The Perfect Place to do Nothing

Old ironwork and modern lamps - Symi is full of little details that remind you of the island's prosperous past.

Kissing birds or elaborate roses?  What do you think?

In a hot dry Symi summer it is perfectly safe to drag an antique chair out on to the balcony to take the evening air - the chances of it being rained on are minimal.

The Blue Star Paros swinging through Yialos at 8 this morning.

His name is Rocky and he lurks in Lieni.

The circling military helicopters and heavy security presence in the harbour on Tuesday were because Symi was visited by the Greek President, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, as part of a tour of the border islands.

Yialos yesterday.  As you can see, many buildings have been beautifully restored but many others are still in poor repair or  in ruins.  Restoring and maintaining a traditional Symi building is an expensive business and an on-going project with no short cuts.  There are no subsidies for the work and property owners have to cover the costs themselves.

The view from the bridge in Yialos. The scar on the hill in the background is the spectacular road out of town that connects Yialos with Chorio and Pedi.  The views as you go up are amazing so be sure to look out of the window.

One of the three chandlers in the harbour. There is one near the clock tower and another beside St John's church so the needs of sailors and fishermen are well met.  The chances are good that if one doesn't have what you want, one of the others will be able to oblige. They also sell fishing tackle, tools and agricultural implements. The rather gruesome giant ice cream cone on the right belongs to the cake shop next door to our office. They do some really yummy fresh ice creams in addition to all sorts of cakes and confectionery.

Buying tickets for the water taxi to the beach. Nimborio, Agia Marina, St Nicholas, St George, Nanou and Marathounda are all best reached by boat.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office this week.

Looking down at the clock tower from the corner of the Kali Strata.  You can see the row of little white hire boats near the clock tower which you can hire by the day to explore the island.  The long white structure in front of the clock tower is the Schengen customs and immigration post that was installed last year. All boats clearing in from Turkey and further afield have to stop here to be processed.

Now that schools have closed for the summer break all round Europe there are lots more families visiting Symi. Every language under the sun seems to be spoken in Yialos these days and the harbour has a cosmopolitan buzz. Leave the harbour and head for Chorio and suddenly all is quiet.  Very few day-trippers venture beyond the first 30 steps of the Kali Strata and many remain in blissful ignorance that the main habitation is actually up, way above their heads, in the sprawl between the Kastro and Periotissa which they may have glimpsed briefly from the boat as they passed the entrance of Pedi bay.

The visitors staying on the island, as well as those residents who are not at work, are out on the water or at one of the island's charming beaches during the day.  Chorio only comes to life in the evening, as people gather in the square and at the various bars and cafes, to chat about their day and discuss what to have for dinner at one of the tavernas.

On Symi the days are long, the nights are warm and the atmosphere is pretty relaxed.  As Symi does not have much in the way of frenetic amusements there is no obligation to feel that one ought to be doing anything more strenuous that swimming with a view or relaxing with a book and a drink.  Symi is the perfect place to do nothing for a week or two and recharge the batteries that modern urban living drains so thoroughly.  One might, of course, look up as earnest souls on mountain bikes toil up the hill to Panormitis but they are infrequent and provide a talking point rather than an overwhelming need to leap up and join them.  In any case, there are no mountain bikes for hire on Symi so the choice has already been made for you!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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It's All Happening on Symi

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation balcony this morning. The Blue Star was very late - it is supposed to come through at 7.30 a.m. on a Friday and this photograph was taken at 9.25 a.m.  The knock on effect is that she will be late doing the Kastellorizon trip today and so will be similarly 2 hours late leaving Rhodes this evening.  

Symi is very steep and rocky so there isn't much earth for gardens in the conventional sense.  Instead locals create gardens wherever they can with assorted pots and containers which also have the advantage of being portable so they can be moved into shadier locations as the summer heats up.

One of the two butchers in the harbour.  You will note that this is the second bicycle you have seen in recent posts.  Symi is too steep for bicycles in the usual run of things and it would take a determined mountain biker to commute from Chorio to Yialos and back again on a daily basis but they are quite popular for getting around the harbour.

Wednesday morning and a burst water main on the Kali Strata.  Visitors to Symi will notice a maze of black plastic pipes leading up and down steps and lanes.  They are quite vulnerable as they are above the ground but it is not permitted to dig up Symi's historic Kali Strata so above ground they remain. This is the system for transferring water from the various tanks and reservoirs to the households of Symi.  Each house has a cistern or tank of some sort for the domestic water supply as the mains is not on continuously.   Symi is a famously dry island with no natural water beyond the winter rains so what water there is comes either from a rather erratic desalination plant on the Pedi road or by water ship from Rhodes.

The big excitement of the week was the fire at the Customs House in Yialos late on Wednesday night which gutted the buildiing.  Those of you who follow us on Facebook will have seen the dramatic photographs of the flames.  Symi does not have a fire brigade and in the absence of pressurised mains, we also don't have sprinkler systems that kick in automatically when there is a fire. By the time the fire was spotted it was well out of control, despite the efforts of municipal workers and the coastguard.  There is, however, a lot of talk about how a building that is surrounded by the sea on three sides could be destroyed in this way.

The steel shutters survived and would have contained the fire to some extent and the 60 cm thick stone walls appear undamaged, as is the sign! The flags are also in good shape, just a little sooty.

It seems that the fire started with this Smart car, parked in the courtyard of the Customs House.  The fire spread to the motorbike next to it and then through the adjoining window.  Unfortunately that room is the duty free store, full of bottles of duty free alcohol and perfume so there was plenty to feed the flames and the roof caught very quickly. That is the fish market on the left.  The wood of the market is charred but the copper sheathing on the roof has held and protected the fish market to some extent and the local fishermen were selling their catch as usual this morning. That looks like a coffee pot of some sort tucked in the corner on the right.  One of those Symi enigmas. 

It is a gusty day on Symi and we have had occasional sprinklings of red rain.  This is the last remnants of the wet weather system that was over Iberia earlier in the week and it is likely to remain unsettled and showery on Symi for the weekend.  Temperatures are in the mid to high twenties so it certainly isn't cold.

There is a lot of activity on the island now and just about everyone who is going to open this year has done so. Regular visitors may miss Mylopetra as apparently that has closed for good and the owners have retired. Some shops have closed, some have reinvented themselves, others are completely new ventures but generally speaking everyone I have spoken to is quite optimistic that although we have had a late start once again, it should be a good year.  Greece is a very safe country and islands like Symi are far from the political protests in the capital.  Even the recent 4 day general strike had little impact on Symi.  If you are looking for a peaceful holiday destination where you can just relax and do nothing much in particular, soaking up sunshine and Greek island life, Symi is the perfect destination.  One of the joys of not having an airport is that mass tourism has passed Symi by and as the architecture is protected the beauty of the island remains unspoiled.  Symi demands a little effort from those who visit her. She isn't that easy to get to and you may have to climb more stairs than you are used to, but Symi's regular visitors will tell you that it is always worth the effort!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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