Happy Friday on Sunny Symi

Symi's unique brand of neo-classical architecture is one of the island's great charms and residents take great delight in making their homes, small as they may be, as pretty as possible.  The colours permitted in the harbour area are strictly controlled.

The sponge seller near the bridge dunks his sponges in the harbour to keep them flexible. That is an electric tricycle in the background - the bin has been lifted as the batteries that power it are being put into position after spending the night on charge in the bakery.  On Symi you can always expect the unexpected.

Symi's waterfront is a colourful line up of boutiques, cafes, tavernas and shops going right around the horseshoe of the harbour.

A fisherman with sponge sellers and leather merchants in the background.

A bit scorched in places from the customs house fire but the fish market is still in use.

Fresh melons and vegetables from Tilos. The trucks came off the Blue Star this morning and parked at the back of the town square.  Later on they will drive up to Chorio and park at Kampos so that the housewives of Chorio have their chance.

There is very little level ground on Symi and most houses are built on slopes, cliffs, hillsides and mountains.  I took this photograph from the bridge in Yialos so that is the roof of the fish market in the foreground. The hill in the background is the Vigla, Symi's highest peak, hence the aerials on the top for the mobile phone network, TV, radio and so on.  The houses you can see are on the slopes are part of the oldest area of Chorio and are clustered around the top of the Kataraktis, an ancient donkey path that goes up the back of the Kastro (the hill on the left) , skirting a edge of a cataract, hence the name. The cataract flows during the winter rains, carrying the run off from all those hillsides, down the gully and into the harbour, flowing through the side of the town square and under the bridge, into the sea.  It is difficult to imagine in dry weather, but this can be quite a lethal flash flood in the rainy season and the town hall issues warnings over the town tannoy, telling people to move their cars out of that part of the square when heavy rain is expected.

I wonder what the story is behind these playing cards, lying in the silt on the customs house slipway this morning.  I apologise for the poor quality of the photograph - my camera is not very sophisticated but I wanted to share this rather unusual sight with you.

Ruins to dream about.

Those are replica caiques you can see through that chink in the door. An elderly carpenter works away quietly in there, producing this beautiful model boats.  I won't tell you where this is - explore the byways and side lanes of Yialos and you will find him!