No Boundaries

It is another hot and sunny day on Symi but, yippee! Ilias Haskas, Symi’s cheerful deputy mayor whose day job is plumbing and air conditioning installations, has been in and spoken nicely to the air conditioning unit at Symi Visitor Accommodation so we are functioning at a comfortable 25 degrees centigrade and my spectacles are no longer half way down my nose. While 40 degrees is tolerable in the shade of the olive trees, doing nothing more strenuous than reading a book, it is not very conducive to productivity in an office environment and Symi is one of the warmest places in Greece at the moment. Symi is a lot quieter than it usually is in June, not just because with the global economic situation fewer people are travelling but also because the heat has driven most of those who are here onto the beach, either on Symi or, in the case of the day-trippers, Rhodes. The water taxis and excursion boats are busy and great lumbering trucks laden with crates of water and beer come off the Proteus every time she comes through from Rhodes.

Tonight is the opening of the Diversity in Symi Art exhibition in the gallery at Symi Dream http://www.symidream.com/ on the Kali Strata in Chorio. As the exhibition runs through until 31 October, apart from a brief interval to make space for the annual ODAS exhibition, there is plenty of opportunity for everyone to go and have a look. Symi has a flourishing creative community that knows no boundaries between Greeks and foreigners, which goes to show that life on a Greek island isn’t all sun beds and retsina.

Work has resumed on the marina in Pedi Bay. According to the contractor, the floating crane should be finished in the next 2-3 weeks and the rest of the work will be done from the shore as it largely entails pouring concrete to cap everything. Work has also resumed on the undercover sports stadium/basket ball court behind the Taxiarchis Hotel in Chorio. The Pedi road is closed today as work continues on the desalination plant at the Valanidia reservoir. Oh, and the painters are putting the finishing touches to the upper storey of Kampos supermarket at the bus stop in Chorio so we can probably expect to hear wedding bells in that quarter fairly soon.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana