A Drizzly Day on Symi in February

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office this morning.

Yes, we do get fresh cauliflowers and celery on Symi.  They are winter crops in this part of the world.  No one has to teach the Greeks to eat in season - they always have done.  It has only been relatively recently that we have been able to reliably buy tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines in the winter. They come from poly tunnels in Rhodes and Crete.  The usual Greek salad in tavernas in the winter is actually a green salad based on Kos lettuce and various wild greens and herbs not available in the summer.

Low cloud rolling down the Vigla warns of more rain to come.  That is the bell tower of St John's church in Yialos. The buildings on the hill behind are in one of the oldest parts of upper Chorio, dating back to when the donkey path up the Kataraktis was the main route up to the village.

The view from the bridge in Yialos. The water level is very low due to a barometric high over the area.  The water, which used to be very clear, is still discoloured by all the soil that washed into the harbour in the flood on 13 November 2017.  At least the sunken boats and wrecked cars have all been removed.  There are still odd chair legs and bits of bicycle sticking out of the silt though. Further up, in the upper parts of Chorio around Stavros Church, work has not even begun on rebuilding the destruction that the torrents caused and for many Symiots and expat residents it will be a long time before life returns to normal.. The Pedi valley and the football pitch are still awaiting attention too.

The slip by the customs house this morning.  With the low water level today this marvellous green carpet of weed has been revealed.  No doubt incredibly slippery.

As you may have gathered, there isn't much for men to do on Symi in the winter except fish or chat to friends who are fishermen.  In the summer those blue booths are the ticket counters for the water taxis to the beaches.

Empty vistas.

One can always feed the pigeons.

Symi is a very vertical sort of place.  The steep slopes of the amphitheatre harbour look like a hanging garden. That is an almond tree among the conifers, unfurling its spring greenery as the blossom falls.

Lemonitissa church on the Kastro overshadows Pallas Athena on one of the island's oldest jewellery shops.

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February Postcards from Symi

Houses on Symi are generally not very big but even by Symi standards this one is exceptionally narrow.  I sometimes what what the story is behind it.  It is very surrounded by what were commercial properties in the island's commercial boom period at the end of the 19th century. The boutique hotel, the Old Markets, is just up those steps to the right and is tucked behind the buildings to left and right.  That archway you can see was the old covered souk. If you continue up to the right you are on the historic Kali Strata steps.

Another small but intriguing building at the bottom of the Kali Strata houses the Krysallis boutique in the summer.  The cats snooze on the bamboo all year round.

Looking through the ruins of one of the old mansions on the Kali Strata at the steep hillside that forms the other side of Symi's famous amphitheatre harbour.

In the summer Symi's waterfront bustles with shops, cafes, bars, tavernas, yachts and gulets.  In the quiet weeks of winter there is little to disturb the peace except the weather and an occasional passing ferry.

A stray Kos lettuce sprouting between the flag stones on the Kali Strata.

There is not much point in spending many man hours weeding the old paving stones until the rain has passed and the first tourists arrive sometime in April. At this time of the year the stuff grows before your eyes.

The view of Yialos, Harani and Nimos from my favourite look out spot at the bend in the Kali Strata. The calm before the storm.  We have a week of rain and thunderstorms ahead of us.

Up in the wilds of Lieni the free range poultry and feral cats live in happy co-existence, sharing the spoils of the skip on the corner between them.  There seems to be a serious preponderance of cockerels hanging out.  By the way, although this is quite a busy road and a fairly dangerous corner, everyone slows down to let the cats and chickens meander across the road at whim.  The poultry have their roost in a scrubby bush on the other side of the road so a fair amount of 'chicken crossing road' goes on, as you may imagine.

Wild cyclamens are everywhere now, scenting the air with a very delicate fragrance.

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Rumours of Rain

A marble profile of a Hellenic Hermes looks out on the Kali Strata.  Random fragments of Symi's antiquity have been recycled into all sorts of more recent structures.  The same areas of Symi have been in continuous occupation for centuries with the result that there are no perfectly preserved or abandoned ruined ancient sites as is the case in other areas where populations moved on to other locations.  Instead the stones were constantly reused and recreated, building new on top of old using whatever was to hand.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office as the Dodecanese Seaways catamaran passed through this morning, en route to Kos and points north.  Now that they have scaled back the schedule, this boat no longer comes through every day so always check the timetable in advance.  Otherwise you may find yourself in Halki instead of Symi!

A motor yacht pretending to be a trawler.  We have also seen motor yachts pretending to be battle ships and steamers.

Chorio cats.

The bougainvilleas are still putting on a brave show. 

Looking across towards Yialos from the clock tower, towards the bus stop and the Kastro (Acropolis) with Lemonitissa church looming over the harbour.  The famous Kali Strata steps start in the back of the harbour, a little to the right of the red-hulled yacht, and pass diagonally across that hillside. The point where I often stop to take my photographs of the harbour is just in front of the building on the top left side of the ridge in the photograph, where the Kali Strata makes a hard right turn, up towards the centre of Chorio.

Colour co-ordinated laundry in the harbour.

A luxury catamaran pretending to be a battle ship.

Pedi in the autumn sun.

Chorio chickens crossing the road.  What you can't see in these photographs are a rooster and a young tabby cat, both hiding in the bushes on the right.  The chickens joined the rooster in the bushes and the cat ignored them all.

It is a bright clear October day with a fresh breeze and lots of sunshine.  Temperatures are in the mid twenties and it is lovely in the sun.  This idyllic picture may be misleading because every forecast for the region is telling us that rain and thunderstorms are going to reach us at some point tonight and will only clear sometime on Sunday.  Even the BBC gave the Greek islands a mention in the weather bulletin this morning.

There is the happy buzz of conversation coming up from Pachos, the traditional Greek cafeneion downstairs.  It is has been a popular meeting place for decades, particularly if you prefer more traditional refreshments such as Greek coffee, frappes, Greek beer and wine by the carafe.  There are fancier establishments along the waterfront, with designer chairs and designer coffees but Pachos has served traditional drinks to Symiots and visitors since the war.

Have a good weekend.  You might be seeing some Symi rain photos on Monday!

Regards,
Adriana

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August Postcards from Symi

Wild capers are among the very few plants that can withstand the searing heat  and drought  f a Symi summer.  

Sunrise over Asia Minor as seen from the top of the Pedi valley. Up until a century ago, those hills were farmed by Greek families and the produce brought across to Symi for milling and marketing.  Now those hills and mountains are Turkish but old abandoned Greek settlements can still be seen if you know where to look, particularly around Fethiye.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office earlier this week, the trusty Cypriot Salamis Filoxenia.

The Pedi valley was once the island's agricultural heartland.  Now native trees such as kermes oaks are reclaiming the land and slowly turning much of it back to woodland.

Hidden high up in one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Chorio you will find theSymi Archaeological Museum.  Recently refurbished, the main part of the museum is now open every day except Mondays, from 10-2.  Apparently the adjoining Hellenistic Antiquities Museum and Hatziagapitos House will be open to the public from the end of August.  Admittance is free.

The view from the terrace of the museum, looking across to the Kastro (Acropolis).  Originally the most densely populated part of Chorio, much of this neighbourhood was destroyed when the castle was blown up by the retreating Germans during the Second World War.  You can see parts of the old fortifications in the photograph.

Grapes ripening in the museum grounds.  As it is the old Farmakides mansion there are grape vines and citrus trees in the walled garden.

The lanes of Chorio old town are narrow, designed to confuse pirates and slow down any marauders.  Symi has no tradition of wheeled traffic - the terrain is too steep for that - so the only alternative to walking was donkeys.

Brilliant bougainvillea and plumbago light up an old stone wall near the museum.

Grapes don't need much attention.  This house has been deserted ever since I can remember but look at those trusses of sweet fruit!  In the days before sponges, Symi, like Samos, used to produce a sweet muscadel-type wine.

Every so often the lanes open out into a wider space, letting air into the labyrinth and providing an area for people to sit out with their friends and family from adjoining houses on hot summer evenings.

Snapped on my walk to work this morning, this truckload of hay rattled past me just after the Blue Star docked.

Donkeys, mules and ponies are still an essential part of life on Symi, particularly for the building industry as very few properties on the island have close vehicle access.  You can see a couple of foals in this photograph. They accompany the older animals, learning the routes up and down the Kali Strata and around the lanes and alleys of Chorio.  They aren't given anything to carry until they are much older and stronger.

Steps, balconies and stones polished by centuries of feet.

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Wind and Wood Smoke

A cold and choppy sea.

It was so rough this morning that the Blue Star Patmos did not stop, leaving lots of frustrated travelers fuming on the dock.

Pigeons may have small brains but they are certainly sensible.  This cornice on the National Bank is a nice warm sunny spot, out of the wind!

It may be a bit bumpy in the  harbour today but in the winter, when there are few boats and all the tourist trappings are packed away, the view of Symi's distinctive neo-classical architecture is unobstructed. That long stone building with the light green woodwork in the middle of this photograph is the highly-acclaimed Old Markets hotel.

The bus stop in Yialos.  The blue bus is the one that serves Panormitis monastery. Conspicuous by its absence is the yellow bus which serves the Yialos-Chorio-Pedi route as it is still away for maintenance.  Those cubes on the quay to the right are pallets of stone flags, similar to the ones already laid around the centre of the harbour, so we can expect a continuation of the paving project in the near future.  The ramp at the far left leads to the high school, the upper section of the Kali Strata and Chorio. 

It is not just the architectural detail that  is revealed when the sunhats and beach towels are packed away.  Walking back from the ATM at the Alpha bank this morning I noticed that this tourist shop is using an Easter themed plastic table cloth (plastic table cloths are sold by the metre in Greece) as a partition.  The other side is rather more sophisticated wood paneling as it is a posh boutique.

Breakfast for some of the street cats of Yialos. Symi Animal Welfare and various dedicated locals look after the various cat colonies in Yialos, Chorio and Pedi during the winter when taverna pickings are lean.  The shiny bag on the left seems to have shoes in it and has probably blown off the table so this is not a Symi interpretation of  the fairy story, 'Puss in Boots'!

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office this morning.  It is not particularly obvious but the boats are all rolling in the swell.

Work has started on the new road from the new commercial harbour.  Apparently it will curve around the hill and join the existing road just beyond the bend at the top, where you can see that blue tanker parked. When the harbour is completed, the big boats will dock there instead of by the clock tower and heavy vehicles will go up the new road and over the hill to the Pedi road where all the warehouses are, significantly cutting down on heavy traffic passing along the waterfront in Yialos.  

It is a cold, clear and windy day on Symi.  Temperatures are not expect to rise above 6 degrees centigrade today and with the wind chill it is actually only just above freezing.  Water froze in exposed places overnight and there was ice on the mountain.  Tonight is expected to be even colder. When I venture out of the office I can smell wood smoke from all directions as there are cast iron wood burners in several of the surrounding businesses and homes.

The Blue Star was unable to dock in Symi this morning.  Regular readers of this blog will remember that this was often the case in the days of the Diagoras (now ploughing the waves between Morocco and the Canary Islands) but it is unusual for the more modern Patmos with its sophisticated bow thrusters and more efficient underwater profile to chicken out. We hope she can dock on the way back from Rhodes tonight as this is the island's supply line for post, food, fresh produce etcetera and the next vehicle connection with Rhodes is next Wednesday! The Dodecanese Seaways catamaran should come through tomorrow en route to Kos but this only has limited vehicle and freight capacity and doesn't have the height to take trucks and vans.

Have a warm weekend wherever you are.  It is now less than two months to the spring equinox!

Regards,
Adriana

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