Symi in September

Don't be fooled by this autumnal view of Pedi bay - the temperatures on Symi have been in the forties this week, an abnormal heatwave for this time of the year.

One morning this week, on my way to work, I spotted this black cat watching a desiccated bush with great interest.

Closer inspection revealed two hens and two chicks hiding in the undergrowth so I tossed a pebble against the wall behind the cat and distracted it while the mums and their young made a dash for the safety of  a nearby stable.  As of this morning both chicks are still accounted for.  What is interesting is how well camouflaged the local feral poultry are in this landscape.

A young donkey shares a joke.  He has fresh vine prunings for his breakfast. The two terracotta buildings in the background are the Taxiarchis hotel in Chorio.

Travelling salesmen and hawkers are very much a part of the island landscape. The one on the right is taking advantage of the fact that the hunting season opens next week and is selling strong boots, camo pants and safety jackets (well, if you are camouflaged to blend into the landscape, of course you need a luminous red vest so no one shoots you by accident...). The blue van on the left is selling bananas and potatoes and evidently prefers a lie in in the morning. That is the Chorio clinic in the background.

Waiting for the Blue Star on Wednesday morning.  

There are still a few late season motor yachts around.

The departing Blue Star on Friday morning.  These big boats really dwarf the clock tower and surrounding buildings.

Symi is quite full at the moment and the water taxis are very busy. September has always been a popular month with the island's regular visitors and this year is no exception.

A flourishing vine on the Kali Strata.

Symi has been sweltering in a late season heatwave as the big dust storm that has affected Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon and Israel also pushed up temperatures in the south-east Aegean.  The wind direction should change this weekend, bringing some relief from the extreme heat and fine, all pervading dust.

The school year started today and when I went out to do some errands an hour or so ago local mothers were accompanying their children home from their first day at primary school.  Here on Symi, the island's schooling covers all ages from kindergarten to high school so children only have to leave home when they go on to college or university - one of the advantages of having a reasonably large permanent population (about 2600 people).  Many Greek islands have populations that can be counted in the hundreds rather than the thousands and young families are forced to go further afield to educate their children.

It has been a quiet week in terms of refugee arrivals. Dark nights mean fewer people risking making the crossing in inflatable boats and those who have arrived have been processed quite quickly and have already moved on to the next step of their journey.  We never know from one day to the next how many people may be arriving so we have to be prepared to cope at short notice with however many may arrive. The closest thing to advance notice is when refugees are spotted on the rocks around Symi and the coastguard goes to rescue them as at that point Solidarity Symi gets a call to say that so many people will be coming in in the next hour or so.  If you would like to donate to our winter collection, please click on http://www.everyclick.com/solidaritysymi/info  If you are on the island and would like to make a cash donation which goes to providing basic food, water and medicines for those in need, our collection boxes are at the Symi Visitor office, the Old Markets hotel and also at the refugee relief centre in the old post office by the police station and clock tower.

Still on the subject of refugees I was talking to someone in the office today who was under the misconception that when refugees arrive here their on-going journey is paid for by the Greek state. This is not the case.  The refugees must pay for their own ferry tickets on to Pireus and beyond.  All they get from the Greek government is the normal 'prison rations' for the 24 hours that they are effectively in detention on arrival and travel documents that enable them to travel legally through Greece within a restricted time frame.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Cruise Ships and Fuel Tankers - some August postcards from Symi

Salamis Filoxenia, a Cypriot cruise ship that is a common sight on Symi.  She was in Yialos on Thursday, bringing not just tourists but also pilgrims to visit Panormitis monastery.  They also stop in Patmos, another important site for religious tourism.

The fuel ship was in yesterday to resupply the fuel station.  As you can see, there is no truth in the rumour that there is no fuel for ferries or water taxis.   

Indeed the mini tanker was outside our office, topping up the water taxis and the excursion boats.

Calm seas and pretty pastels.

As we slip from summer to autumn we are seeing more cruising yachts coming through.  How can you identify a cruising yacht?  The bicycle is a give away!

There are still plenty of motor yachts but they are getting smaller.

Wild figs ripening by the side of the road in Lieni.

A typical late summer Symi view.

The newsagent in the harbour, near the bottom of the Kali Strata. We only get foreign press in the summer and they don't carry anything like as many magazines as they used to as so many tourists read their favourite magazines and papers on their tablets these days.  The cat actually belongs to the supermarket opposite but likes to hang out with his feathered friend.

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Solidarity Symi Friday Update

More than a hundred men, women and children of all ages (including a week old baby) arrived on Symi this morning and are now gathered around the police station, awaiting processing.  Our relief centre is in the old post office which adjoins the police station, to the left of the picture, behind the palm trees.  

Meanwhile yesterday's arrivals are now camping outside the coastguard/port police office, waiting for their travel documents so that they can take the ferry tonight to Pireus to continue their journey.  Here you can see Wendy Wilcox, one of the directors of Solidarity Symi, distributing fruit, water and biscuits to those who have not been able to buy breakfast in the harbour.  Cartons of milk were also given to the women and children.

Syrian men waiting outside the coastguard office in Yialos. The women and children are around the corner, sitting higher up the steps where they will have spent an uncomfortable night.  While Wendy and I were waiting for the breakfast supplies to arrive, I spoke to one young man.  He said that he was part of a group of 67 people who came over from Turkey in 2 inflatable boats this week.  The people traffickers charged them 2500 US dollars per person for the trip which took three and a half hours and was truly terrifying but, as he said, 'what choice do we have?'  

Look out for our emblem and our collection boxes at the Symi Visitor Accommodation office and the Old Markets hotel. Cash donations made on the island go towards providing daily necessities such as food, water and medicine.  Donations made on line at http://www.everyclick.com/solidaritysymi/info  will be used for more permanent assistance and infrastructure.  Donations of clothes, shoes,  sunhats, nappies, non-perishable food, toiletries, ruck sacks, sleeping bags and toys can be handed in at the relief centre at the old post office by the clock tower between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.  If you can also give the gift of time, please call Wendy on +30 6945 822 896 to schedule a shift!

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Solidarity Symi - Extending A Helping Hand

This is the logo for Solidarity Symi, a new charity initiative which was launched on Symi last week to help the many hundreds of Syrian and Iraqi refugees currently arriving on our shores as they flee the fighting in their home towns and seek safety for the children.

Please look out for our collection boxes.  Even a small donation can add up to a big difference in someone's life.

One of the first things organised by Solidarity Symi was to get permission to use the old post office adjoining the police station as a store room and distribution point for donations of food and clothing for the refugees.  Toilets are also being fitted as currently everyone is using the one and only toilet at the police station.

Some have one bag to hold all their worldly possessions, others have lost whatever they had in the long journey from the war zone, across Turkey and then by sea in flimsy boats to Symi.

Dispensing fruit, biscuits and water.  Tourists and locals alike have been generous in their donations but feeding hundreds of hungry mouths means that crates of fruit, water and other essentials that don't require cooking are always welcome. Fresh fruit is particularly necessary for the many children in the group.

Trying on a sunhat.  There is little shade in Yialos in the middle of the day and if you are a refugee, where do you go to pass the time until you can get onto a ferry and continue your journey?  While the more affluent sit in coffee shops and make plans, those for whom even a cup of coffee is a luxury sit and wait on steps until destiny determines the next step in their lives.  As the ferries are so full at this time of the year many people have a long wait ahead, even though their paperwork has been processed and they are allowed to proceed with their journey.

The volunteers from Solidarity Symi are sorting all donations as they come in and distributing them according to the needs of each family so that everyone is treated fairly.  Families write down what they need and then a representative comes up with the list which is then compiled by whoever is on duty. The relief centre is open from 7 in the morning until 9 at night.  If you are on the island and have a little time to spare, you can contact Wendy or Andy to make a time to help out.  If you want to contribute any clothing, mens swimming shorts/boxers, long sleeved women's clothes that are quite modest and children's clothes are particularly welcome.  The reason for the swimming shorts is because in the absence of adequate shower facilities, the men go and swim in the sea to clean up.

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August Panagia Holiday 2015

Some of the motor yachts at this time of the year are the size of small ferries.

I wonder what the refugees waiting in line on the verandah of the police station (the white Italian villa on the corner) think of it all.  From war zone to refugee camp to long overland journey on foot and in trucks, then the dangerous journey across in an overloaded inflatable boat - it must all seem somewhat surreal to then be confronted by the obvious affluence of the megayachts visiting Symi in the summer. 

This big blue yacht has been in Symi all week.

Thursday afternoon, looking down from the area of Charitomeni restaurant.

Early morning and there's that blue yacht again. The sun is just catching the monastery on Nimos, an island separated from Symi by a very narrow and shallow channel of water.  Nimos is a barren place populated by flocks of goats.

The Panagia Skiadeni, our current daily connection between Symi and Rhodes.  Look at those bougainvilleas among the houses behind.

Excursion boats, fishing boats, yacht tenders, yachts both sail and power - Yialos is a busy place in August.

The Symi branch of the National Bank of Greece (Ethniki).  The ATM is just inside the entrance and we once again remind visitors that it is only Greek account holders who are restricted to 60 euros per day (420 euros per week).  Visitors and foreign account holders can make withdrawals up to their usual daily limits.

Steps in Chorio.  Look at how the ochre ones change direction.

A touch of the exotic - lantana on the Kali Strata

The first fortnight of August is traditionally the busiest period in tourism in Greek. This year is rather quieter than usual as so few Greeks are able to take their summer family holidays but Symi is still bustling.  When I come down the Kali Strata in the mornings, visitors from yachts are toiling up, cameras in hand, to look at the mansions and examine the architecture for which Symi is famous.  When I reach the bottom, the grocers, supermarkets and bakeries are full of liveried yacht crews, picking up fresh bread and other provisions for breakfast on board.  Most food-related outlets open at 7 or thereabouts at this time of the year to catch the lucrative yachting trade.

The evenings are not as busy as they usually are for this time of the year and the tavernas and bars are quieter than usual, with fewer customers.  There was traditional dancing in the town square in Yialos last night and there is a recital at the clock tower tonight.  There will be the usual late night festivities at the Alethini on the Pedi road to celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin.  Various posters are up around the town, advertising the different events.

We have been getting a lot of last minute enquiries for late August, September and October bookings so not everyone has been deterred by the hyperbole in the media regarding the situation in Kos and various other related Greek dramas. Please remember, sensationalism sells papers and draws television viewers.  No one is going around interviewing happy holiday makers lying on the beach at Nanou or eating an elegant lunch at Agia Marina because that isn't exciting or dramatic and doesn't reinforce preconceived agendas.  Please feel free to email us if you have any questions about what life is really like on Symi right now.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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July Postcards from Symi

Heading down the Kali Strata in the early morning, a small ginger cat preceding me.

A cool hammock for an early morning nap, the Chrysalis cat likes his breezy spot on the bamboo.

Essential supplies at a taverna door - garlic, lemons, aubergines and cucumbers.

Unravelling anchors in Yialos.

The Blue Star ferry, a 3 masted schooner, a gulet and a miscellany of power boats - there is always something different coming or going in Yialos at this time of the year.

Motor yachts facing off in the harbour.

A picturesque Turkish vaporetto-style wooden motor yacht lies alongside the Panagia Skiadeni on Thursday morning.

Symi is famous for its many steps, particularly in the harbour area where the houses are built into the cliffs. This distinctive flight is next to the war memorial.  

Hand made leather goods, sponges, pumice and other unique gifts for sale along the harbour front in Yialos.

Sunhats, sunhats...

...and yet more sunhats.  There is no need to squeeze sunhats into your luggage when there is such a good range available for sale locally.  

July sizzles to a hot and humid close with temperatures in the forties and high humidity.  It is the season for hot summer nights with live music, dancing and other diversions to take our minds off the heat. There was a successful rock concert by a local band in the Chorio square last night. There is an event on the quay in Pedi this evening, on Sunday night there is the Symi Shrimp festival in the square in Chorio from 9 p.m.  This annual event is organised every year by the Symi Women's Association and involves plentiful sauteed shrimps, Greek wine and traditional dancing in the square. The Sunday evening film show has been shifted to Monday so that everyone can attend both if they wish.  Most events are free and everyone is welcome to attend.

We are heading into the busiest time of the year now, with lots of arrivals coming into the island this weekend as the first two weeks of August are official holiday time in many Mediterranean countries including Italy, Cyprus and France as well as Greece.  We have lots of Turkish visitors on the island too as well as various Scandinavians and long haul visitors from America, Australia and South Africa.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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