A November Interlude

The view from Symi Visitor Accommodation today.  There  isn't much happening in Yialos this November morning. The only yachts passing through now are ones waiting to take up their winter berths in the many marinas on the Turkish coast.

All packed up for the winter.

The greengrocer in the lane is busy all year round.  I like buying from him as much of his stock is locally grown in Rhodes and he always marks the place of origin on the price cards so I know whose economy I am supporting.

A bird's eye view of the Kali Strata, or should that be birds' eyes?

There were quite a few clouds around early this morning. As you can see, the Panagia of the Kastro is still wreathed in scaffolding.  

A breakfast meeting at a popular hangout.

It is not much but it is a start - the first wild flower seeds are starting to germinate as a result of last Monday's rain and a light shower early on Saturday morning.  It is not very clear in this photograph but those are daisy seedlings you are looking at. They have tiny serrations along the cotyledons.

Shadow play over Pedi.  The footpath to Agia Marina beach goes past that old farm and through the hills.  If you look carefully you can just make it out.

The Turkish hills look very close at this time of the year.

A big poinsettia in Chorio. The bracts turn red as the days grow shorter and by the time I get back from England in a few weeks it will be quite spectacular.

There are a lot of people on Symi at the moment for the Panormitis Festival but as they are over at Panormitis, Yialos is pretty quiet.  Greeks come from far and wide on a pilgrimage to the monastery at this time. The lucky ones have rooms or beds in the communal dormitory. The less fortunate and the late comers bed down on the verandahs and hope that the weather stays dry. A lot of the locals went over yesterday in search of bargains as the stalls are all set up now. Today is a school day but tomorrow, the day of the festival itself, is a local holiday.

This will be my last blog for a while as I am leaving for England on Wednesday on the diabolically early Blue Star Patmos - even as a 'morning person' 5 a.m. is an uncivilised departure time!  I hope it is not affected by the stormy weather that is expected to reach this part of Greece by Wednesday.  Luckily my flight is early on Thursday morning so it doesn't matter if the boat is late, but it does matter if there is a shipping ban and it doesn't run at all!  Living on a small island with no airport has its drawbacks when one wants to travel in the winter.

While many of you may be fed up with Christmas already having been jingled and jollied since September, here the only concession to the season is that Yanni's poinsettia in Chorio is starting to change colour.  Now that is one of the advantages of living on a small Greek island.   There is a time and a place for everything and right now the focus is the Festival of St Michael the Archangel at Panormitis, Roukoniotis and Kokkimides.  Christmas starts with whatever comes in on the Blue Star at some point in mid-December.

Have a good month and I'll post from Symi again around the 25th of the month, depending on the ferries of course!

Regards,
Adriana

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The Promise of Rain

Yialos on Tuesday morning, as seen from our balcony. There are still lots of yachts around but they are much smaller and the armada of gulets has diminished considerably as the season draws to a close.

This does not mean that fouled anchors are a thing of the past. This tangle involved a sailing yacht, a small gulet and a motor boat.  In the end the motor boat dragged them all out into deeper water until the anchors were hanging free of the bottom and could be easily unravelled.

While anchors were being untangled in one part of Yialos, the Salamis Filoxenia was pulling in by the clock tower.  Wednesday was a really busy shipping day on Symi as we had the usual Dodecanese Seaways catamaran plus the Blue Star Diagoras and two Cypriot cruise ships, one after the other.  Shortly after leaving Symi the Salamis Filoxenia made the news when she picked up a ship in distress off Paphos, Cyprus and rescued 300 Syrian refugees who at time of writing are refusing to leave the ship and are demanding to be taken to Italy.

A misty morning over Pedi bay on Tuesday. The Turkish coast is lost in the mist.

The sun rising through a thick humid haze on Wednesday morning.

All clear in a brisk breeze on Thursday morning and the opposite coast is clearly visible.

Sunrise touching the row of old windmills on the crest of the hill that separates Yialos and the Pedi valley.

La Dolce Vita, a name that proved ironic when her German owner decided to dabble in a little informal people trafficking and was overheard bragging about it in a taverna in Pedi.  The boat has been impounded by the Greek Coastguard and the owner is awaiting trial so it really wasn't worth it, was it?

Waiting patiently to be loaded up outside Agios Eleftherios church in Chorio, near the Kampos bus stop.  

An elegant carob in a pot outside a shop in Yialos.

The season is drawing to a close and the first autumnal storms are expected to reach us this weekend with the promise of RAIN!  Time to clear gutters and dig out the rolls of plastic sheeting.  The first rains are always eagerly anticipated by the locals as by this time the cisterns are dry and the island baked solid in the summer heat.  This doesn't mean that we are in for a spell of cold weather though.  Temperatures remain in the mid to high twenties and the rain is likely to be in the form of sporadic thundershowers rather than hours of continuous rain. Gusty winds are forecast for Sunday but are unlikely to disrupt shipping.  If you don't fancy going to the beach, there are plenty of interesting shops to browse around and pretty cafes to enjoy.

The Panagia Skiadeni remains out of commission for the foreseeable future so there have been significant changes to the Dodecanese Seaways schedules for October.  If you are travelling at that time, please check.  Remember, if you prebook your tickets on line they will notify you of any changes whereas if you just turn up on the quay you may be caught out by last minute changes.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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