Adriana's Symi-a Greek island diary: Symi in the Second World War

The Taxiarchis hotel in Chorio, surrounded by a sea of daisies.

A eucalyptus tree grows out of dry stone wall on the Pedi road.

New leaves.

Drifts of wild cyclamens catch the light in the Pedi valley.

Spring magic in the Pedi valley.

Many of the old houses have planters in the top of the courtyard wall. This house has been empty for ages, ever since I have been on Symi, but the freesias come up every year.

A Second World War souvenir in Pedi. It may be peaceful now but Symi saw some fierce fighting during the war and the island changed hands several times.

This little chapel on the southern shore of Pedi bay sits atop a fresh water spring which bubbles into the sea at that point. In the old days the housewives of Symi used to come down to do their laundry on the flat stones. Now most people have washing machines but even 25 years ago, when I first came to Symi, most laundry was done by hand or in a very basic stainless steel drum which one filled with a bucket and plugged in to activate an agitator in the bottom.

St Nicholas beach on a sunny day in March. Everything is closed up still for the winter and we took our own picnic. The beaches on Symi don't start to open up until late May or even early June, depending on how many people are around.

Wild lilies growing among the rocks above St Nicholas.

The steps down to the beach.

After a week of heavy rain, we have had some lovely bright days and Symi is drying out again. As you can see from the photographs, the wild flowers are quite spectacular this year. I don't think I have ever seen such an abundant display of wild cyclamens in the valley.

I am having some camera problems at the moment. The focus on my own camera has become erratic after about 4 years of constant use. A friend loaned me her camera which is what I used to take the pictures above. It is a lovely camera but unfortunately there are two tiny scratches, right in the middle of the lense, which show up as two elliptical dark shadows in the middle of any landscape shots, making my views of Symi appear to feature UFOs. Not appropriate for blog purposes! I had a look in Rhodes yesterday but as so many people depend on their smartphones for photographs these days, the shops don't carry much in the way of cameras anymore. As my needs are fairly specific, I prefer to see something and handle it before buying to make sure that I can see the screen easily and that the controls aren't too twiddly so ordering sight unseen on line is not for me. This could take a while!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

Watching the soldiers marching past on VE Day, I wondered who stood on this balcony during the Second World War and watched Allied and Axis troops march past as the island passed through the hands of various occupying forces.

Just before the main deluge on Tuesday morning. That is the water ship lying alongside the clock tower.

A small fishing boat in Yialoswww.symivisitor.com in the lashing rain.

A radiant orange fisherman.

The Panagia Skiadeni and the water boat in the rain on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning sunshine with the Blue Star Diagoras and a couple of departing yachts.

A gypsy hawking strings of garlic this morning.

The Diagoras excursion boat and one of the water taxis berthed in Yialos this morning. They haven't started operating yet for the season but more of the commercial boats are being launched. They should receive their licenses and insurance soon for the season.

Alas, Mr Drake is on his own these days. I haven't seen his partner for at least a week and he wanders disconsolately up and down the harbour, calling for her.

Fishing nets on the quay near the customs house.

Pedi bay on Wednesday afternoon. My camera isn't quite good enough for you to be able to see the white sails of yachts over towards the Turkish shore. By this time the water ship was tied up in Pedi.

The flowers are opening on the rigani bushes. Oregano, Sage and Thyme grow wild on the hills of Symi, perfuming the summer air and making hikers hungry.