The Promise of Rain

The Olive Tree's new premises on the Kali Strata

The view from the Kali Strata corner.
The building in the right foreground is the high school

 It is the second week of October and the clouds continue to tease us with the promise of rain which then falls elsewhere. The forecast for the rest of this week includes 30% chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday and Thursday which may or may not break the summer drought.  So far Symi remains warm and humid with little more than a few rain drops making dusty splats on the cars.  Midday temperatures are still in the mid to high twenties and the evenings remain mild.  The days are certainly much shorter and as Symi is so steep many places are already in the shade for much of the day.  Reports are coming in that many of the other less populous islands have already closed for the winter and many parts of Greece have already experienced heavy rainfall.  Meanwhile in Athens preparations are underway for Angela Merkel’s official visit tomorrow.

Up in Chorio the popular health food café, the Olive Tree, has moved around the corner into its new premises.  Regular visitors to Symi will remember this building as previously O Filos and before that Ta Klima and before that Dallaras. We wish them luck in their new premises. With lovely views and lots more space both inside and out this will be a great venue for parties and events and the first kiddies’ birthday party is already looming on the horizon.

Down in Yialos it is definitely quieter and the tourist shops are reducing their stock.  Discount stickers are appearing on the racks and tourist shops are working their hours around the arrivals of cruise ships and day trippers rather than the steadily dwindling number of visitors staying on the island.  The exotic goodies that the supermarkets and grocers order in for the summer high season visitors are disappearing fast from the shelves and probably won’t be re-ordered until the spring.  The first of the winter crops from other parts of Greece are putting in an appearance.   Beetroot so fresh that the leaves are still crisp, cauliflowers and cabbages and the first Kos lettuces are taking over from the usual colourful aubergines, peppers and tomatoes.  It may seem strange to those from northern climes but in Greece the prospect of a fresh cauliflower can be quite exciting after a summer of tomatoes and cucumbers.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

The Kali Strata's most photographed ruins now have a resident cat.