Wood Smoke, Hot Soup and Vanilla Cookies

The view from Symi Visitor Accommodation this morning. The Blue Star was quite late today and there was a lot of traffic b both ways. Solidarity Symi also sent 25 big boxes of humanitarian relief down to Kastellorizo which all had to be loaded on board.

One of the many beautifully carved old doors on Symi. The bright yellow sticker is a reminder from the electricity company that whoever owns the house needs to read the meter, which is concealed inside the building, and send the meter reading through to the power company  so that they can issue an accurate bill rather than a provisional one.  Buildings that have been electrified in the last 30 years or so have their meters inside at the request of the Archaelogia, but this is not very practical from the point of view of the power company.

Those wonderful red leaves keep on falling.

Very little sunlight reaches the Kali Strata at this time of the year as  it is on the south side of the harbour, facing north, with steep hills behind that block the sun.  Welcome shade in the summer becomes gloomy damp in the winter months and it is not surprising that this area has few year round residents.

In the summer this is where we go to buy foreign newspapers and magazines in Yialos.  In the winter they do get the local Greek papers and magazines but with the absence of daily ferries, these are often old news by the time they arrive here.  Thank goodness for the internet!

It is a hazy chilly day on Symi.  High pressure continues to dominate the area, bringing heavy dew fall and misty mornings.  Temperatures are now between 11 and 18 degrees centigrade and the houses are getting colder inside.  The air smells vaguely  of wood smoke, hot soup and vanilla cookies. The bakers have put up their decorations but have not yet started the traditional Christmas biscuits - those treats are yet to come. Advent is actually a fasting time on the Orthodox calendar - not as extreme as Lent but none the less a time of restraint before the celebrations of Christmas, New Year (St Basil) and the Epiphany on 6 January.

The Blue Star was very full today as lots of people left the island to do their Christmas shopping.  There is no point  in going on a Wednesday as there isn't enough time to get everything done so everyone goes on Friday, even though it means coming  back very late as the boat goes to Kastellorizon.  There is only one more Friday shopping day between now and Christmas.

The locals are becoming concerned as we have not had the usual seasonal rain to get the crops growing and as the days become shorter and darker time is running out.  Although we had heavy rain early this year, that was months ago now and November and December have been drier than usual.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Solidarity Symi Public Meeting - 16 November 2015

A public meeting will be taking place at the Cultural Centre in Yialos at 2 p.m. today. Everyone who is on the island is invited to attend.  Translators will be available as there will be speakers in both Greek and English.

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Talking About the Weather

The big oak tree in Lieni, at the top of Chorio, is starting to lose its leaves.  

Monday morning 8 a.m. and the lanes at the top of the Kali Strata are quiet.

You know the season on Symi is drawing to a close when all you see on the Kali Strata are sheep droppings!

Not much happening down in the harbour either.  Indeed by the time I got down to the bottom, that big gulet had gone.

Another section of the roof is getting a make over on this old mansion at the top of the Kali Strata.

Empty.

A Virginia creeper, intent on raising a few tiles.

There might not be many customers about but the herb man has just taken delivery of several branches of bay which will have to be dried and bagged for next year.  When you buy herbs on Symi the chances are high that they are gathered locally rather than imported.

The fish market by the bridge in Yialos - and a big piece of gauze to keep the flies off the fish.

The Symi day excursion boat coming in from Rhodes - while there are very few tourists still staying on Symi, Rhodes is still fairly busy if the number of day trippers is anything to go by.  They are mainly older people and families with young children, speaking a wide range of languages.

A colourful display outside the chandlery in the lane outside the Symi Visitor Accommodation office. Dino also sells agricultural implements - hoes, rakes, spades and the like.

Just before 12.30 and the Panagia Skiadeni has come into view.  It is not usually possible to see her when she is that far out but there are no yachts to obscure the view today!

It is a quiet October Monday on Symi and the main topic of conversation is the weather which is expected to take a turn for the worse midweek. Will the storms reach us as early as Tuesday night? Will they arrive on Wednesday? Will the rain be as heavy as expected?  Will it all be over by Sunday or will it linger on into the beginning of next week?  It all depends on which weather forecast you are following but whatever it is and whenever it is, it is coming our way and everyone is preparing for it. Those cafes and tavernas that are still open have been rigging their plastic drop cloths which can be deployed very quickly to turn pavement tables into sheltered ones.  It makes a change to be talking about the weather instead of Greek politics and the state of the Greek economy.

Many of the boutiques and more niche market shops have already closed, their owners heading off to other places for the winter. Those more practical shops that cater to the needs of the locals through the winter are concentrating more on the things that they know will sell than the exotic goodies demanded by megayachts and foreign visitors. There will probably be a flurry of treats in the run up to Christmas but for the next few weeks the philosophy is 'buy local, buy in season' - think pomegranates rather than pineapples!

Twenty-nine Syrian and Iraqi refugees, including quite a few children aged between 5 and 7, arrived on the island last night and their paperwork is being processed at the moment.  We hope that they will be ready in time to leave on the Panagia Skiadeni at 4 p.m. this afternoon as they will otherwise have to spend the night here as the next boat out is the Panagia Skiadeni on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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October Postcards from Symi

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A roadside fig that I had given up for dead has suddenly expressed a new interest in life.

The pedalo has joined the wet bikes by the roadside in Lieni.

The faults in the fall on the roof of the sports facility have been corrected and the workmen are replacing the grouting.

Wrapping up for the winter - the seats on this water taxi are now shrouded in black plastic bin bags.

Sunlight reflecting on the glass screens at Aris taverna next to the war memorial.

Wendy and Andy loading donations for Solidarity Symi into a golf car they borrowed from Manos so that they could take them round to the old post office.

Touching up the bows of the Panagia Skiadeni.

A calm interlude in the harbour.

The globe artichokes are waking up  in my garden.

The view from the bridge. The big stone building on the left houses the Symi branch of the National Bank of Greece.

A seasonal sight - a large water drum on the move.  The crowd in the background are waiting for the noddy train to Nimborio.

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Everyone is Welcome

The view from Symi Visitor Accommodation today - two water taxis are out, the other two showing signs of being wrapped up for the winter.  There are plenty of Symi's regular visitors and property owners around still but as the beaches are in shadow from quite early in the day, people don't spend as much time on the beach.

As the number of yachts diminishes, the fishing boats become more obvious.

The head of the harbour at 11 this morning.  Very quiet apart from the murmur of conversation from the various cafes.

Fishing nets in Yialos. Surprisingly there were no cats about.

The palm trees along the front have trusses of dates.  They were only planted a few years back and always have a slightly desperate air, particularly when being blasted by the salt spray of winter gales but are hanging on somehow.

The pebble mosaic of St John's church in Yialos.

The blue windows and steps at the far end are part of the Petridion, the junior school in Yialos.

Fanciful botanicals and geometric shapes.

A grapevine outside the old forge at the back of Yialos.

Looking down at Harani and Mouragio from the Kali Strata this morning, the sea looks very empty these days.  The little hire boats have gone from the clock tower, packed away until next summer.

Looking up towards the Old Markets from the bottom of the Kali Strata.  The only part of the hotel that you can see in this picture is the arched doorway which leads to what would have been the covered souk.  The rest of the hotel is hidden by the tall narrow ochre building in the centre of the pictue.

The wet bikes from NOS Paradise beach have also retreated up the mountain for the winter.

The yummy mummies and their chicks are doing well. The secret to survival if you live a free range feral life evidently lies in being well camouflaged against the landscape.

The plumbago is going mad at the moment, heavy with endless trusses of vivid blue trusses.

There are lots of familiar faces on Symi at the moment - regular visitors who always come for Symi's mild autumn sunshine, property owners coming for a late season holiday and to close up their houses for the winter, walking groups, photographers and writers and people who enjoy a valid excuse to opt out of the rat-race and do nothing much in particular for a couple of weeks.  Cafes and the beach fill the days quite nicely and the evenings are spent in the bars and tavernas, catching up with old friends and making new ones.  It is still mild enough to sit outside in the evenings although one might want a shawl or long sleeves after sunset.  The long range weather forecast still won't commit to when the next rain might fall and the heavy rain and thundershowers that have been affecting other parts of the Mediterranean are passing either to the north or the south of us. Temperatures are still in the twenties.

This evening there is a fund-raising event for Solidarity Symi at Agia Marina which promises to be a magical evening. Imagine spending an evening under the stars at a pretty beach taverna and coming home by water taxi late at night, phosphoresence lighting up the boat's wake. Tickets are 50 euros per person, including the water taxi, dinner and wine, and there will be an auction.

On Friday evening there is a thank you party at Apostoli's taverna in Pedi for all the volunteers as well as the hard-working police and port police.  This will be 10 euros per person and everyone is welcome.  We will be putting up more details on our Facebook pages tomorrow.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Solidarity Symi October Fund-Raising Event

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Life on Symi in September

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office at 8 a.m. this morning.

Someone must be celebrating something as one of the yachts is 'dressed over all' with the entire contents of the flag locker.

Who says you have to have a patch of earth to have a flower garden? This collection of pots provides an impressive display of colour and texture throughout the year and most of the plants are growing in painted feta cheese cans and plastic plant pots.

8 a.m. and the day has not yet begun.

12 noon and the first customers of the day are settling in for lunch.  This was taken before the Panagia Skiadeni came in at 12.30. so the lanes were still fairly quiet.

A sure sign of changing seasons - the first display of warm jackets and wind cheaters has hit the shops.

Symi Tours is the place to go for your ferry tickets and excursions.  Then you can pop into the emporium next door for the ingredients for an interesting picnic.

The lanes of Yialos are worth browsing for all sorts of shops, cafes and tavernas - and if you are staying on the island for any length of time, a local SIM card for your telephone.

If you look carefully the balcony on the left hand side of the vine, the one with the light blue doors, has an intriguing metal ladder staircase leading from the balcony to the roof.  A novel way to clean the gutters or a look out post for ferries?  On Symi there is always something unusual to see if you look up!

The spire of St John's church in Yialos, the dome of Lemonitissa on the left and, just visible behind St John's, the church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of the Kastro which was built within the ruins of the old castle of the Knights of St John.

It is still hotter than usual for September on Symi but a brisk breeze from the north west has blown away last week's dust and reduced night time temperatures.  We are still some weeks away from the first rains, although the odd downpour is not totally unheard of in September.

Our office has been busy as our houses are full and we also have many people popping in to say 'hello' and drop off donations for the refugees and the Symi Animal Welfare winter feeding scheme.  There is a wedding this afternoon and then we have another big one at the end of next week.  We know that today's wedding has perfect weather, although slightly warmer than planned, but we hope that the one on the 26th does not coincide with one of those 'odd downpours' mentioned in the previous paragraph.

There were only a few refugee arrivals at the weekend and they were processed promptly and have already left the island.  The incident regarding the French Honorary Consul in Bodrum might have significantly reduced the number of boats available.   No doubt someone else will step in to fill the demand in time for the next full moon as there is always someone to spot a gap in the market and exploit it.  Good progress is being made with the decking in the garden of the coast guard building which will provide a clean dry surface for people to sleep.  It is only a week to the equinox and the nights will soon be chilly for people sleeping out of doors.  We still need more monetary donations to reach our target for the infrastructure improvements that need to be made to provide longer term facilities.  There have been refugees arriving on Symi at intervals throughout the 22 years I have lived here and with Symi being one of the border islands, this situation is likely to continue to varying degrees for a very long time.  The link for on line donations is http://www.everyclick.com/solidaritysymi/info

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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