March Postcards from Symi

Fishing boats at the head of the harbour.  The water taxi boats leave from this area during the season.  Our Symi Visitor Accommodation office is in the small ochre double storey with the terracotta pediment, partially hidden by the tall palm in the middle of the photograph. There are also several popular cafes along this stretch, ranging from the traditional to the trendy, to suit all tastes and budgets.

It is traditional in Greece to exchange elaborately decorated candles as gifts for Easter.  A spin off of the church processional candles, these are far to fancy - and flammable - to light.  They are decorated with small toys, flowers, dolls, emblems and motifs.  Some shops even sell them in novelty shapes including candles moulded to look like rolled up gyros, the popular Greek street food!

Dino, the chandler opposite the entrance to the Symi Visitor Accommodation office, busy painting his cupboards.

More painting and cleaning going on around the corner.  The retro purple and orange is a herb shop.  Most places aim to be open by Greek Easter, which is next weekend.  Many that are specifically dependent on foreign tourists don't open up until June or July these days as Symi doesn't have as many visitors in April and May as it did 10-15 years ago.

Hooray!  The ice cream fridges have arrived!

We don't see many early season yachts these days either.

Last minute preparations at the war memorial before the 25 March Independence Day parade on Sunday. The next parade day on Symi is 8 May for VE Day.

A brave poppy perched on the rubble left by 13 November 2017's devastating floods.  This is in the Pedi valley.

Outside the clinic in Chorio.

The dust cloud is still with us.  Apparently up in the north, in Romania, Bulgaria and Russia's Black Sea coast, they have been experiencing pink snow as the Saharan cloud mingles with the snow.  Down here we just see dust and red rain and very poor visibility.  There have been some flight disruptions this past week, particularly in Crete which was very badly affected by the dust and gale force winds. There are lots of amazing orange photos out there in social media.

Organic verge trimming on the Kali Strata.

A designer cat, waiting for the Krysallis boutique to reopen.

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Life on Symi in August

Life imitating art?

No, this isn't the result of a sudden downpour.  At this time of the year the municipality hoses down the lanes first thing in the morning to get rid of the dust.  

There is a new ice factory on Symi, just down our lane.  Yachtsmen, you can drop off your washing at the Sunflower, pick up your cakes at the patisserie, get your shopping delivered from the supermarket and collect ice on the way back.  And that is not forgetting the chandler immediately opposite our office door.  Everything you need, all within a few metres of each other.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation balcony this week.

Fresh fish, locally caught.

It was very humid on Wednesday, hence this very hazy view of the Blue Star Paros.

If you are looking for the Chorio museum having got off the bus at the Lavinia/Lieni stop, you will approach the museum from the side.  It is the white building on the right of the lane in this photograph and the entrance is around the corner, diagonally opposite the rather splendid red house you can glimpse in the distance.

The dividing line between town and country is very blurred io Symi and it is not unusual to see goats, sheep and chickens wandering around the lanes, looking for a snack. Remember to keep your courtyard door closed to avoid unwanted visitors nibbling the geraniums!

Weathered wood in Chorio.

I wonder how long that tin bath has been there.

Roof repairs to the Agios Eleftherias church at Kampos in Chorio. This church is unusual in that it has twin bell towers integral to the building.

Chorio colours

Morning glory flourishes in the present high humidity.

Cat nap.

The clock tower and police station in Yialos. The Schengen clearing zone is at the base of the clock tower and all yachts coming in from outside the EU have to stop there first to complete immigration formalities and customs procedures.

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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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Symi Rumours and Gossip

The view from my desk at Symi Visitor Accommodation at 9 this morning.  It was mild enough to have the balcony doors open. The boat was quite late - she is scheduled to come through at 7.30 a.m. but this seldom happens, as the Friday route from Pireus includes stops at many small islands, including Nissyros and Tilos, where it can be difficult for vehicles to disembark and embark.  It only takes a few minutes delay at each port of call to build up a significant delay by the time the boat gets to Symi.  The Friday Blue Star route is particularly arduous as after Symi and Rhodes the boat carries on down to Kastellorizon, the most remote and isolated of the Greek islands and then retraces her steps back to Rhodes, Symi and beyond.

Now that it is the spring equinox and the days are longer and brighter it is time to plant the summer vegetables - basil, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, lettuces, tomatoes and various other herbs jockey for space with the hydrangeas and petunias outside the flower shop.

The big boat brings with it hawkers from other islands and there were three trucks parked at the back of the square this morning, all selling the same combination of oranges, potatoes and green cabbages.

The water level is quite low in the harbour at the moment, hence the green fringe of weed visible at the top of the customs house slipway.

Cold but dry and sunny - perfect conditions for drying washing in the back streets of Yialos.  Very few Symiots have either the space or electricity to spare for a tumbler drier and why pay for something that nature will do for free?  

Daisies, daisies everywhere.

As you can see, they don't have much ground to grow in.

Wild flowers pushing up the the concrete of the Lieni carpark.

It is a bright sunny day. The wind is from the north-east and it has been quite chilly lately.  Midday temperatures are around 15 degrees at the moment.  Once again rain is forecast for the early hours of Saturday morning and we may have thundershowers during the day on Saturday.  The different weather forecasting sites disagree on how much we will get and when and we may well have nothing at all as the front may pass to the south of us or,  perhaps, track to the north.  Weather forecasting is not an exact science at this time of the year.

Regular visitors to the island will  notice some changes to supermarkets up in the village and down in the harbour as both Kampos supermarket at the bus stop in Chorio and Hatzipetros down  in the harbour, opposite Symi Flower, are having extensive revamps.  It is heartening to see that some locals have faith in the Greek economy and are optimistic enough to be spending some money on improvements. There is always a frisson of excitement at this time of the year as everyone looks to see what everyone else is doing and what new shops and businesses might be opening up. Rumour has it that the place next to the Sunflower laundry, below our office, which was ChouChi Gold for many years before being a fish pedicure place and then a very short-lived café, is about to become a very posh boutique, an outlet for an Athenian boutique.  They have certainly spent months on the renovations so it will be interesting to see what happens next.  The small boutique downstairs in the Albatross hotel has reopened as an icon shop and is already open for business. There seems to be some mysterious activity going on involving the Symi excursion boat which has suddenly posted a timetable on the old ANES hut at the bus stop.  The schedule is on ANES' letterhead but does not appear on their website and so far only shows some random routes from now to early April. Although the Symi is an old car ferry, it has not been allowed to transport vehicles for many years which is why it has been doing day trips out of Rhodes in recent years but if it starts doing some evening routes to fill in the gaps left by Dodecanese Seaways and Blue Star Ferries it could be very useful indeed.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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