Cats and the Kastro

Please sir, may we have some more? Foraging in bins is a way of life for the Symi cats and even those that have homes tend to go exploring to see if pickings are more interesting down at the skip.  Symi Animal Welfare also puts out dried food and containers of water at selected locations around the community.

Symi's golden citadel - or rather, what is left of it! The area around the Kastro is slowly being rebuilt, largely by foreigners who have bought ruins on Symi to fix up as holiday homes and summer houses.

The castle itself was already largely in ruins by the time the Germans decided to use it as a munitions store during the Second World War.  The churches within the fortifications have been rebuilt and sections of the walls survived the explosion.

Crocuses share space with a Virginia creeper in a planter in Chorio.

The canary is well out of reach, even if Ginger felt so inclined.  He does so well on deli counter scraps he seldom ventures further than the supermarket store room!

We don't have much by way of tides in this part of the world but the water level does reflect changes in barometric pressure. The abnormally warm mild weather we are experiencing on Symi at the moment is caused by a high pressure system over the Southern Aegean, hence the current low water level in the harbour.

Shoals of small fish sometimes gather at the head of the harbour, by the bridge. This harbour cat is keeping an eye open for an unsuspecting pawful.

Symi really seems to glow at this time of the year.  Autumnal sunshine on old stone and ochre-tinted lime wash are a delightful combination.

The summer tourist season is drawing to a close.  No Dodecanese Seaways boats today - only the Sea Dream and the Nikolaos X excursion boats.  Blue Star ferries have put up their schedules for November to January with a seriously early start on Wednesday mornings as the Paros has to fit in a day return to the distant island of Karpathos, between Rhodes and Crete, once a week.  5 a.m. in the dark chill of  a Greek winter's morning is not an attractive prospect, whichever way one looks at it!  As the Paros has far fewer cabins than the Patmos, anyone planning an overnight trip to Athens will have to book very far ahead to be sure of getting a bunk. The Wednesday schedule remains as is, leaving Symi at 7.45 a.m. and leaving Rhodes at 7 p.m. (give or take half an hour or so as the boat does a trip to Kastellorizon in between).

The weather is marvellous. Sunny and mild with little wind.  If the long range forecast is to be believed, this is all set to change on Tuesday next week when we can expect three days of rain, wind and thunderstorms.  About time really as the ground is too hard to plough at the moment and those first deep rains are crucial for softening the crust, as well as washing the dust off the rooftops.  As Symi does not have a natural water supply, harvesting winter rains off the roof into big cisterns is an important part of the island's infrastructure. The first rains clean the roof and then when the flow is clear, the pipes are diverted to the cisterns. 

Symi's lack of easily accessible water is one of the factors that has saved the island from mass tourism and the culture of 'villa holiday with pool' that puts pressure on the infrastructure of Rhodes and many other places in Greece. Symi's steep and mountainous terrain has also kept the developers at bay.  It would literally take a seismic event for Symi to ever have a golf course or airport!  People visit Symi for a totally authentic Greek island experience, staying in quirky old neo-classical houses accessed by dozens of steep steps and swimming in the warm waters of the Aegean.  It is a place where time literally seems to stand still.

I am off to Rhodes for the day tomorrow - the first time off the island since May so the list of errands and shopping is long!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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Heavy Dewfalls and Misty Mornings

High pressure continues to dominate the weather over our corner of the Mediterranean, bringing calm seas, heavy dew falls and misty mornings.  It is very quiet now that all the tourist businesses have packed up for the winter and most cruising yachts have headed to their winter berths in nearby Turkey.

Our winter lifeline.  The Dodecanese Seaways high speed catamaran, either the Pride of the Express as they are taking turns through the winter, stops off in Symi on its north and south bound routes on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays we  have no boats at all.  On Wednesdays and Fridays we have the Blue Star and those are the only two days where it is possible for Symiots to go to Rhodes on a day return. 

A novel way to block a mouse hole in the door of a ruined house on the Kali Strata.  Note the detail on the woodwork.

Looking down the Kali Strata.

The island's many oleanders are now in full bloom, adding splashes of colour to sun-bleached views such as this one. The upstairs of this traditional house has been restored as an apartment. The downstairs, which would once have been a shop, is the home of the Symi Gallery.  Many of the buildings on the uphill side of the Kali Strata would have had shops at street level as this was effectively Symi's high street.

There are very few large houses on the island so this one, looming above the Kali Strata, is something of a landmark.  Trees  in the ruin in front have just been cut down, making more of the house visible. Symi is famous for its beautiful - and well-protected - neo-classical architecture. The nature of the terrain means that the houses have very quirky layouts and are seldom as spacious inside as the exteriors may lead one to suppose.  For instance, this house has two fronts and no back and is actually slightly wedge shaped. The main entrance is from the lane running behind the house at the middle level, the bathroom is in the basement and the bedrooms are on the third floor.

Jasmine is popular here as it is very drought hardy and flowers twice a year, in April and May and again now until the weather turns too cold. The fragrance is not as strong now as it is in April and May as there isn't enough warmth to bring out the volatile oils but it is pleasant none the less.

Peaceful Pedi.  The sun doesn't reach most of the valley until about 10 a.m. at this time of the year and by 3 in the afternoon the shadow starts creeping across the valley again.  As the  winter sun only just clears the ridge on the right, the southern slopes remain pretty much in shadow all day from October to March.

A rose carved in marble on the underside of a balcony on the Kali Strata.  As marble and other forms of lime stone are abundant in Greece it is a popular and durable building material rather than a luxury item.

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A Walk Around Old Datca, Turkey

The little chapel on the island at Agia Marina at the entrance to Pedi Bay, Symi - beautifully maintained by her wardens and a popular venue for wedding blessings.

A tiny neglected and defaced Greek chapel near the shore in a small bay near Datca, Turkey.  It is now used a a cattle byre.  A very different story to the brightly whitewashed chapel on Agia Marina, Symi.

A restoredl 19th century neo-classical house in Old Datca, (Eski Datca), Turkey.  While the architecture echoes that of Symi and the original residents were undoubtedly Greek a huge difference between Symi and Datca is the bountiful supplies of water on the Datca peninsular.  Even this late in the season streams and rivers criss cross the landscape and this mansion has a splendid garden with ponds and fountains.

Another view of the same garden, looking towards an adjoining property.

As we strolled around Old Datca and spotted this ginger tom, mewing at a kitchen window.  

More Old Datca houses that have been restored but without the painstaking attention to detail that is characteristic of Symi.

The mosque in Eski Datca.

Where Symi is famous for its delicate ochre and terracotta palette and decorative plaster work,  Eski Datca is predominantly unplastered, showing off the local stone.

This was the only door we saw that had the details typical of the 19th century carpentry of Symi and there is very little of it left.  Most of the elaborate trim has long since disappeared.

Everywhere is very green and lush due to the abundant water supply.  While the houses of Symi have little outside space and are often joined to their neighbours on the cliffsides, the Greek community that lived here would have been very comfortable, with big gardens and plenty of privacy.

One of the few plastered houses we saw and the only one we spotted with a decorate metal grille in the bull's eye on the pediment.

Regular visitors to Symi from many years ago, particularly those who used to read our newspaper, the Symi Visitor, may remember the name Nihat Akkaraca.  He was a local historian in Datca and played a large role, not just in restoring Eski Datca, but also in fostering links between the communities of Symi and Datca.  He sadly passed away a few years ago but this small square in Eski Datca is named after him.

I went to Datca, Symi's Turkish neighbour, for the weekend, and I thought you might be interested to see the architecture of the old village, a little way inland from the modern seaside resort town of Datca.  It is amazing what a difference a plentiful water supply makes! I imagine that in the old days of the Ottoman empire when there was no international boundary between the two, Greek families sent barrels of water by caique across from verdant Datca to their parched cousins on Symi.

I am switching to winter hours this week so I will only be in the Symi Visitor Accommodation office three mornings a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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June Postcards from Symi

Symi's famous amphitheatre harbour, as seen looking down from the windmill bus stop.  Our office and the Sunflower Laundry, the water taxis and excursion boats are all to be found at the narrow end.  Spiti Grand Helene and Villa Iris are on Mavrovouni, the Hill towards the back right, above the town square.

View of upper chorio, looking across from the windmill bus stop.  That scar across the hillside at the top is the motor road to Panormitis.  Chorio is much older than Yialos and is the original village. This is the area where you will find Villa Rose, the Little Blue House, Villa Anastasia, the Two Fishes and others.

The approach to Yialos, with the mansions of the Kali Strata on the left.  The red dome is Lemonitissa church for which Lemonitissa apartment and studio are named.  Other rental properties on this hillside include Villa Anastasia and To Plio.

Heading for the ferry - those are mountain bikes and cases lashed to the roofrack.

Roadworks ahead! The road is being resurfaced at the moment with a lot of disruption, unavoidable really as Symi only has the one motor road so there is no where to divert traffic and the work has to be done. The taxis refuse to run but everyone else, bus included, carries on regardless. We'll be picking the wet tar off our shoes for a while to come.

A mad moment in the harbour earlier this week.

The floating crane.  The calm before the working day begins, rearranging the seabed for the construction of the new commercial quay to take the big ferries and cruise ships.

St John's Wort flowering on the Kali Strata. There are lots of properties for sale on Symi at the moment, including the mansion in the background.

Unravelling a fouled anchor in Yialos yesterday.

Coming back from a night's fishing with a load of fish traps.

The swallows on the power line outside my office window early yesterday morning.  Their nests are actually in the light fittings in the high ceilings of Taxas supermarket round the corner.  Sometimes they take a short cut through our office, coming in through one balcony and out through the other.

After yesterday's heatwave with temperatures close to 40 degrees, today is quite pleasant at 25 degrees and is actually overcast with thunderclouds threatening.  I have just had a phone call from someone in one of the little Turkish bays along the opposite coast and she said it was pouring down.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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