A Warm Welcome

The bell tower of St John's with Lemonitissa looking down from the Acropolis

A more familiar view of the bell tower of St John's church in Yialos. 

This is Symi's cathedral where the Metropolitan says mass.

A glimpse of the early morning rush hour in Yialos from a lane off the Kali Strata.

Looking down the Kali Strata from the Hotel Fiona in Chorio

Profiti Ilias on the cliff above Agia Marina cemetery.

Look at those amazing folds in the rock above.  No wonder Symi does not hold water.

It is believed that an old temple to Apollo used to stand where the monastery to the Prophet Elijah is and there are remains of some very ancient walls inside.

An overnight breeze brought brief relief from the heatwave that has been smothering Symi in recent days and we are enjoying a slight drop in temperatures on the island. This will be short-lived unfortunately as the heatwave will resume with new vigour from tomorrow but it is amazing how fresh 35 degrees centigrade can feel after days in the forties. An unfortunate side effect of the heat is that the indigenous insect life is proliferating and every supermarket on Symi has prominent displays of every kind of insect spray and trap imaginable. This is certainly nothing new. The myth of Pandora’s box with its plagues of winged nasties probably had its origins in centuries of annual eruptions of insects in high summer in Greece. At least these days we have Baygon!

Symi is filling up steadily with summer visitors but there is still some August availability to be found in the off peak weeks. A sign of the times is that there are fewer Greek holidaymakers this year. In these days of high unemployment and limited funds for treats many Greeks are visiting relatives and staying in family properties in the islands or rural villages where at least they don’t have accommodation costs to worry about and they can be sure of a warm welcome from the older generation.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Adriana

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