Happy in the Spring Sunshine

Weathered but still smiling, the little sphinx on the rooftop of the Stani patisserie next to the Symi Visitor Accommodation office looks happy in the spring sunshine.

There is a high pressure system over our corner of the Aegean at the moment and the water level in the harbour is quite low - a sharp contrast to the floods and storms of a few weeks ago.  As you can see, the harbour is still quite empty as the excursion boats and most of the water taxis are still out on the hard at the boatyard in Harani.

We may be half-way through Lent but a few Christmas decorations linger on in the residential neighbourhoods.  In the maritime communities model ships are a common theme and this house has a small caique above the main entrance to the property and again over the door to the courtyard. The rigging is picked out with fairy lights.

The stone mason's factory on the Pedi road.  Huge chunks of rock are quarried up on the mountain and then brought down here to be cut and shaped, either for paving or for construction.  You can see big chunks in the background, waiting to be prepared, and pallets of dressed stone paving under the gantry.

Last week it was a broom hanging from an electricity cable in the harbour (it is still there if you are interested). This week it is a blue plastic watering can wedged between some reinforcing rod on a building site in the Pedi valley.

Leaves are unfurling all over the valley.  There are drifts of pale wild cyclamens in the shady places and clumps of wild garlic jostling for space with the first daisies.

An orange tree crowding the courtyard of an old house near the technical high school.  Most of the oranges on Symi are very bitter but this year there has been so much rain that they are almost edible.  Usually the locals make them into glykos by candying rolls of the peel and storing them in syrup as a very sweet dessert or snack.

The monastery dedicated to the Prophet Elijah (Profiti Ilias)  on a rocky outcrop above the Pedi valley.  It is situated on the site of an old temple to Apollo.  Sun gods and fiery chariots - it was easy to reinvent Apollo as Elijah and many churches dedicated to the latter are situated on sites originally dedicated to the former.

Mother and child enjoyed the midday sun near the power station in Pedi.

A sure sign that summer is on its way - the ice cream fridges are back at the kiosks!  Okay, there isn't anything in them yet but it is a declaration of intent! This is the Kampos bus stop in Chorio.

We had some quite violent thunderstorms on Friday afternoon and squally showers on Saturday but Sunday was glorious. The weather should remain dry and sunny for the rest of the week although the weather forecasters do seem to be dithering a bit about whether we might have a shower or two on Wednesday.  Temperatures remain between 10 and 19 degrees centigrade with northerly and north westerly winds.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana