Sunshine All the Way

Dramatic skies over Symi

A quiet side lane off the Kali Strata



It is a sunny Symi Friday. A few thunderclouds are starting to build up over Turkey but nothing as dramatic as the electrical storm that growled around Symi for several hours yesterday afternoon, before depositing all its rain over the sea between Symi and Turkey. It is unlikely that we will have any significant rain between now and October but sometimes a cloud lingers over the Vigla and gives us the benefit of a 5 minute downpour or, more likely, a brief drizzle that evaporates before it reaches the ground. The long range forecast shows thundershowers over most of Greece and sunshine all the way for Symi and Rhodes.

Vines and oleanders on an alternate route to town from Chorio.

There are a lot more people around and the water taxis started operation today. A tribe of excited Greek children, armed with ice creams and evidently on a school day trip from Rhodes, is investigating the fishing boats below my window while a couple of more mature visitors relax on a bench and look at the sea. Yachts are starting to come in, looking for a good berth for the night, and the Tilos Seastar is alongside the quay next to the Clock Tower (Roloi). The air is sweet with the aroma of vanilla from the Nikolas Patisserie behind our office and the cafes and tavernas are bustling with visitors enjoying lunch while looking at the boats.

The restoration of this mansion on the Kali Strata is nearing completion.

This mansion, on the other hand, has a way to go.

Cyclamens grow in surprising places. 

 No human intervention could achieve that elegant arrangement of leaves.

In the last few days the season really does feel that it has begun. There is a hum of human activity and the clink of crockery and glasses from Pachos downstairs. Taxas supermarket is selling foreign language newspapers and magazines again and all the grocery shops have more diverse fare on offer than has been the case for many months.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana