Symi in the Summer

It is a hot and sunny bank holiday Monday on Symi and the harbour is busy. Bank holiday weekenders mix with day trippers, visitors with locals. Pachos downstairs is packed. A sticky breeze is blowing in off the harbour, ruffling the pink petals of the geraniums on the balcony here at Symi Visitor Accommodation. If it gets much hotter we will soon be shutting the doors and looking for the air conditioner remote but Wendy and I try to put that off for as long as possible. Yesterday peaked at 41 degrees in my corner of the Pedi valley but most places only saw temperatures of around 38 degrees centigrade.

The Symi and the Proteus have both been in this morning. The ANEK boat, Ierapetra, has the big boat contract this month and has just left, allowing space for the Symi II to come in and for the Proteus, which has been hanging about off Nimborio, to take up station at the Roloi once again. The Ibiskos van from Rhodes is parked outside Pachos, unloading chilled cases of tzatziki, taramosalata and feta cheese for the supermarkets in the lane – when it is too hot to even think about cooking a supply of easy Greek food in the refrigerator makes for a good picnic in the courtyard and the combination of car ferries and refrigerated vehicles has greatly improved the range of convenience foods available on Symi in the summer.

In the Pedi valley the apricots are turning from green to gold and the tomatoes are swelling on the vines. Spiders spin their lazy webs among the trees and cats doze in the shadows through the heat of the day, too languid to raise more than an eyelid when a blue tailed lizard darts into view. After sunset the temperature slowly drops and creatures start to stir. The full moon lights up grazing sheep, tinkling bells as they nibble small white flowers from the oregano bushes along the terraces. The neighbour’s donkey snorts restlessly at a mosquito and slurps noisily at his water butt. The cockerels in the valley set up a round of crowing that is taken up by my own flock and a distant dog barks in response. It is summer on Symi and it is hot.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana