Almond Blossoms and a Brief History Lesson

Wendy took this photograph of Pedi recently while walking Sandouri.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Symi, the bump in the middle of the photograph is the Kastro, where the |Knights of St John built a castle.  There was an even older fortification and church up there before that.  The old medieval town was clustered around its walls.  There wasn't much left of the castle  when the Germans used it as a munitions store during the Second World War and blew it up in the retreat, destroying many of the surrounding houses in the process.  The sprawl of buildings up the slopes of the Vigla to the left of the Kastro is a very old part of Chorio, around Agia Trianda church.  The original access to this ancient area of habitation was a footpath running from the back of Yialos, the neo-classical harbour, up behind the Kastro to Chorio.  It still exists and is referred to as the Kataraktis (Cataract) as it runs up the side of a deep gorge - part of the convergence of water courses that floods the harbour in winter downpours. The green belt between the sea and the houses is the Pedi valley, once a major fruit and wine producing area on the island.

Grey skies seem to be dominant at the moment as southerly winds bring haze and dust.  Yesterday's southerly was so strong there was a shipping ban and even Rhodes airport was closed for a while.  Things are a lot calmer today and it looks as though we have a hazy, possibly drizzly, mildly windy week ahead with temperatures around 18 degrees. 

Now that the summer ferry schedules have been released by Dodecanese Seaways and Blue Star Ferries people are seriously planning their holidays.  For flight tips, check Andy's travel blog.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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On a Cold Friday in December

Over the hills and far away... my camera  is not quite good enough to pick it up but there is snow on a mountain peak just to the right of the highest peak visible on the left on the Turkish coast.

The northerly gales  have brought some extraordinary cloud formations.

These are the skies that summer visitors to Symi seldom see.

The bottom of the Kali Strata.  That cardboard box is serving a useful purpose.

I am not sure how many Symi cats are living in there but I didn't want to disturb them on a bitterly cold morning to find out!

Still life with yellow plastic tablecloth.

Potatoes!

In a garden down in Pedi

A classical face on a crumbling house in Chorio.

Christmas kitsch in Chorio.  Yes, that is a lifesize replica Santa playing a plastic saxophone!

The idyll is over.  Heavy rain and thunderstorms on Tuesday turned into plunging temperatures and gale force northerly winds by Thursday and Symi is in single figures today.  Showers and  more thunderstorms are forecast for the weekend so unfortunately we will have to leave the webcam unplugged when we are not in the office.

There are very few people about on the streets as there isn't much to do on Symi at this time of the year.  A  handful of men are in those coffee shops that are still open but that is about it.  Everyone is tucked up indoors out of the wind and that is what I will be doing soon myself!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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The End of November

The view from Symi Visitor Accommodation on Monday morning - grey, blustery and extreme rain forecast.  Winter has been a long time coming but it looks as though it is finally going to hit us this week.

Sunday was dry and bright and everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the last good drying day for a while to get the washing done.  I walked down to Pedi in a haze of Marseilles soap and lavender fabric softener.

Wild crocuses on the Pedi road.

Fallen olives.

The carpenter by the power station is growing some fine looking cabbages.

Washday on the sunny side of the bay.

Reflections

Bijou waterfront residence with roof garden.

This cave on the hillside could use a little work.

Wind and solar power.

This cave, on the other hand, has been fully optimised and even has a fire place.

Fishing boats large and small.

In the summer this is a tourist beach.  In the winter boats are dragged up the beaches, just as they were in Homeric times.

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Pedi in December

Watch the birdy!  Spotted at the fuel station on the Pedi road.

The big caique at the Haskas boatyard in Pedi is nearing completion.  This is the only wooden boatyard left on the island of what was once a thriving industry spanning many centuries.  Although they now have the benefits of power tools, the wood still arrives as undressed logs which are then cleaned up by hand with an adze before being planed into planks.

All packed up for the winter.

The beach is covered with boats and the plants have been dragged into a sheltered spot, out of the prevailing winds.

Good bye, sunbeds and sunshades, hello boats on chocks.

Pedi is as quiet as Yialos at this time of the year.  This is a Turkish excursion boat that was used by people traffickers and came all the way from Gocek near Fethiye on the Turkish coast.

Maria, the water boat from Rhodes. As Symi has no natural water supply, the community's water comes either from the small desalination plant on the Pedi road or by ship from Rhodes.   This is why you won't find villas with pools on Symi.  Mind you, with a sea that looks like this, who needs a pool?

Pedi Bay.

The back half of this old wooden boat  has been turned into outdoor seating.

High on a rocky outcrop on the road to the boat yard  in Pedi, this small clump of crocus has managed to find enough soil to survive.

Do you ever wonder what your favourite beach looks like when you aren't there?  Pedi bay is a small fishing village and seaside 'resort' in the most uncommercial sense of the word.  There are two tavernas, two small shops and a fuel station, one modest hotel and a few seasonal holiday lets.  In December, when the tourists have gone and the tavernas and hotel are closed, Pedi becomes very quiet indeed, as you can see from these photographs. Some of the families that live down there in the summer move up the hill to Chorio for the winter as it is so quiet and isolated.  The last bus from Pedi is at 7.30 in the evening at the moment - not that there is much open in either Chorio and Yialos to tempt evening outings anyway.

Temperatures are around 19 degrees at  midday and 11 degrees at night this week and the air smells vaguely of wood smoke as people are lighting fires in the evening to keep the chill at bay. The weather is expected to break at the end of the week with the possibility of some showers. At the moment there are no strong winds forecast and it is exceptionally mild and settled for the time of year.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Rosy Fingered Dawn

A bustling morning in Yialos.  There is a cruise ship lying off Nimborio at the moment and the guests are being brought ashore in the lighters such as the one on the right.

Taxi boats heading for the beaches.

The downstairs of this building is a carpenter's workshop but upstairs, which was a merchant's office, has been boarded up for years since the old man died.

Before the advent of modern paints the houses were repainted every year with whitewash (asvesti), tinted with different pigments at the whim of the householder.  As the years weather it away again, a kaleidoscope of different colours emerges, creating this lovely effect.  Much more picturesque than peeling emulsion!

Most of the ruins on the Kali Strata have been restored in recent years but these two remain to capture the imagination.

A scrap of a kitten in Lieni.  Symi, like many places in Greece, has a flourishing feral cat population.  In the summer there is plenty of food around but pickings are leaner in the winter and that is when Symi Animal Welfare's admirable feeding scheme comes into play.  If you have any loose change when you pop into our office, please put it into the collection box on my desk.  Volunteers feed the cats several times a week at various feeding stations around the island throughout the winter so even when there is nothing to be found in the bins there is still something to keep them going.

The early morning sun creeping over hill at Milos.  That is the vast roof of the new undercover sports'facility in the foreground.

Homer's rosy-fingered dawn touching Pedi bay.

The equinox has passed and in theory it is now autumn.  Temperatures are still mild as the wind has now swung to the south, the direction from which our rain comes, and thunder showers are forecast for the weekend.  The hunting season has started and men on bikes with dogs riding pillion are heading up the mountain in droves to shoot partridge and quail.

The Panagia Skiadeni is still out of commission and Dodecanese Seaways are issuing schedules on a weekly basis at the moment. The on line schedule is not often updated to reflect new developments which can be very confusing but the on line ticket sales system seems to be up to date so it is best to check there.  If you prebook your tickets on line and there is any change the shipping company will then notify you.  Andy is doing his best to post regular updates on his travel blog whenever new information becomes available and we also post updates on our Symi Visitor Accommodation Facebook page.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Perfectly Polished

Unlike his ancient and battered cousins in Yialos which I photographed last week, this proud lion on the Kali Strata is kept perfectly polished.

Flowering cactus near the Gymnasium, the high school.

Stripes at the Pantheon pension on the Kali Strata.

Honeysuckle and jasmine in fragrant harmony.

The newsagent next to Symi Flower and opposite the bakery at the bottom of the Kali Strata. Limited foreign press is available in a wide range of languages in the summer.  In the winter we only have Greek newspapers, often several days old due to the infrequent ferries.  This is also the shop to go to for good quality maps.

This fast food outlet went out of business and became a carpenter's shop long before I arrived in 1993.  The signs linger on as a reminder that Symi just doesn't 'do' fast food.  The gyros bars in the harbour are all traditional places providing good value for money without resorting to brash plastic signage to advertise their wares.

The fuel ship docked at the clock tower in Yialos on Thursday morning.   It is too big to dock at the bunkering jetty by the fuel station so the fuel is transported by road tankers round the harbour - quite a slow process. The anchorage behind is the area called Harani.  NOS beach is just round the corner on the right, where the large white motor yacht is anchored.

The old white horse is slowly munching his way round the Pedi Valley.

Today's sunrise over Pedi Bay with the mountains of Turkey in the background.

It is a hot and hazy day with some feathery shreds of high cloud.  Temperatures are in the mid to high thirties and we are very glad that the air conditioning at the office is now working!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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