Symi Summer Haze

A peaceful morning in Pedi. The number of yachts has thinned out considerably now that Eid is over and the majority of Turkish yachts have departed.

It is quiet, even off Harani.

The Blue Star Paros, glimpsed through a lane near the Symi Visitor Accommodation office.  The vine spreading across the street belongs to a tiny ouzerie that serves traditional drinks and mezzes.

8.30 a.m. on Friday morning in Yialos.

The Customs House looks as good as new - no one who did not know would believe that it was gutted by fire in May.  If you haven't been to Symi before, that hill immediately behind it is the Kastro and there used to be a castle on top.  All that is left of the castle are a few fragments of walls but it is also the location of many churches, the most dominant of which on this side is Lemonitissa, the one with the red dome.

Zooming in on Lemonitissa, you can see the scaffolding as the church is being repainted.  Lemonitissa studio and apartment are screened by the trees on the right.

Grapes ripening in a courtyard on the Kali Strata.

Capers in their natural habitat - growing out of a crack in the concrete on the road in Lieni, Chorio. The familiar little murky green blobs that you buy in jars in delicatessens are the buds of these opulent white and pink flowers. The buds form in the late afternoon and the flowers open at dawn so gathering the buds for pickling is a nocturnal activity.  The Symiots also pickle the most tender shoot tips and sometimes also the seed pods.  Capers flourish in incredibly hostile conditions and while they won't add much in the way of nourishment to your diet, they were a way of turning something wild into something edible when choices were limited.

An invisible cat in Chorio.  I don't think he realises that the ears give the game away.

As the world wakes up to yet another atrocity we have to reflect on just how fortunate we are to enjoy a safe and peaceful environment here on Symi. Symi has many French connections, starting with the many Symiots who emigrated to Marseilles in the 1920s to work in the sponge diving and boat building industry there and the island has many regular French visitors every year as well as French families who own holiday homes here.  Our hearts go out to all the people of France in their time of travail.  What more can we say?

Meanwhile the summer season continues to be very much quieter than usual.  There are far fewer families on the island than is usual for this time of the year and most of the visitors seem to be couples.  Temperatures on Symi are in the high thirties as the humidity is high. Apparently the meltemi is blowing hard in the Aegean but we are not feeling its affects here and the horizon is lost in the summer haze.

If you are looking for a last minute summer break, please email us - we still have some gaps to fill!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Oaks and Pomegranates

Temperatures on Symi continue to rise with the thermometer over 40 degrees centigrade at midday and around 30 at midnight.  Those who venture into our office for whatever reason show a marked reluctance to tear themselves away from the air conditioning and visitors have been noticed lingering at the chiller cabinets at the supermarket.   This is a very difficult time of the year for anyone who is working on Symi, particularly doing manual work, as heatstroke is a very real possibility but there is no alternative if one lives and works in a hot climate.  Symi does not start to cool down until late September and the community cannot just shut down until temperatures slip back to the mid-twenties that are universally regarded as ‘comfortable room temperature’.

One of the reasons why Symi is so much hotter than Rhodes is that it is sheltered from the meltemi by the Datca peninsular so there is little breeze to carry the heat away.  The other is that Symi is very arid with large areas of exposed rock that soak up the heat during the day and release it slowly at night.  The rock only starts to cool down when the nights become significantly longer than the days.  Since the island’s feral goat population was culled a few years ago more trees are surviving, nourished by the winter rains, and areas like the Pedi Valley are much shadier than they used to be.  The few really substantial oak trees on the island are centuries old, growing slowly during the brief periods in spring and autumn when rain and mild temperatures combine.

In the gardens the drought susceptible flowers such as petunias and pelargoniums are showing strain and the orange trees are dropping their fruit.  The ripening pomegranates and fragrant jasmines are the focus of attention now, as are the brilliant bougainvilleas.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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Melt in the Heat

Rhea, a classic tall ship that visits Symi on a regular basis every summer.

An elaborate neo-classical pediment on the Kali Strata.

This little house near the high school is being restored.  All the old plaster has been chipped off, revealing that as with so many old Symi stone houses, it is constructed from a mixture of stones of varying sizes held together with mud.  Pre-neoclassical, this has stood for centuries and is probably good for a few more.

Aha, the little hire boats are finally in their usual spot by the clock tower.

Traditional Turkish wooden gulets face off against the modern fibreglass brigade across the harbour.

A cruise ship from Cyprus dwarfs the Nikolaos X excursion boat in Yialos earlier this week. This photograph was taken from the balcony of my office, hence the sweep of power lines across the view.  Symi is festooned with power lines in all directions and forests of poles.  They are as much a part of the landscape as the neo-classical pediments.

As the figs ripen in the sun the natural sugars melt in the heat and run out of the fruit.

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Symi Harbour Views

Every morning as I walk down to work I stop at the corner of the Kali Strata, my first glimpse of Yialos where I work.  There is always something new to look at.  Perhaps the big ferry demonstrating the complicated helmsmanship required to dock in Symi's narrow harbour, or maybe the exotic and glamorous yachts and gulets that arrive overnight.  The pattern changes daily and with every hour of the day. 

There are random glimpses of Yialos visible through narrow gaps between the mansions that line the Kali Strata.  Here we can see a fairly comprehensive assortment of motor yacht designs moored outside the Alpha Bank - and a traditional fishing caique bustling briskly back into the port with the catch of the day.

Looking out of the balcony window a few hours later, the brash motor yachts have departed, to be replaced by this rather elegant gentleman's yacht built in the style of an Edwardian steam yacht and flying a large Turkish ensign.

At midday most of the water taxis are out at the various beaches and the big excursion boats from roads are coming in. That little rubber dinghy with a handful of people in it is making its way back to a yacht at anchor, probably in Harani or Nimborio. 

For those of you who have been following the ups and downs of Symi's water supply, at the moment we are having an up in that the mains water is currently on continuously in all areas and cisterns have been filled wherever possible.  We are all hoping that that is it for water dramas for this year, although past experience has shown that August can be a problematic month, particularly in the harbour when the island is full to capacity and beyond.  Visitors and locals alike have to be conscious that as Symi has no natural water reserves of its own, we have a collective responsibility to avoid waste and make the most of this extremely precious resource.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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On a Hot Summer's Day

On a hot summer's day all one really wants to do is find a comfy spot in the shade and snooze....

Tomatoes are ripening fast in neighbourhood gardens, even as the heat is scorching the leaves.



Symi is famous for its beautiful neo-classical houses and even new buildings have to follow the prescribed style.



Fresh vine leaves are a beautiful sight.



It may be too hot to grow lettuce and other salad greens but cherry tomatoes in all colours and shapes make an attractive salad to nibble on.

Now that we have become a nation of back yard farmers one sees bales of hay travelling by any means possible.  I spotted this one on my walk to work this morning.



The view from the Kali Strata corner this morning. The bar does not seem to be opening there this year. 
Looking out over the sea the meltemi has blown the haze away and a few localised clouds are casting shadows over the hills.

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