Autumn Crocuses

Autumn crocuses in a field in the Pedi valley.



Preparing for celebrations at the little chapel on my corner on Tuesday. It drizzled intermittently with squalls all day but the main rain held off until evening.



The name means The One Who Comes Swiftly. 



A grape vine with ambition on the Kali Strata. 



Rain clouds over Pedi at 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning.



The view from my office window just after 9 on Wednesday morning, as the rain began. The heavens opened a few minutes later and we received 22 millimetres of rain, most of it within the space of twenty minutes or so.  The Kataraktis flowed, as did every gully, street and staircase and the harbour was quickly a sea of mud.  We can safely say that the Rainy Season Has Begun.



On a clear day you can see forever - almost. 



Patterns in the sand.  Much of the run off from the mountain road to Panormitis comes swooshing down into Lieni, hits a rather badly designed culvert and floods into the dirt road at the bottom bend, from whence it spills over into the small farms and allotments below.  The bits of old lathe wall have been lying here for a while, probably waiting to be recycled into a chicken coop, but the flow of water made some interesting patterns in the sand that washed down.



The Friday morning Blue Star Diagoras, hauling up her anchor in a stiff breeze.  She is usually able to hold her place in Yialos with bow thrusters and two stern ropes but this morning the wind was so strong she had to lay an anchor as well which delayed her departure. The 7.30 a.m. boat actually left here shortly before 9 a.m. so the same scenario had probably played out at every stop along the way from Piraeus.

We are all shivering in the sudden cold and smelling vaguely of mothballs as winter clothes that haven't been worn since March are being dug out of storage.  Temperatures have plummeted as first everything was soaked in two days of rainy weather on Tuesday and Wednesday and then the wind swung to the north, bringing with it unseasonably low temperatures.  It was about 12 degrees centrigrade last night which is chilly indeed when a week ago it was still warm enough to eat outside at night.  It is not expected to get much about 20 degrees today.  The weather is expected to improve from Sunday when the wind drops and should settle into the more seasonable mid twenties.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...

Food for the Imagination

It is a bright sunny spring day on the small island of Symi in the Dodecanese. Day trippers are inspecting the racks outside the tourist shops for bargains and yachts of varying sizes and styles are rocking gently on the quay. Temperatures are pleasantly warm rather than searingly hot and it is still quite chilly in the shade. The water taxi boats are not in operation as the beach tavernas are not open yet but round in Harani the sunbeds at the Nireus Hotel and NOS Beach are seeing some use. It will be a while yet before the sea warms up but some hardy souls are already braving the waters. May is more of a month for hikers, walkers, photographers and painters rather than dedicated beach babes.

Despite a dry spring there are still a lot of flowers around and the gardens in Chorio are a wonderful sight. As there is so little arable land here Symiots have to create gardens among the rocks and make small stone terraces for planting hardy and drought resistant flowers. Courtyards usually have a lemon tree or a grape vine for shade. Old feta cheese and olive cans are often used as plant pots. Their straight sides make them fit neatly close together, shading each other’s roots and maximizing on space in a way that more curvaceous plant pots never can.

Many of the larger mansions are still closed up for the winter, waiting for summer owners from Athens or further afield to bring them to life in July and August. The rest of the year they guard their secrets behind sealed shutters and wrought iron gates, food for the imagination of those of us who pass by in the lanes. Apart from the Symi Dream Photography Walk on Sunday mornings which I mentioned in Monday’s blog there is also another guided walk in Chorio that will appeal to those who are curious about the island’s history and want to explore the labyrinth without fear of getting lost. This is run by Ian Haycox and takes place on Friday mornings from 09.00 to 13.30. For more details and to book please contact Symi Visitor Accommodation at symi-vis@otenet.gr

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...

April on Symi

That patch of snow is still there, over on the left horizon.

A lone fishing boat slowly passes Pedi, heading south.

Pedi Bay early the following morning, calm and serene.

It is only a week to Easter and Symi is suddenly humming with activity. There might not be as much money to spend on painting and decorating this year but a frenzy of spring-cleaning has gripped Chorio. The rugs and carpets of winter are dripping over railings or subject to vigorous beating before being put away for the summer and walking through the lanes this morning I could hear a chorus of vacuum cleaners.

Wild grape hyacinth, Muscari, in my garden.

We went to Rhodes yesterday on the last scheduled Symi-Rhodes-Symi day trip on the Proteus for who knows how long. The boat was packed for the return trip, mainly with young Symiots returning from university and college for the Easter holidays. Rhodes is home to one of the campuses of the University of the Aegean but many young people are sent further afield, to Crete, Athens or Thessalonica, and only get to see their families at holiday times. Greece is one of the few countries in the EU to still have conscription so between tertiary studies and 18 months in the army, young men often leave the islands as teenagers and don’t really return until they are in their mid twenties. It is not surprising that many of them settle in other places instead. There are several well known Symiots who actually come from other parts of Greece but came here to do their national service, married local girls and stayed on in Symi.

Not all pimpernels are scarlet...

Even the stoniest places can sustain a clump of hardy chamomile.

Weather wise, April on Symi is as variable as it is elsewhere in the world. Spring and autumn are always unpredictable. Showers, sunshine, thunderstorms, chilly squalls and the sudden realisation while walking home from the shops that one is wearing way too many clothes. We had 12 mm of rain on Thursday afternoon and there is the possibility of more wet stuff in the next few days. As northern Greece is actually expecting snow on high ground we cannot really complain about a few puddles in our corner.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...