Hot and Dry

The weather across Greece remains hot and dry with strong meltemi winds in the Aegean, gusting up to Beaufort Force 8 later this week. The summer tourist season on Symi has peaked with the traditional all-night celebrations for the Dormition of the Virgin on Saturday night at the Alethini on the Pedi Road. It was pleasant to hear traditional Greek music drifting across the Pedi Valley, reminding us of the many warm Saturday nights when live bouzouki was a feature of Symi’s audio landscape and tourists tested their skills at the sensuous tsifteteli.

For many Greeks this week marks the return to work after a fortnight’s holiday and there are many cries of ‘Kalo Chimona’ (good winter) as they depart on the ferries for Rhodes, Kos and Pireaus. Many of the island’s French and Italian visitors are also heading homewards and over the next week or so Symi will slowly empty, only to fill up again at the end of the month as many of Symi’s regular British, German and Scandinavian visitors start to arrive, plus anyone else who isn’t tied to school holidays and is free to enjoy the golden days of late summer on Symi at whim.


Many areas of Chorio continue to be affected by water shortages and the mains supply is still off for most of the time. As the water supply is turned on very much at random, more often than not when people are at work during the day and are not at liberty to stay at home to fill the cistern or catch up on the laundry, this is a very frustrating state of affairs. Symi residents and visitors alike hope that this situation will become a thing of the past when the new desalination plant finally comes into operation. Meanwhile a steady shuttle of laden water boats from Rhodes is coming into Yialos and Pedi to ensure that hotels and restaurants remain fully supplied.

Have a good week.



Regards,

Adriana

Richard  – (Friday, August 21, 2009)  

I tried your instructions for dancing the tsifteteli and must now spend a week in bed with a wrecked back. What is a half-camel step? Will you demonstrate it on our next visit?

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About this Blog

I sailed into Panormitis Bay, Symi, by chance one windy July day in 1993 and have been here ever since. The locals tell me that this is one of the miracles of St Michael of Panormitis. A BA graduate with majors in English, Philosophy and Classical Civilisation, the idea of living in what is to all intents and purposes an archaeological site appeals to me. Not as small as Kastellorizo, not as touristy as Rhodes, Symi is just the right size. I live on a small holding which my husband and I have reclaimed from a ruin of over-grazing and neglect and turned into a small oasis over the course of the past 22 years. I also work part-time for Symi Visitor Accommodation, helping independent travellers discover and enjoy Symi's simple pleasures for themselves.

This page is kindly sponsored by Wendy Wilcox, Symi Visitor Accommodation.


Adriana Shum

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