Official Opening - Symi Festival - 'The 13th'

Symi regulars may remember a Kickstarter project a few years ago to raise funds to shoot a horror film on Symi called 'The Judas Curse', screenplay written by local writer in residence, James Collins. The film was shot on location on Symi with a combination of international actors and locals.

Now entitled 'The 13th', the film has already premiered at a Greek film festival in London earlier this year as well as at film festivals in Athens and Cyprus where it was well received.

The film is being shown on Symi on Monday 24 July at 9 p.m. at the undercover sports facility in Chorio - the big red building behind the Taxiarchis hotel in Chorio.  Admittance is free and everyone is welcome - unless they are very squeamish in which case, wait over at the Secret Garden and enjoy some live music instead.  Billed as an old-school horror film this could become the next best thing to the 'Blair Witch Project' so don't miss it!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

PS Symi felt the earthquakes off Bodrum and Kos but by all accounts the only damage reported locally was pictures falling off walls, broken jam jars in the supermarket and some broken wine bottles.  There were no reported injuries on Symi.

Read more...

Balcony Views and Random Street Art

Tuesday from the Symi Visitor Accommodation balcony and the Cypriot cruise ship, Salamis Filoxenia, that used to visit us on Wednesdays, came in.

Wednesday morning from the Symi Visitor Accommodation balcony and the Blue Star Paros.

Wednesday from the Symi Visitor Accommodation balcony with a little zoom - time for a little anchor fun.  

Thursday morning from the Symi Visitor Accommodation balcony - Bringing in the day's catch.

A minimalist balcony at the back of Yialos.

Random street art on the doors of the old forge at the back of a small square in Yialos.  This intriguing arrangement of leaves, cardboard and sellotape may have something to do with the bevy of little girls who often gather to play in this corner in the afternoons.

Look up!

A touch of the exotic.

Someone has put a nesting box under the balcony of the cultural centre.  Those of you who can read Greek will realise that this building was once Symi's town hall.  The current town hall is a three storey building at the back of the square in Yialos.

Friday - misty morning over Pedi

As July draws to a close Symi is a bit busier although still nothing like the glory days of the 2000s.  A Cypriot cruise ship called in for a while on Tuesday but there are still far fewer gulets and yachts than usual.  I was chatting to a local woman on my walk to work this morning and she was saying that her barometer of how busy the island is is the bus up from her afternoon swim in Pedi.  In past years it used to be standing room only and double runs but these days it is seldom more than half full.

Local Greek band Other View performed in the town square in Yialos on Wednesday night which gave the locals an opportunity to enjoy themselves and also for local young talent to be showcased. Unfortunately there is very little in the way of advance publicity for any of these events and no posters so it is difficult to find out what is happening when.  There are occasional announcements over the town public address system (the one they were testing with tantalising fragments of 'Zorba' a few weeks ago) but as is so often the case if you are in the wrong place or the bus goes past at the crucial moment, you miss the announcement. Apparently on Saturday there is another event in the town square in Yialos and then on Sunday there will be the annual Symi Shrimp Festival in the square in Chorio with shrimps, wine and traditional dancing. This annual event is organised by the Symi Women's Association and predates the original Symi Festival. Whenever I receive information about anything specific I will post it here as I am sure will James Collins on his Symi Dream blog.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...

Symi Summer Gold

A wisp of misty cloud over Nimos earlier this week.  

It has been very humid and hazy this week with poor visibility.  This was Wednesday morning, before the Blue Star came in, which is why the quay around the clock tower is empty.

Early morning in Yialos.  A Cypriot cruise ship just docking, motor yachts departing and the fuel bunkering tanker arriving to refuel the water taxis for the day.

Crisis? What crisis?

Bunting and inflatable seagulls decorate an outdoor bar in Yialos.  On hot summer nights everyone is outside and Yialos hums until late into the night.

Bountiful basil at the Symi flower shop.  As basil is a holy herb in this part of the world it is usually the small leaf variety that is grown, to keep evil and insects away.  According to the story, the St Helen and St Constantine identified the location of Christ's crucifixion by the basil growing nearby so it has had special significance in the Orthodox church ever since.

One of the oldest houses on the Kali Strata, awake for the summer.

Composition with cat, steps and water bowl.  Note the whitewash on the water bowl.  Perhaps that is why he has turned his back on it!

Golden light, golden grasses and a delicately gilded pigeon.

Expect the unexpected on Symi in the summer time - the dust on the car is normal in a place with neither water nor rain.  It was the glittery golden drum kit in the back of the car that caught my eye as I walked past.  August is the time for concerts, parties, bouzouki and live music of all kinds.  Every musician on the island has a full calendar.

Do you remember the hen on her stony nest in the water course? Well she hatched nine of her eleven eggs. Mum and brood are now in more comfortable quarters, safe from predatory cats

More summer gold in Lieni.

On my way to work this morning I was stopped by this young man who not only asked me to take his photograph but then wanted to see the results on my camera to make sure he approved!  Grandparents are an important part of the island's economy in the summer as without them to look after the children it would not be possible for parents to work the long hours that they do at this time of the year.  

After a very hot and humid week a tiny breeze has finally found Symi and last night was only about 30 degrees at midnight.  The air is starting to clear a little although the air conditioners around Yialos and Chorio are all still sucking buckets of water out of the atmosphere (very useful for flushing the loo and watering plants during the usual summertime water shortages!).  By the end of August, as the nights grow significantly longer, we will start to have dew at night but at the moment, sea, land and air are all hot around the clock.

Symi is filling up and we are hosting visitors from far and wide.  There are all sorts of languages to be heard in cafes and shops and the mix this year is more diverse than the usual August French and Italian.  There is a constant hum of voices - and often music - as life is lived out of doors at this time of the year and the island's acoustics, particularly in the natural amphitheatre harbour, carry sound all the way up to top of Chorio and beyond.  Don't expect total peace and quiet if you come to Symi in the first three weeks of August!

If you are on the island in the coming days, please keep an eye open for posters taped to community boards, bus stops, shop entrances and lamp posts, advertising all the various events. There is no formal printed program as the different things happening are arranged by a range of different people. I also noticed a sign put up by the coastguard, in Greek, requesting the community's involvement in a sea/beach/shore clean up on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. so it isn't just music, movies and dancing.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...

Sizzling on Symi

This might not look like a comfortable nest by northern European standards but she chose it herself and is sitting on a clutch of eggs in the shade of a holly oak.  We put her food and water nearby for her and are awaiting developments with interest.

Early risers can enjoy the ephemeral flowers of the indigenous caper bushes.

It is now several months since we had significant rainfall on Symi and with temperatures 40 degrees and above the trees and shrubs are shedding their leaves with alacrity.  We don't have a proper autumn here because by the time it does start to cool off and the days shorten, most of the deciduous plants and trees are already bald.  

A lone red balloon bobbing on the stones near the junction at the top of the Kali Strata.  I wonder what stories it has to tell.

In these temperatures no one has much inclination to cook indoors and heat up the house.  These small, basic but efficient BBQs are commonplace outside front doors, used to quickly grill a couple of fish or a handful of pork souvlaki. They are also good for grilling aubergines and peppers for dips.

When I went to the bank at 11 a.m. there was hardly anyone about and the horse was taking a rest under the tamarind tree.  Visitors staying on the island are all on the beach or somewhere shady by this time of the day and the day excursion boats hadn't come in yet from Rhodes.

By the time I emerged, the Symi excursion boat had docked over by the bus stop and tour parties were already making their way around the harbour. The tour guides carry parasols so that they are easy to spot in the throng.

Not so long ago there used to be an EU flag in the middle, flanked by two Greek ones, but times have changed.

The noddy train, heading round the harbour on the 40 minute round trip to Nimborio.

It is another scorching hot day on Symi. The bank, being one of the coolest places in the harbour, was busy this morning - mostly with locals intent more upon enjoying a gossip in the cool than high finance.  Business owners are all busy paying taxes and social security payments for their staff, transactions that were delayed because of the extended bank holiday and are now due.

It is much quieter than usual for July as very few Greeks are able to take holidays this summer due to the banking restrictions.  It doesn't matter how rich you are, in a cash based economy if you are restricted to withdrawals of 60 euros per account per day you can't withdraw enough money to cover holiday accommodation, ferry fares, meals and all the other things that a family needs on holiday.

Although the official Symi Festival has not happened for some years due to the economic crisis, a sort of alternative festival has sprung up, started by a committee of various enthusiastic locals plus the usual Sunday night film club in Chorio. Watch out for posters advertising various events around Symi including concerts, recitals, film  shows and art exhibitions during your stay.  Most events are free.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...

The Most Perfect of Weather

There's something interesting going on with the windows of the house on the right.

If you would like to wake up to this view this August, please contact us.

Symi is as famous for its steps as it is for its beautiful 19th century neo-classical architecture.  

Train-spotting Symi style.  Symi town hall's controversial 'choo choo' train as it passes the police station in Yialos, en route to Nimborio.  It is currently offering 40 minute tours of scenic Symi, departing from the town square.  

The Aegean Rally is in town.

Symi continues to steam with humidity levels reminiscent of my old home town, Durban.  Yesterday I emptied the bucket from the office air conditioner three times whereas in July it barely filled in a day.  The past two afternoons there have been big storm clouds looming over Turkey and the growl of distant thunder rumbling away. There have been reports of a few rain drops over Rhodes on Wednesday.  It was this kind of August weather that had everyone worrying about the Athens Olympics in 2004 as the stadium was roofless. That year, however, Athens did not have an August downpour and the events took place in the most perfect of weather.

This weekend the Symi Women’s Association is putting on an evening of traditional Greek and Symiot dances.  There are also the traditional name day celebrations at Megalo Sotiris, the roadside monastery just before the road descends to Panormitis.  Over at Toli Bay there is the Saturday night bouzouki at Daphne’s taverna and on the Pedi road Bloom is also offering live music.  Despite the lack of an official Symi Festival from the town hall this year there is still plenty going on on the island, and a lot of it is free.  Just keep an eye open for posters and flyers on lamp posts and an ear open for announcements over the town’s tannoy system.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

In the Early Hours of a Summer Morning

As I set off for work early this morning there was a lot of traffic heading the opposite way – priests and pilgrims and ladies in black, all heading into the Pedi valley to the little monastery dedicated to St Panteleimon.  For an explanation of his life and works, please see James’ blog on Symi Dream.  I walk down to work in the cool of the early morning and it is amazing how many people there are out and about at 7 a.m  Not just priests and pilgrims but also all the people that help to make Symi function smoothly during the tourist season. The dustbin men, the street sweepers, the men from the electricity and telephone companies, the employees of all the cafes, tavernas, restaurants and tourist shops are all about their business in the early hours of the summer morning, or gathering in the kafeneions for a quick Greek coffee before tackling the labours of the day.

The harbour was host to the finish of the Kos-Tilos-Symi yacht race last night.  Members of the fleet were in the bakery ahead of me this morning, buying bread and cheese pies for breakfast.  In an attempt to impose some kind of order on the harbour, the mooring men work on a formula of putting the power boats on the north side of Yialos, by the war memorial, the sailing flotillas and catamarans on the south side by the taxi rank and then the big Turkish gulets by the bus stop or by the clock tower and anchored off in Harani. This works quite well and there are fewer shouting matches between indignant small boat owners fending off great looming power yachts.

The Symi Festival is very low key this year and comprises mainly those events that take place at this time of the year every year regardless.  Last Saturday night the theatre group staged a popular play for children.  This Saturday evening the Symi Women’s Association is hosting its annual Symi Shrimp Festival in the Syllogos Square in Chorio.  If you like the combination of seafood and traditional dancing, follow the sound of the music. Everyone is welcome.

DodecaneseSeaways has announced on Facebook that the Wednesday schedule in September will be the same as in August so even though there is nothing showing on their website yet, never fear.  Symi Wednesday arrivals will be able to catch the ferry from Kolonna at 18.15 and those leaving on Wednesday mornings will be able to depart on the 7.45 from Symi.  Welcome news for those who have been worrying.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...