Spring, Glorious Symi Spring

The Vigla is the highest point on Symi so all the antennae and beacons are located up there.  If, however, you are in the shadow of the Vigla you may find that your phone picks up a stronger signal from Turkey than from Symi.  In direct line of sight, however, one can actually pick up quite strong 4G signals these days.

I can assure you that this poppy is absolutely real!  I spotted it on a verge next to the football field behind the power station in Pedi.

Best friends.

Lemon blossom

Rogue nasturtiums

The grape vines are waking up.  

You can see why wild clematis is sometimes called Old Man's Beard

Oak leaves unfurling in Lieni

The Pedi valley.

A lonely cloud between Symi and Turkey.

I spotted this atop a chimney that I pass every day and have never noticed before.  There is always something new to see on Symi.

We have been exceptionally lucky with the weather this March.  After that week of solid rain at the beginning of the month it has been sunny and mild and, as you can see, nature is reveling in the ideal growing conditions.  March can be a very stormy month so it is really exceptional to have such a long run of fine weather.

Tomorrow, 25 March, is a double holiday in Greece as it is the anniversary of the start of the Greek War of Independence from the Ottomans and it is also the Feast of the Annunciation.  The flags are up in the harbour and the children are running about, pursued by harassed teachers trying to coral them into groups for marching practice.

It looks as though there may be a break in the weather in the middle of next week with a possibility of rain showers. These, unfortunately, are likely to be of the 'red rain' persuasion, a phenomenon that combines fine dust from North Africa with moisture and turns everything ochre. We shall see!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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A Month of Holidays and Celebrations

Symi's war memorial is just to the left of the tall white flight of steps.  You can see the flags are up, ready for Monday's Dodecanese Day commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony.

Cheerful bunting on a grey day.  It will stay up until after the Independence Day celebrations on 25 March.

Oranges  in a garden on the Kali Strata.

The oak tree in Lieni, Chorio, is unfurling for a new year.

Breakfast on the hoof in a car park in Chorio.

Clean Monday falls on 14 March this year.  This marks the beginning of Lent in Greece and is celebrated with the flying of kites.  I have never found a satisfactory explanation for why kites are flown on this particular day. As it is pretty much a one-off thing, the kites are simple light-weight constructions made of thin plastic, not unlike supermarket shopping bag plastic and seldom survive longer than a day's use, depending on wind strength.  Football club colours are popular.  Kampos supermarket in Chorio is ahead of the game - I spotted these outside their shop in Chorio on Thursday this week.

This season's 'must have' plastic tablecloth design has pomegranates on it.  I think I might treat myself to a couple of metres to cheer up my kitchen.

An extremely narrow lane in Chorio.  Regulars to the island may be able to identify where it is.  

Bright blue among the ruins. The contraption on the left foreground is an electric winch, presumably used to hoist building materials when the upper floor of the house just off the picture was being finished as the family was already in residence below.

Random colours in Chorio.  

Co-ordinated catwalk.

We have had a few brief thundershowers over the past 48 hours, including a short sharp hailstorm this morning that only lasted about 5 minutes, if that.   There still hasn't been enough rain to make a difference to the island's water supply, unfortunately, and the long range forecast doesn't hold much promise that this will improve.  Looking on the bright side, it seems unlikely that it is going to rain on anybody's parade this month.

Monday, as I have mentioned previously, is Dodecanese Day, a holiday celebrated only in the Dodecanese. The bunting is up around the harbour and now that the rain  has cleared there are dozens of happy, squealing children, practicing their marching skills for the parade on Monday.  Yesterday was Tsiknopempti - Smokey Thursday. This marks the start of the carnival season with lots of grilled meat.  The evening showers held off until the BBQs were over so no one had soggy souvlaki.  Usually the carnival festivities fall in February but Greek Easter is quite late this year, falling at the beginning of May, so March is full of holidays and celebrations. The supermarkets are starting to get in more stock, much of it traditional seasonal fare for the forthcoming holidays such as that staple fasting food - sesame halvah in a wide range of flavours, including a version that is coated with dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has always been called health chocolate here. What with that and the pomegranates, the Greeks have always been ahead of the game when it comes to superfoods!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Fluffy Clouds and Symi Blues

The goddess, Pallas Athena, looking down from a harbour rooftop.  That is the dome of Lemonitissa church you can see in the background.

The customs' house slipway in Yialos with friendly ducks and fishermen contemplating the day's catch.  As you can see from the clothing, it is still decidedly chilly here at the moment and everyone is well wrapped up, particularly those who travel by motorbike or scooter.  Yes, that is a small BBQ standing on the kerb, no doubt ready to receive some of those fish.

Fluffy clouds and Symi blues.

Wind-blown skies and a cold dark sea.  The Nireus and Aliki hotels are still closed which is why there are no umbrellas to be seen along the quay.  The Harani boatyard is still full.  The Merchant House, Sofia's House, Villa Nicola and Villa Karnayo are all in this area adjoining the main harbour, Yialos.

Buoys bobbing in the harbour.

Friday morning's Blue Star Diagoras.

The Monday morning Dodecanese Seaways catamaran. The schedule does not fill out until April and even then there are a lot of gaps in the program. The online schedule is only available until 19 April, the weekend after Greek Easter.

A place in the sun.  Cats making use of a well-wrapped quad bike near the high school as a sun lounger.

Typical access steps to Symi houses.  As the houses are small and built into the hillside if there is an internal connecting staircase it is usually an open tread wooden ladder through a trapdoor to save space.  The main access between up and down is usually an external staircase such as these.  

Someone thoughtfully gave this cat an old sleeping bag to snooze on.

It is one of those overcast and drizzly days that happen quite frequently at this time of the year.  The dreaded 'red rain' from the Sahara has begun.  Fine particles of sand arrive on water droplets and cover everything with a thin film of pinkish dust which dries to a crust.  This is probably why ochre is such a popular tint for whitewash here rather than the dazzling white of the Cyclades. The forecast for the week is unsettled, with showery weather and strong winds, particularly at the end of the week.

Wednesday is Greek Independence Day and also the Feast of the Annunciation so both a religious and a public holiday.  Evangelismos church, the church on the headland in Harani that is dedicated to the Annunciation, is the main focus for the church festivities on Symi and on the holiday eve burning braziers are put along the ramp leading up the church.  There is also a parade in the harbour on Wednesday morning.  It is very much a family holiday and people usually get together for gyros after the parade as it is a fast-free day.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Spring has Officially Arrived

A cheerful display.

The roof of the stadium is being paved, and very splendid it will be too.  Certainly as terrace views go, it will take some beating (see below).

Cleaning frying pans. Forget conventional pot scourers. This man is using an angle grinder to grind the rust off these taverna pans.

Coffee and a gossip in the alley.  Yes, that is a gin palace in the background.  It had disappeared by the time I got round to that side of the harbour so it was probably just passing through.  At this time of the year yachts that have overwintered in nearby Turkish marinas start to come through, using Symi as a port of entry to clear into Greece.

Shabby chic - the discreet sign on the wall says, in Greek, 'Centre of Aesthetics Maravelias'.

Time to start on the whitewashing.

The young man by the lamp post is carefully gluing seashells onto plastic plant boxes for a nearby taverna.  The bus stop is to the right and the yellow Symi bus that serves Yialos, Chorio and Pedi is about to pull out.

A heavy vehicle inching its way carefully round the waterfront, traffic tailing back behind it..  The only road into town is along the quay and although it has been widened somewhat twice in the twenty years I have lived here, it is still a tricky stretch to negotiate.  There are a few gaps between buildings wide enough for on coming traffic to tuck in and wait for vehicles to pass but it is essentially only slightly wider than one vehicle width with a few tight bends and undulations.

An odd family, but they all seem to get on.

Spring has officially arrived and everyone is out, enjoying the spring sunshine and getting stuck into the preparations for the season.  The fine weather is expected to continue until Tuesday when there is a 50% chance of rain.  As this will be coming from the south west it is likely to be the dreaded 'red rain', a mixture of sand from the Sahara and North Africa, mixed with light rain which forms a dirty crust on everything. The annual spring preparations wouldn't be the same without playing cat and mouse with the mud showers.

Tuesday 25 March is a double holiday as it is the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabrielle appeared to the Blessed Virgin and told her that she was pregnant, and also the anniversary of the start of the Greek War of Independence.  On the night of 24th March blazing braziers line the road round the harbour and the ramp up to Evangelismos church in Harani, the Church of the Annunciation.  A dramatic sight beyond the capabilities of my humble camera but perhaps Neil Gosling of Symi Dream will photograph them for you.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Green Shoots of Recovery?

The population of Symi was roused from its usual mid-morning coffee break by several brisk toots on a horn as the Panagia Skiadeni, Dodecanese Seaways' new car ferry, announced her triumphant arrival in Yialos, Symi's main harbour. Although there was nothing on any schedule to inform of her coming, various trucks were waiting in happy anticipation at the clock tower.  They may yet be waiting a while longer as she is showing no signs of departing again.  Her schedule should be appearing on www.12ne.gr/en in the next day or so.

Green shoots of recovery?  The weather has warmed up considerably in the last few days and leaf buds are unfurling wherever one looks.  The valonia oaks are rapidly greening over and the figs have turned from bare stalks to standard bearers.

I was in Rhodes last week on business. The intention was to go on Sunday evening and come back on the Wednesday afternoon Blue Star but with the 48 hour strike of the Panhellenic Seamen the ferry schedule was thrown into disarray and I only returned to Symi late on Friday evening.  As I had time in hand I went on several long walks around Rhodes town, camera in hand, and took literally hundreds of photographs.  Here is just a small sample for your amusement.

One of the intriguing things about Rhodes is that wherever one goes there are archaeological sites - much to the despair of property developers who often wind up with their projects on hold while finds are examined, and their architectural plans changed to avoid destroying whatever has turned up. This amazing mosaic is part of an excavation under a housing complex in a Rhodian back street. Rattling around Rhodes in a taxi or vehicle one is unaware of all this as it is mostly hidden below street level, so if you are interested in the many layers of Rhodian history, don your walking shoes and peer over railings.

The moat around Rhodes Old Town also holds a few surprises that passing motorists are unlikely to see. This football pitch, for example.  It does not seem to have seen much use this winter.  Perhaps the children have grown up and gone away, or perhaps they prefer watching it on television to playing it in the extremely cold weather we have experienced this winter.

And where better to graze ones horse than in a moat? There is undoubtedly a far longer precedent for this than football in Rhodes Old Town.  No, that isn't a knight, dozing under the tree.  Just an unidentifiable piece of old scrap metal.

The moat at the top of Rhodes Old Town is far more sedate.  No football or grazing horses here.  Just heaps of stone canon balls and, surprise, an archaeological dig.  There are guided walks around the moat in the summer and it is a great way of seeing the Old Town from a different angle.

25 March is Greek Independence Day and in the days leading up to this holiday the shops in Rhodes were full of displays of traditional dress for the children participating in the parades.  For photographs of some of the Symiot children in their parade finery, please see Out and About where Jenine Woodhall of the Olive Tree cafe in Chorio has shared some of her photographs.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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