Symi - An Authentic Greek Island Experience

The glamour yachts are back.  We don't see as many huge megayachts as we used to but there is evidently still  money around, judging by this line up earlier in the week

A cat-nap

It is not all gin palaces and 'stink boats'.  We do see occasional sailing yachts like this one in Yialos.

Yes, this is Symi.  If you go up the mountain you enter a different world.  One of ancient forests, orchards and olive groves, mountain chapels and tumble-down terraces.

Cats and chickens living in peaceful co-existence on a corner in Lieni, an area on the top edge of the Pedi valley.

The voluptuously extravagant flowers of the wild caper bushes are a well-kept secret, only visible to early risers.  The tiny buds form in the evening, swelling over night and bursting into bloom at dawn, only to shrivel away in the morning heat.  The Greeks use almost every part of the caper plant, pickling and brining not just the immature flower buds but also the tender leaf tips and the seed pods.

A Symi scarecrow.

Blue and white.  The colonnade is part of Giorgio and Maria's taverna, a Symi landmark since the 1970s and still going strong, although the eponymous Giorgio and his wife have long since departed this earth.

The last gasp of the Kali Strata steps. The Olive Tree cafe is screened by the verdant garden on the left. Giorgio's taverna is the blue sign at the top centre.  There is a very charming small boutique selling artisanal sandals and other items immediately opposite the taverna entrance.  A bit higher up you will find the Rainbow bar and Boulmas/Lefteris Kafeneion, a butcher, a baker and various other shops.

The  blue studios at the Hotel Fiona in Chorio.

The traditional herb shop, just down from the Olive Tree at the top of the Kali Strata. They also sell Greek coffee and other ethnic delicacies.

Free range on the Kali Strata. There is no real division between town and country on Symi and many Symiots keep a small flock of hens and a rooster to supply the family with eggs and the occasional bird for the pot.

The lanes of Yialos abound with shops and boutiques to suit every budget and taste.  Symi has quite a reputation for its excellent shopping opportunities in the summer and you will find far better and more interesting items for sale here than in Rhodes Old Town.

Symi's new fresh fish shop, next to the Georgina's Market in Yialos.

Day visitors from Rhodes enjoying a seafood lunch at one of the traditional tavernas in Yialos.

Not all of the lanes are busy and bustling. Some of them are peaceful oases.

Symi is getting busier as July progresses.  Hot sunny days by the sea merge into warm summer evenings in the bars and tavernas.  Visitors grow browner by the day.  Most of Symi's beaches can only be reached by water taxis operating out of Yialos and Pedi.  Others can be reached on foot in Nimborio and Pedi and there is also a mini-bus service several times a week to take people across the island to Toli Bay for the day or down to Marathounda, the tiny seaside village near Panormitis.  On Symi you can go to a different beach or bay everyday, or find your favourite and visit it time after time. The choice is yours.

Symi is very popular with single travelers.  An advantage of staying on an island where visitors stay among the locals is that everyone quickly knows everyone else.  The locals eat at the same tavernas as the tourists, visitors travel on the same bus as the locals and shop in the same shops.  First names are quickly exchanged and no one remains a stranger for long. This is why people keep coming back, year after year, visiting friends and making new ones.  Symi is a totally authentic and unique Greek island experience.

There is still quite a lot of accommodation available on the island for this summer if you have flexibility with your dates.  Have a look at our travel blog to see what flight options connect with the ferries to Symi and drop us an email.

Have a good week!

Regards,
Adriana

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A Walk Around the Kastro

Spot the almond tree!

I wonder who farmed those ancient terraces,  high on the barren slopes of the Vigla, and who planted that almond tree that is flowering so bravely in the gully.

While almond trees usually require human intervention, wild cyclamens appear wherever there is a little soil,  no matter how sparse.

Looking across at Mavrovouni in Yialos from the lane that goes around the Kastro, just beyond Lemonitissa. The sun was very bright yesterday, despite the haze, so the colours are a bit bleached.  Villa Iris and Spiti Grand Helene are on this hill, overlooking the town square and the head of the harbour.

 Looking down at the head of the harbour from a bit further along the Kastro road.  In the foreground from right to left, St John's church, the Petrides school and the basket ball pitch, the Garden studios and the Opera House hotel.  In the middle, from right to left, the  customs house, bridge and town square with Mavrovouni behind, Iapetos hotel and the road up to Ellikoni cemetery and the helipad. This is also the top access to Mavrovouni. The area of dark trees behind is the Drakounda valley. A foot path goes from there down to Nimborio bay which can just be glimpsed. On the far right you can just see Evangelismos church overlooking Harani with the island and monastery of Nimos behind. The purple hills in the background are the Datca peninsula in Turkey.

A closer view of St John's church, the Petrides school and the town square with Mavrovouni behind.

One of several churches of varying sizes and degrees of importance that crown the circumference of the Kastro.

One of the most interesting roofs in Chorio.

An immaculately maintained door in Chorio.  It is actually made of steel but as it has been carefully looked after it has not rusted through as has happened to may similar doors on the island.

Looking towards the windmills and Pedi bay from the Kastro road.  That is a solar water heater on the left. The diagonal row of houses running parallel to it marks the vehicle short cut into the centre of Chorio. Most of Chorio is only accessible on foot  or by scooter as the lanes are too narrow with intermittent steps to permit vehicles.  As Symi is so steep, there was never a tradition for horse-drawn vehicles and carts on the island so the houses in Chorio are very tightly packed and the lanes evolved for pedestrian traffic only.

This large open space is the village square in Chorio.  Fringed by houses and ruins on three sides, the fourth side is a steep set of steps, now fenced off, dropping onto the lane that turns into the Kali Strata. This is the main shopping street in Chorio and is where you will find traditional tavernas, cafes, bars, bakeries, the butcher and other shops in a long line that terminates in steps at one end and the local junior school at the other.

The Olive Tree like many other cafes and restaurants on the island, is closed for the winter. This cat is taking advantage of the peace and quite to relax on the top terrace.

A tug towing another floating crane platform from Rhodes to Yialos for the new commercial harbour in Yialos. That is Turkey in the background, in the vicinity of Bozburun and that white stripe is the roof of a huge boatshed where boats are built for the foreign market.

After the blustery squalls and dust of Monday and the weekend, the weather has warmed up to abnormal temperatures for the time of year and Tuesday was absolutely calm.  It was about 28 degrees yesterday at midday - this time last year it was 10!  There is no real rain expected although once again we have a windy weekend ahead.  Temperatures are expected to settle around 13-18 degrees for the next week.  Apparently we have a 10% chance of 1 mm of rain but as that is likely to be more red Saharan sand than water it is unlikely to improve the current drought conditions and doesn't really count as rain.

As yesterday was the first fine calm and relatively clear day in ages I took my camera for a walk around the Kastro in Chorio. There isn't much left of the medieval Kastro itself as it was already fairly tumbled down when the Germans destroyed it during the Second World War but the lane that runs around the Kastro, from the back of the Chorio square to the oldest part of Chorio at the top of the Kataraktis, the old donkey path that predates the Kali Strata by over 1000 years, offers some lovely aerial views of the harbour.  The reason why the swimming pool at Iapetos Hotel, the only hotel on the island with a pool, is undercover is to avoid spoiling this view from above.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and, if you are a newcomer to Symi, that they give you an understanding of just how steep the island is.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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