into a bench in St John's churchyard.

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Winter Ferries Past and Present

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office balcony at 9 this morning.

And again an hour or so later.  

If you see a house decorated like this in Greece it means that there is going to be a wedding very soon.  The dowry house is prepared by the women  in the family, cleaned from top to bottom and decorated with ribbons.  A special ceremony then takes place in which the bridal bed is made up with beautiful linen and blessed.  Lots of babies and young children in their best clothes are then rolled across the bed to bring fertility to the happy couple.  An ancient and charming tradition that probably goes against all sorts of modern beliefs about marriage but has withstood the test of time this far so is unlikely to die out any time soon.  

Cabbages, caged birds and camo pants for sale in the Kampos parking area.  You can buy anything on Symi as long as you are prepared to wait long enough!

The acorns are falling from the big oak tree in Lieni.

Oranges and lemons ripening in old Yanni's garden in Lieni.

The rain has softened the earth and it is time to start planting before the weather turns too cold.

Herbs and vegetable seedlings outside the Symi Flower shop in Yialos.

Old hand-forged wrought iron in a window in Yialos.

Christmas decorations in the window of the Greek produce shop in Yialos.  If you want to support small Greek businesses, this shop stocks a veritable cornucopia of artisanal goodies and traditional organic groceries including sweets, wines, dried fruits, herbs, spices, bottled Greek delicacies, Greek pastas and so on.  It is also a good place to look if you need gluten-free products or health food items.

After a weekend of very unsettled weather with thunderstorms and showers the week ahead looks calm, clear and mild.  I will take a chance and leave the webcam and router plugged in!

It is three weeks to Christmas and I spotted a chocolate Santa in Hatzipetros supermarket this morning so some goodies are reaching the island, despite the on-going Pan-Hellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) strike.   Dodecanese Seaways is not affected by these strikes but the Blue Star is and as the Blue Star is the only way trucks and freight can reach Symi and other islands, not to mention our post, it does affect us all one way or another.  Dodecanese Seaways is only serving us with a catamaran at the moment and then only on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  As their routes are the 'wrong way round' we can't use them for a day's shopping in Rhodes. Those of us who have lived here a while get nostalgic at this time of the year.  Not for Christmases past but for the days of the ANES boat 'Symi I'  and Captain Phil who always got us to Rhodes to do our Christmas shopping,  no matter what.  In those days the boats used to operate out of Mandraki and most of the shops were in the centre of town so we used to trot back to the boat at intervals to drop off our purchases on board and then make a fresh foray.  Very civilised. Now the 'Symi 1' takes day-trippers to the old leper colony of Spinalonga off Crete, Captain Phil has long since retired and ANES' only nautical activities take place at the other end of the Aegean instead of serving the people of Symi as was the original intention.

Enough reminiscing.  At least Dodecanese Seaways is fast and the Blue Star is punctual when not affected by strikes and there is talk that the Mayor's appeal for a third Blue Star a week has been successful so maybe we will have boats on Mondays as well as Wednesdays and Fridays!  Keep an eye on Andy's travel blog for more information on this and other travel stories.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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On a Cold Friday in December

Over the hills and far away... my camera  is not quite good enough to pick it up but there is snow on a mountain peak just to the right of the highest peak visible on the left on the Turkish coast.

The northerly gales  have brought some extraordinary cloud formations.

These are the skies that summer visitors to Symi seldom see.

The bottom of the Kali Strata.  That cardboard box is serving a useful purpose.

I am not sure how many Symi cats are living in there but I didn't want to disturb them on a bitterly cold morning to find out!

Still life with yellow plastic tablecloth.

Potatoes!

In a garden down in Pedi

A classical face on a crumbling house in Chorio.

Christmas kitsch in Chorio.  Yes, that is a lifesize replica Santa playing a plastic saxophone!

The idyll is over.  Heavy rain and thunderstorms on Tuesday turned into plunging temperatures and gale force northerly winds by Thursday and Symi is in single figures today.  Showers and  more thunderstorms are forecast for the weekend so unfortunately we will have to leave the webcam unplugged when we are not in the office.

There are very few people about on the streets as there isn't much to do on Symi at this time of the year.  A  handful of men are in those coffee shops that are still open but that is about it.  Everyone is tucked up indoors out of the wind and that is what I will be doing soon myself!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Merry Early Christmas!

Autumn in Lieni, at the top edge of the Pedi valley.

The chapel on the corner.

This home-made kennel on the Kali Strata has plastic strips screening the door, presumably to keep the occupant warm and dry.  Like many Symi houses, the house itself does not have a garden or courtyard so this strip o f paving is the only outside space.  No sign of the dog and the kennel has appeared in the course of the weekend so no doubt I shall  meet the occupant when I return from England in January.  Jumbo is a big toy shop and discount housewares store in Rhodes and their plastic bags are used for all sorts of things - in this case, collecting litter.

Ripe for renovation.

Cool blues and calm seas.

An empty harbour. The yacht lying off shore is the one that was salvaged from the harbour recently.

The calm weather and high pressure system have created ideal conditions for doing some essential repairs to the quay.

Wild cyclamens in Yialos.

Symi is a famously steep island and most houses entail a climb of some sort.

A lone visiting yacht from Turkey.

All packed up for the winter.

Not so long ago this was a bustling row of sailing yachts.  Now it is winter and there are very few yachts on the move.  The ones you can see at the end are secured for the winter.

This is my last blog for a while as I am off to England on Wednesday to visit my family and will return in the middle of January.  In the meantime you can keep track of what life is like on Symi with the Symi Dream blog and also our webcam. Wendy will also be in the office during my absence to answer any emails if you have any withdrawal symptoms - she's not IT savvy to post on my blog in my absence (Wendy wants a smiley face so here it is :-) ).

A high pressure system continues to dominate over the area so the water level in the harbour is very low.  The weather remains dry and mild with little wind. Temperatures continue to fall and it is now only about 16 degrees at midday and 10 or 11 at night.  Everyone is talking about how unusually dry and mild it is for the time of year.

There are very few places open now - just the essentials really.  I noticed that Taxas has some strawberries in this morning so the Christmas treats are starting to arrive. There are parsnips in the freezers too.  If you ever want a quiet, non-commercial Christmas, come to Symi!

Happy Early Christmas everyone!

Regards,
Adriana

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Pedi in December

Watch the birdy!  Spotted at the fuel station on the Pedi road.

The big caique at the Haskas boatyard in Pedi is nearing completion.  This is the only wooden boatyard left on the island of what was once a thriving industry spanning many centuries.  Although they now have the benefits of power tools, the wood still arrives as undressed logs which are then cleaned up by hand with an adze before being planed into planks.

All packed up for the winter.

The beach is covered with boats and the plants have been dragged into a sheltered spot, out of the prevailing winds.

Good bye, sunbeds and sunshades, hello boats on chocks.

Pedi is as quiet as Yialos at this time of the year.  This is a Turkish excursion boat that was used by people traffickers and came all the way from Gocek near Fethiye on the Turkish coast.

Maria, the water boat from Rhodes. As Symi has no natural water supply, the community's water comes either from the small desalination plant on the Pedi road or by ship from Rhodes.   This is why you won't find villas with pools on Symi.  Mind you, with a sea that looks like this, who needs a pool?

Pedi Bay.

The back half of this old wooden boat  has been turned into outdoor seating.

High on a rocky outcrop on the road to the boat yard  in Pedi, this small clump of crocus has managed to find enough soil to survive.

Do you ever wonder what your favourite beach looks like when you aren't there?  Pedi bay is a small fishing village and seaside 'resort' in the most uncommercial sense of the word.  There are two tavernas, two small shops and a fuel station, one modest hotel and a few seasonal holiday lets.  In December, when the tourists have gone and the tavernas and hotel are closed, Pedi becomes very quiet indeed, as you can see from these photographs. Some of the families that live down there in the summer move up the hill to Chorio for the winter as it is so quiet and isolated.  The last bus from Pedi is at 7.30 in the evening at the moment - not that there is much open in either Chorio and Yialos to tempt evening outings anyway.

Temperatures are around 19 degrees at  midday and 11 degrees at night this week and the air smells vaguely of wood smoke as people are lighting fires in the evening to keep the chill at bay. The weather is expected to break at the end of the week with the possibility of some showers. At the moment there are no strong winds forecast and it is exceptionally mild and settled for the time of year.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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