The Sunshine is Guaranteed

The autumn leaves are starting to fall.  It is many months now since we last had rain and the almond trees are desperate.  Six weeks to go before the anticipated start to the rainy season!

The Blessed Virgin of the Castle, sporting sunshades as well as flags for the Assumption this year.

If you book your holiday accommodation through Symi Visitor Accommodation you will always be met from the ferry and won't find yourself with a pile of suitcases, asking directions from the locals.  It is all part of our service.

Off to the beach!

When I used to sail it was considered bad form to leave port trailing fenders but times have changed.

The houses that line Symi's famous natural amphitheatre harbour cling to the cliffs in a jigsaw of steps, lanes, ramps and contour paths. There was no overall master plan at the time but the overall effect is infinitely charming to the eye.

A typical August morning view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office.

If you are travelling light you can always top up your  holiday wardrobe when you get here.

The pomegranates are swelling in the old gardens of Chorio.

Orange!

Central Chorio, overlooking the Pedi Valley.

A quiet moment in Yialos early this morning.

As August draws to a close autumn is just around the corner.  The shadows are lengthening and the edge has gone from the heat.  The breeze has changed to the north, freshening the air and taking away some of the humidity.  The plants know that the end is in sight.  Wherever there is water, seeds are starting to germinate and on close inspection even the most frazzled geraniums seem to have a few tiny new green shoots.

The official Mediterranean holiday season is coming to an end and everyone who traditionally takes August off is heading back to work or school.  The Blue Star car ferry to Pireus is very busy as many Greeks, Italians and French 'drive' here for their holidays, making use of the car ferries connecting Greece and the islands with Italy and continental Europe. Clean and efficient, this is often a pleasanter way to travel than the indignities of modern air travel and you don't have to worry about liquids and whether your hand luggage meets the varying criteria of different airlines.

The Greek schools reopen soon and the island's young people will be heading off to college or university in the next week or so.  Others will be in the army as Greece still has military conscription. The demographic shifts in September as Symi's regular visitors from Britain, Germany and Scandinavia start to arrive.  If you aren't tied to the school holidays, September is one of the best months to visit Symi. The sea is as warm as it is going to get, day time temperatures are between 28 and 32 degrees so not too hot and the evenings are mild enough to sit outside without needing sweaters and shawls.  If you haven't already booked, drop us a line as we still have some availability left and one thing about Symi in September - the sunshine is guaranteed!

Have a good bank holiday long weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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August Postcards from Symi

Wild capers are among the very few plants that can withstand the searing heat  and drought  f a Symi summer.  

Sunrise over Asia Minor as seen from the top of the Pedi valley. Up until a century ago, those hills were farmed by Greek families and the produce brought across to Symi for milling and marketing.  Now those hills and mountains are Turkish but old abandoned Greek settlements can still be seen if you know where to look, particularly around Fethiye.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office earlier this week, the trusty Cypriot Salamis Filoxenia.

The Pedi valley was once the island's agricultural heartland.  Now native trees such as kermes oaks are reclaiming the land and slowly turning much of it back to woodland.

Hidden high up in one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Chorio you will find theSymi Archaeological Museum.  Recently refurbished, the main part of the museum is now open every day except Mondays, from 10-2.  Apparently the adjoining Hellenistic Antiquities Museum and Hatziagapitos House will be open to the public from the end of August.  Admittance is free.

The view from the terrace of the museum, looking across to the Kastro (Acropolis).  Originally the most densely populated part of Chorio, much of this neighbourhood was destroyed when the castle was blown up by the retreating Germans during the Second World War.  You can see parts of the old fortifications in the photograph.

Grapes ripening in the museum grounds.  As it is the old Farmakides mansion there are grape vines and citrus trees in the walled garden.

The lanes of Chorio old town are narrow, designed to confuse pirates and slow down any marauders.  Symi has no tradition of wheeled traffic - the terrain is too steep for that - so the only alternative to walking was donkeys.

Brilliant bougainvillea and plumbago light up an old stone wall near the museum.

Grapes don't need much attention.  This house has been deserted ever since I can remember but look at those trusses of sweet fruit!  In the days before sponges, Symi, like Samos, used to produce a sweet muscadel-type wine.

Every so often the lanes open out into a wider space, letting air into the labyrinth and providing an area for people to sit out with their friends and family from adjoining houses on hot summer evenings.

Snapped on my walk to work this morning, this truckload of hay rattled past me just after the Blue Star docked.

Donkeys, mules and ponies are still an essential part of life on Symi, particularly for the building industry as very few properties on the island have close vehicle access.  You can see a couple of foals in this photograph. They accompany the older animals, learning the routes up and down the Kali Strata and around the lanes and alleys of Chorio.  They aren't given anything to carry until they are much older and stronger.

Steps, balconies and stones polished by centuries of feet.

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Cruise Ships and Fuel Tankers - some August postcards from Symi

Salamis Filoxenia, a Cypriot cruise ship that is a common sight on Symi.  She was in Yialos on Thursday, bringing not just tourists but also pilgrims to visit Panormitis monastery.  They also stop in Patmos, another important site for religious tourism.

The fuel ship was in yesterday to resupply the fuel station.  As you can see, there is no truth in the rumour that there is no fuel for ferries or water taxis.   

Indeed the mini tanker was outside our office, topping up the water taxis and the excursion boats.

Calm seas and pretty pastels.

As we slip from summer to autumn we are seeing more cruising yachts coming through.  How can you identify a cruising yacht?  The bicycle is a give away!

There are still plenty of motor yachts but they are getting smaller.

Wild figs ripening by the side of the road in Lieni.

A typical late summer Symi view.

The newsagent in the harbour, near the bottom of the Kali Strata. We only get foreign press in the summer and they don't carry anything like as many magazines as they used to as so many tourists read their favourite magazines and papers on their tablets these days.  The cat actually belongs to the supermarket opposite but likes to hang out with his feathered friend.

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Solidarity Symi - Mid-Week Update

The many hundreds of Syrian refugees who passed through Symi last week are now on their way, having found places on ferries on Monday.  After a brief lull with only 28 people on the island yesterday, 100 new arrivals are being brought round to the police station now for processing.  If anyone reading this is on the island and can spare an hour or two to help out at the relief centre in the old post office, please call Wendy on +30 6945 822 896.

On a more immediate note, funds collected in our collection boxes on the island are used to provide daily necessities such as food, water and medicines.  We work on a budget of 2.50 euros per person per day for food and water which is quite a tight budget but if you think about it, that means that for today's arrivals we will be spending 250 euros per day for their sustenance until they are able to leave.  If you can donate even 10 euros you are providing food and water for 4 people for a day so any donation, no matter how modest, helps.

If you use Facebook and follow our page, we post our daily requirements as needed so that people on the island know what is needed such as Pampers (baby's nappies), men's shorts and so on.   The more people can donate these kinds of items, the further the cash donations go.

The on line collection http://www.everyclick.com/solidaritysymi/info reached its initial goal within a week and a new target has been set. Funds raised this way will be used to improve reception facilities and infrastructure such as toilets, showers, sleeping mats and shade.  As we move into winter additional shelter and bedding will also be needed.

Thank you very much for your support and generosity. We cannot solve the problems of the world or bring peace to the Middle East but we can all do our part to alleviate distress as much as it is within our capabilities to do so.

Adriana on behalf of
Wendy Wilcox and Andrew Davies
Solidarity Symi

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Bright and Breezy - Symi in August

Luscious Greek nectarines. No fancy individual packaging here - straight from the tree to the crate to the market.

Those who are not fortunate enough to have their own grape vine have to buy them.

You can't beat Greek tomatoes either,  The puddle of juice that forms at the bottom of a Greek salad bowl from tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, olives, feta and rigani with olive oil, all mingling flavours, just shouts out for a chunk of crusty Greek bread to soak it up.

The old ice factory at the back of the harbour is now an interesting boutique featuring items handmade locally from yarn.  In the days before continuous electricity and reliable refrigeration, people depended on the ice factory for big blocks of ice to keep things cool.  The ice factory was still functioning when I first came here in 1993 and the beach tavernas were major customers, coming round with their boats each morning to collect their ice for the day.  Rather macabrely it also served as the island's morgue. Now that we no longer have an ice factory, we no longer have a morgue but as the Greek practice, as is common in a hot climate, is to conduct funerals the same day this is not usually a problem.

There are lots of colourful boutiques in the back lanes and clustered around the base of the Kali Strata, with items to suit all budgets and tastes.

All set for a little boy's christening party.  A cafe in the lanes near the Symi Visitor Accommodation office.

One of several traditional tavernas in Yialos, ready to serve lunch.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation  balcony.  Yes, that is the bridge of the water boat just visible by the clock tower on the left.  At this time of the year Symi's water requirements are at their highest and with no natural water supply on the island, the water ship from Rhodes is essential.  

Temperatures have dropped a bit and there was a fresh breeze this morning.  This balcony didn't lose any washing but I did pass stray objects blown from others.  Laundry dries very quickly in this climate and sunshine is free so no tumble driers!

A cheerful and drought-hardy vinca on the Kali Strata.

I wonder where that cable was supposed to go and why it is bundled up in that window...  In the Sixties and Seventies the island's power station was a small building at the back of Yialos, where the Mylopetra restaurant is, and each house only had power for a few hours each evening to supply a few light bulbs.  Earlier than that, in the Thirties, there were private generators in the harbour, to provide the new and wonderful electricity to wealthy merchants. When the big power station was built in Pedi, the electrification of the island seriously took off .  There are, however, odd remnants of old wiring arrangements from previous systems.  

A bright and breezy morning.  It was the big festival dedicated to the Virgin at the monastery at Nimos last night - that is the white building just catching the sun over on the far shore.

Pedi bay early this morning. That blinding gleam is the morning sun shining off the solar water heaters on the roof of the Pedi Beach Hotel.  Solar water heaters are very popular here.  One just has to remember that if everyone showers in the evening and uses up all the hot water, there is no hot water first thing in the morning, until the sun has been shining on the panels for a while.  

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