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, 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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Dry and Chilly

Off loading gas bottles at the fuel station.

Looking across at the works on the new commercial boat jetty by the fuel station from the balcony of the Symi Visitor Accommodation office.  That scar on the hill behind is the only motor road out of Yialos, connecting the harbour with Chorio, Pedi and the rest of the island. This is the vehicle alternative to the Kali Strata steps.

Manos fish taverna is still in winter mode, i.e. closed, but the restaurant next door is open all year round.

The tourist shops aren't open yet but work has started on painting shop-fittings and so on.  Some places may open to a limited extent for Greek Easter but there isn't much point in opening fully until there are more people around and the day boats start to come over from Rhodes which will be sometime in late April.

Stavro giving one of the wine shops a spring facelift.

Wild cyclamens growing out of the rock face behind the bus stop in Yialos.  They have a very delicate scent.

Looking down at the clock tower and Harani from the top corner of the Kali Strata, above the high school.  The island of Nimos with its small monastery is visible on the right.  That lush vegetation in the foreground is an eruption of wild alexanders, very sweet-scented members of the carrot family that flower at this time of the year.

Bird activity on the Kali Strata.

Showing off his best side, a Chorio cat contemplates some castor oil plants. The house in the background is in fact occupied, despite its somewhat dilapidated appearance.

The landmark oak in Lieni is now covered with pollen-laden tassels and is a-hum with bees.

More alexanders.  They grow to quite impressive proportions, only to vanish completely in a few weeks, leaving just a few broken brown stalks.

It is fairly overcast on Symi today so not much good for watching the eclipse, alas.  Temperatures have taken a dive.  It is only about 13 degrees now at midday and will fall to 8 or 9 degrees centigrade tonight.  It may be the spring equinox but we have a way to go yet before we can pack away our winter woollies.  The weekend will be dry and chilly with strong northerly winds tomorrow.

Dodecanese Seaways have now posted the ferry schedule up to 19 April, the weekend after Greek Easter, on their website so on line booking for those dates has opened.  For ferry information for later in the season it is still necessary to consult the PDF on their website.  There has been no further information so far about reinstating the Thursday connection from Rhodes to Symi in May and June but as soon as we hear anything we will put it up on Andy's Symi Travel Blog as well as on our Symi Visitor Accommodation Facebook page and, of course, in my blog.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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