Hot summer nights in the islands

After a spell of hot still weather it was a pleasure to hear the wind in the trees this morning and there are white caps romping across the sea from Nimos. The Symi's gangplank is graunching against the quay and the yachts on the horizon are heeled hard over, small snowy wedges against the purple haze. The meltemi is settling in at last. Bad news for yachtsmen thrashing their way northwards in small bouncy boats but a much needed respite from the heat for the islands.

My neighbours have been shearing their sheep the last few evenings, corralling them up against our fence. The animals are quiescent, dozing in whatever shade they can find during the day and only eating at night. We hear the murmur of sheep bells tinkling way up the slopes and terraces behind us. Around 4 a.m our dog strikes up a conversation with another mutt somewhere over the other side of the valley. We don't know what they talk about but the same pattern of woofs, growls and howls has happened at about the same time every night. He sits just inside the doorway to the farmhouse, leaning on the raised threshold very comfortably, all settled in for a natter, and no admonitions from us have any effect. (Can one teach a dog to use a cell phone?) Occasionally a donkey joins in and there are odd squawks from the hen run as someone falls off a perch - the fowl like to sleep with their wings slightly away from their bodies at this time of the year as it is cooler but it does mean that they jostle more for space. Ah those hot summer nights in the islands. There's more to them than just the infernal whine of mosquitoes!

ANES has changed its schedule again and there is now a 9 a.m hydrofoil from Rhodes on Fridays. The last few Wednesdays they have also been using the Proteus instead of the Symi for the evening 18.30 transfers. As ever we advise travellers to check for up to the minute information before setting off, and not to presume that something scheduled in January is cast in stone for August!

Have a good weekend. I'll be spending mine putting the finishing touches to the July edition of the Symi Visitor.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com