A New Blog for a New Start

You can now find me on Adriana's Symi

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Symi Pink

Roses round my door.  It has been a very dry spring with no rain for weeks.  The old damask roses suffer when the opening buds are rained on as the outer petals shrink when wet, preventing the blooms from opening properly.  No such problems this year.  The valley is drying out quickly now. The daisies are disappearing.  The wild grasses are setting seed and the poppies are coming to an end.

Lurking in the shrubbery.  If you look carefully, one of her chicks is hiding beneath her, just to the right of her legs.

The great flood of November 2017 washed away many walls and fences, giving the goats free rein.  It is a foolish person who leaves their gate or courtyard door open with these guys wandering around, looking for snacks.

Cock of the walk.

Pink bindwind.

Wild hollyhocks in Lieni.  Like the damask roses, they like the dry conditions and are putting on a good show this year.

Yialos is still very quiet outside of the hours in the middle of the day when the excursion boats are in from Rhodes.

Friday morning in Yialos.  This was the scene at 10 o'clock.  The water taxi boats are still in the boat yard.  They should be launched in the next few weeks and usually receive their licenses for the year in late May.

Here are a few photographs to give you an idea of what it is like on Symi at the moment.  The uncertainty surrounding political developments in Turkey has had a ripple effect on Symi.  With fewer yachts overwintering in Turkish marinas we are not getting the usual influx of cruising boats passing through Symi after clearing out of Turkey in the course of March and April.

Temperatures are now nudging 30 degrees at midday and the evenings are very mild.  We haven't seen rain for weeks now.  According to some sources this is the warmest and driest April in the Rhodes area in 200 years but how that accurate that is, I cannot say.  Were the Ottomans and then the Italians keeping weather records?

I am in the process of setting up a property management service here on Symi.  There is a lot to organise but as soon as I have my website up and running I will give you the link.  Please be aware that as the Symi Visitor business no longer exists, I will not be in the old office in the harbour and the email address is no longer active.  If you want to contact me personally, you can find me on Facebook Messenger or here.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Challenging Times

There are days when I can really relate to this shutter, hanging by a thread up in Chorio.

Some doors are closed to me now but others are opening.

Busy as the bees rolling in the ephemeral poppies.

There is beauty to be found, even in the most inhospitable environment.

Inspiration among the daisies.

I wonder what the story is behind this pediment in Chorio.

A quiet garden just off the road in Chorio.  Old fashioned roses grow very well here and anyone with a bit of space tries to fit in a rose bush or two.

I have delayed writing a blog post as the situation changes with such frequency, it is difficult to know what to say.

First of all, many thanks to all of you who have written in, expressing your condolences and sharing your thoughts about Wendy and her tragically early death.  We really do appreciate it and it is a comfort to her family and friends to know that Wendy was loved and admired by many people all over the world.

The situation at present is that Symi Visitor Accommodation has closed down. As everything to do with the business is in Wendy's name, the business effectively died with her.  This is why the accommodation listings have all disappeared from the website, the Facebook page has gone and the office in the harbour is closed. The Sunflower laundry is also part of Wendy's estate and as such has also had to close.  No doubt sooner or later someone else will open a new laundry on Symi but who, where and when I cannot say as I don't know. 

The webcam was provided very kindly by a private individual as a service to the community. It is now looking for a new home.

I am in the process of setting up my personal blog and reinventing myself.  Please bear with me if I go quiet for a while. There is a lot to be done at many levels.  I will let you all know what I am doing and where to find me in due course.

Regards,
Adriana

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Good bye, Wendy

Wendy Wilcox in happier times

It is with a heavy heart that I write today's blog post.  As many of you with close links to Symi know, Wendy was diagnosed with throat cancer two years ago, followed shortly thereafter by the tragic loss of her partner, Ged Horton.  Sadly, we now say good bye to Wendy who died suddenly on Saturday afternoon, in the arms of her friends.

The friendly face of Symi Visitor for more than 20 years, she brought many visitors to the island and joy to the lives of countless people, both visitors and residents alike.  In recent years she was also one of the warm-hearted founders of Solidarity Symi, the local charity that sprang out of the refugee crisis of 2015. 

Naturally empathetic, Wendy always put other people first and wanted to make everyone happy. That made her an excellent hostess and event organiser.  The happy couples who enjoyed her services as a wedding planner are part of her enduring legacy.

Her buoyant personality and vivacity were slowly dimmed by the disease that robbed her of her speech and her ability to socialise but she fought on, making the adaptations that living with a life-changing illness imposes.  Spinach smoothies and Greek rice pudding and long walks with her dog, Santouri.  It is tragic that an undetected aneurysm cut short her life and robbed us of the friend and colleague we loved so well.  She will be missed, both on Symi and by thousands of people around the world.

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March Postcards from Symi

Fishing boats at the head of the harbour.  The water taxi boats leave from this area during the season.  Our Symi Visitor Accommodation office is in the small ochre double storey with the terracotta pediment, partially hidden by the tall palm in the middle of the photograph. There are also several popular cafes along this stretch, ranging from the traditional to the trendy, to suit all tastes and budgets.

It is traditional in Greece to exchange elaborately decorated candles as gifts for Easter.  A spin off of the church processional candles, these are far to fancy - and flammable - to light.  They are decorated with small toys, flowers, dolls, emblems and motifs.  Some shops even sell them in novelty shapes including candles moulded to look like rolled up gyros, the popular Greek street food!

Dino, the chandler opposite the entrance to the Symi Visitor Accommodation office, busy painting his cupboards.

More painting and cleaning going on around the corner.  The retro purple and orange is a herb shop.  Most places aim to be open by Greek Easter, which is next weekend.  Many that are specifically dependent on foreign tourists don't open up until June or July these days as Symi doesn't have as many visitors in April and May as it did 10-15 years ago.

Hooray!  The ice cream fridges have arrived!

We don't see many early season yachts these days either.

Last minute preparations at the war memorial before the 25 March Independence Day parade on Sunday. The next parade day on Symi is 8 May for VE Day.

A brave poppy perched on the rubble left by 13 November 2017's devastating floods.  This is in the Pedi valley.

Outside the clinic in Chorio.

The dust cloud is still with us.  Apparently up in the north, in Romania, Bulgaria and Russia's Black Sea coast, they have been experiencing pink snow as the Saharan cloud mingles with the snow.  Down here we just see dust and red rain and very poor visibility.  There have been some flight disruptions this past week, particularly in Crete which was very badly affected by the dust and gale force winds. There are lots of amazing orange photos out there in social media.

Organic verge trimming on the Kali Strata.

A designer cat, waiting for the Krysallis boutique to reopen.

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Spring on Symi and a Walk in Rhodes

Yialos at half past eight this morning.  The calm after yesterday's storm.  We had very strong winds on Sunday and there was a shipping ban.  The flags are up because Saturday was the investiture of the new Metropolitan (bishop).

The many priests and officials who came over for the investiture ceremony and celebrations on Saturday were unable to get off the island on Sunday because of the wind.  I spotted this group waiting for the Dodecanese Seaways catamaran this morning.  People came from all over the Dodecanese for the event.

Meanwhile, in the Pedi valley, Nature is staging her own celebrations.

Who would think that the barren dust of summer would hide such potential abundance?  Just add water for a wonderful wild garden.  This is along the roadside in Lieni, Chorio.

Mother and child, out for a morning stroll in the Pedi valley.

The olive trees are smothered in millions of tiny pale green flowers.

I had to go to Rhodes on Friday for various appointments.  Inevitably I had several hours to kill between finishing my business and taking the Blue Star back to Symi.  It seemed a waste to spend them reading in a corner of the Plaza Hotel so I took my camera for a walk.  If you chose to walk from Akandia, the commerical ferry port, into town, you will pass this attractive kiosk (periptero) near the old town walls.  An ideal pit stop for an ice cream.  

Rhodes is full of ruins spanning millenia of continuous occupation.  Invaders came and went and everyone left their mark. Somewhere along the line the end wall of a Byzantine church became the wall of a house, with windows overlooking what would once have been the nave.

This is the altar of the same church.  You can take a short cut through the open area into a park on the right of the photograph that takes you eventually to a gate in the old town walls that opens out over the moat, near the kiosk above.  There is a more direct  route out onto the waterfront on the left, through another gate.

Rhodes old town closes down during the winter months and all the tourist tat disappears, leaving the underlying architecture exposed to view.  A great opportunity to see the buildings as they really are.

Spring flowers are everywhere, even on the old town walls.

A gargoyle leaping from the roof of the old library.

There are many Ottoman drinking water fountains dotted around Rhodes. This one is near Kolonna.

The Rhodes municipality has provided an information system that enables you to download an app on your smartphone.

The old shopping area behind Mandraki.  Bits of it have been restored like this section. Others are still falling down.  Many of the old speciality shops have disappeared, replaced by trendy cafes, bars and eateries.

The spring equinox is only days away and the weather is very unsettled.  Calm hazy days alternate with strong winds and shipping bans.  The major weather fronts generally pass to the north of us in March and April after causing disruption in the Ionian and on the Greek mainland.  Saharan dust is a familiar sight, turning the sky pink and leaving a film of red on everything when it rains. Temperatures are in the low to mid twenties.  It is still chilly in the shade, particularly in places still damp from the winter rains.  Distant snow is visible on the Turkish mountains but it is disappearing fast.

The weather this week remains unsettled with gale force winds forecast for Thursday and the possibility of thunderstorms over the weekend.

Rhodes was still very quiet on Friday with little sign of activity yet for the forthcoming tourist season.  With the main focus these days on all inclusive package holidays in the resort areas, Rhodes town is a lot quieter than it used to be.  It was quite sad really, walking around, to see so many small hotels and businesses closed up, not just for the winter but probably for a year or more judging by the hoardings and piles of dusty post visible on empty shop floors.  When you book a package holiday with a big holiday company, very little of your money actually finds its way into the local community and eventually the community withers and dies.  When you travel independently, dealing with Greek businesses and eating in family tavernas, you are putting money directly into the local economy, keeping small businesses and communities alive and growing.  Food for thought.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Spring Cleaning for Easter

The butterflies are back!

Eyes closed against the sun.

Down in the valley.

Free range feasting.

In the frame.  The water taxis and excursion boats are still out in the boatyard.  They won't be back until May.

Getting ready for the season.

The International at the back of Yialos is one of the very few tavernas that still stays open all year round.  

Nature adds her own embellishments.

March is galloping past and Easter will soon be upon us.  The skies are blue and bright.  There are few rain clouds looming on the long range forecast. Temperatures are creeping into the mid twenties and people who brought duvets in to the Sunflower for washing don't seem to be in much of a hurry to reclaim them.

Business owners are wrestling open doors swollen from winter rains and drawing up job lists.  There is the hum of electric sanders in the air and the hardware stores are busy.  Winter woollies are making way for paint-spattered overalls.  The tourist season proper does not start until the end of May these days but there is plenty to be done for Greek Easter.  People often come back to their families in the islands for the holidays as Greek Easter is traditionally celebrated as a family holiday.

The supermarkets are laying in supplies of flour, cheese, oil, yeast, sugar and dye for the traditional Easter baking marathon.  There's a bit of a price war going on in the flour department as Italian 00 flour has made an appearance on Symi at very reasonable prices.  The dye is, of course, for the hard-boiled eggs that are shared on Easter Sunday.  While Britain is awash with hot cross buns and chocolate bunnies - they were already appearing in the shops when I left in early January - here in Greece, particularly in the islands, everything is appropriate to its season. 

Elaborately decorated processional candles, traditional foods and the ingredients to prepare them only start to appear in the shops during Lent.  The air of anticipation is palpable because it really is something to look forward to.  The culture of treat yourself everyday hasn't filtered through here yet so there is always something joyful on the horizon.  If you are fed up with the commercialisation of Easter and other religious holidays, come and celebrate in Greece instead.  You will really feel that there is something special happening.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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