New Exhibition Opening at the Symi Gallery Tonight 1 August 2104

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The Many Faces of Symi

The Symi Visitor Accommodation office has two balconies. This is part of the view from the one over the lane.  The little sphinx on the roof next door has had a facelift now that the Stani Patisserie has moved in and restored the building.

Unravelling anchors in the middle of Yialos - a common sight.

The first rains have not arrived yet but the pale autumn crocuses are already pushing their way  through the sun-baked fields of the Pedi Valley.

Over the hills and far away.  The Pedi valley at dawn.

The pelargoniums are struggling back into life after the searing heat of summer.

The crocus field a few days later. If you look carefully you can see the  ghostly spires of squills.

The castro in the early morning sunshine.  Where the white and blue church now stands there was once a  castle, built by the Knights of St John.  The massive stone walls are all that remains.  Food for fantasy.

Everything on Symi is ever so slightly wonky.
The  little twirly things are  latches for holding back the shutters of the adjacent windows.

One of the remaining unrestored mansions on the Kali Strata.  The wood is long gone from the balcony but the brackets and the fastenings are still there to remind us of what used to be there.

The Blue Star Diagoras defied the general strike on Wednesday 26 September and came through Symi bang on time.

Thursday morning's cruise ship, the Orient Queen.

September is drawing to a close but the Symi remains busy. The weather forecast for the next 10 days is dry, hot and sunny and comparing notes with other accommodation agencies, it seems that Symi will be quite busy for the first two-three weeks of October.  It is good to know that so many people have not been discouraged by the negative publicity in the overseas media and have chosen to support Greece as a holiday destination.

The bus came back on the Proteus yesterday and normal service has resumed.

There is a fund-raising event for the Ομάδα Στήριξης Προσφύγων & Μεταναστών Σύμης 
Refugee Support Group of Symi taking place at the Symi Gallery this evening at 8 p.m  James Collins will be playing the piano and various other local musicians, both expat and Greek, will be taking part.  Everyone is welcome to attend and participate in this worthwhile cause.  For a statement of what the support group is all about please see James' recent blog posting.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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You Can Take a Horse to Water...

... but you can't make it swim!

Spotted in Nimborio recently cooling off on a hot September afternoon.
This riding horse used to be a police horse on Rhodes until it suffered an injury while jumping a fence.  It has now been acquired by the Antoniades family as a riding horse.  Horses are quite unusual on Symi.  We see plenty of donkeys, mules and pack ponies carrying loads up and down the island's many steps but a horse for the sheer pleasure of owning and riding such a beautiful beast is a rare thing on the island.

Yanni Antoniades and canine friend giving the horse a splash bath to cool off.

Horses usually enjoy a swim but this one had other ideas :-)

Photographs by Nicholas Shum

Still on the subject of transport but on a more practical level, Dodecanese Seaways have finally filled in the gaps in the September ferry schedule which can be found on www.12ne.gr/en and it is now possible to book tickets for Wednesday 19 September and Wednesday 26 September.

Another piece of good news is that local photographer, Jordan Blakesley, has had his photographs featured in the on line edition of the British daily newspaper, the Telegraph.  Jordan's work is currently on exhibition and for sale at the Symi Gallery on the Kali Strata in Chorio.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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The Joys of Spring - My Walk to Work

The wild hollyhocks are in flower.  The recent strong winds have knocked their spires into various crazy angles but they are still delightful.  My little Olympus camera does not really do the color justice - a voluptuous satiny pink.

A defiant clump of poppies, hanging on despite the rising temperatures. With midday peaks around 30 degrees the flowers don't last very long.

Looking across to the windmills from Lieni, Symi is still predominantly green.  The dust of summer has yet to settle on all those shiny new leaves.

Clumps of daisies, plumes of grass. 

Symi is famous for its beautiful neo-classical architecture. While the houses seem quite uniform at first, close attention reveals all sorts of little details, like this carefully cut stone work above a doorway on the Kali Strata.

Or this eye on a pediment, also on the Kali Strata.  In this part of the world, houses and boats are often marked with eyes to protect them from evil.

The fascinating staircase leading to the current home of the peripatetic Symi Gallery.  Gallery events are advertised on their Facebook page and you can see more work by Ian Haycox on his website.

Two beautifully restored mansions on the Kali Strata.  Symi is so steep that very few properties have gardens and those that there are are usually full of useful things like lemons and oranges, as is the case with these two.

It is such a bright and cheerful time of the year here on Symi.  The sun is shining, there are people about, everything is growing and looks fresh and perky - only the most determined pessimist could be gloomy in such circumstances.  That said, this was the quietest election I have ever experienced on Symi.  Usually Pasok heartland, there was no reason for dynamite and victory toots last night.  Coming in third was a definite shock to moral and there was a lot of discussion going on in the cafeneions and lanes this morning.  New Democracy, who won by a very slender majority, have 3 days in which to create a coalition government.  If they fail, there will be another election.  For tourists this will have little impact, except that those coming to Greece from outside the Eurozone may well benefit from the fact that the value of the euro has dropped slightly on the results of both the French and the Greek elections.

Tomorrow is VE Day, a local public holiday.  If you are on Symi, come down to the harbour and enjoy the annual parade.  If you aren't on Symi, photographs of the parade will be on the Symi Dream site as they will be covering the parade as usual.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

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