March Postcards from Symi

Another cyclamen shot - because in a few short weeks they will be gone as though they have never been and the landscape will revert to the baked bare earth of summer. Let us revel in this verdant and fragrant abundance while we may.

Poppies are another spring flower seen in abundance in Greece from late March until early May, depending on the rains.

6 a.m. sunrise over Pedi bay.

One of the ruins on the Kali Strata is now sporting this impressive riveted steel door.

 A delicate fern growing out of an old grape vine on the Kali Strata.

Waiting for tidbits outside the butcher in Yialos.

Good Friday is only a fortnight away and some of the traditional Easter items are for sale in the shops.  Beautifully decorated prcessional candles are popular.  Originally decorated with religious motifs, they now have all sorts of decorations on them, both religious and secular.  

Symi isn't really cycling country unless you are very fit and have a good mountain bike.  These bikers must have arrived on the Blue Star this morning.

31 March and Yialos is still empty.

The water level is very low due to a barometric high over the area and the cats like to hang about on the exposed foundations of the bridge, batting at the fish and hunting for any scraps of bread.

The day's catch, on display at the fish market by the bridge.  There are far too  many fishermen around for the cats to try a smash and grab raid on this bountiful display but the fishermen do toss them the odd fish.

Although the tourist season proper does not really start until May, there is quite a bit of internal tourism over Easter as Greeks go to visit their families.  A lot of the shops and cafes are starting to get ready for the first guests and there is a major spring-clean underway.  the weather is warming up, the plastic 'tents' are disappearing from the cafes and the air is buzzing with power washers and the whiff of detergent.

The Merakles is ready in case anyone drops in for lunch and the boutique behind is having a thorough clean before the new stock is unpacked.

The sea and the land have supported the inhabitants of Symi for at least 3000 years and as tourist arrivals have dwindled in recent years, many Symiots have fallen back on those two resources to sustain their families through hard times.

March is drawing to a close.  The weather is warming up and we have had a few light rain showers, mercifully clean, in the past 24 hours.  Midday temperatures are around 19 degrees, falling to about 11 at night. We have had a couple of days where it has been 20 in the sun but it is still quite chilly in the shade.  There is heavy dew fall at night and anything left out is very damp in the morning.

I shall be in Athens next week and am not sure exactly when I will be back so my next blog is likely to be the following week which is, of course, Big Week, the run up to Greek Easter and a period of serious fasting in Greece.  Lent is not just a matter of giving up treats in Greece.  It requires serious self-discipline but all that abstinence is well rewarded come Easter Sunday!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Springtime on Symi

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

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