Springtime Symi

The view from Symi Visitor Accommodation this morning.  The bunting is up for the Dodecanese Day parade on 7 March 2018.

The Kali Strata in winter mode - rain streaked whitewash, moss, weeds, cats and an abandoned office chair.

Or perhaps not so abandoned...  

The first poppy photo of 2018.

No snow on Symi these year but, as usual, plenty of snow on the mountains across the way in Turkey.,

The second poppy photograph of 2018.

Yesterday was clear enough to see the snowy mountain tops. Today was grey and there are pockets of mist trapped in those distant valleys.

Thursday was the first dry sunny day in ages and everyone was out, doing things, including the municipality catching up on roadworks.

Vapour trails over an empty harbour.

A very wet February is behind us and March brings its promise of spring.  There is still lots of wet stuff showing up on the long range forecasts but temperatures are creeping upwards, the days are getting longer and lighter and Easter will soon be upon us. 

The international tourist season used to start in April with couples, families and walking groups coming to spend their Easter/spring break holidays on Symi.  In recent years, with the decline in niche market tourism to places like Symi, April and May are a lot quieter and it is mainly Greeks who come to the island.  June is the new April and the tourist businesses are slower in getting going.  This does mean that if you do opt to visit Symi in April or May, you will have a far more authentic island experience and the pleasure of having Symi to yourself. 

It is a beautiful time to visit as the island is still green and the spring flowers are quite overwhelming.  If you are a keen walker, photographer, writer or just want some time to yourself, there are worse places to be than Symi in April.  Just allow yourself a low stress schedule as you may have to spend a day/night in Rhodes at the beginning and end of your stay due to the vagaries of the ferry schedule. That in itself is no hardship as Rhodes old town is much nicer outside the main tourist season and there is plenty to explore.  Make the coming and going part of the holiday and enjoy the adventure.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Last Minute Offers and Favourite Views

Climate change has had a big impact on Symi's trees and many well-established deciduous trees have died in recent years from the stresses of increasingly long hot dry summers with too many days in the 40s and much shorter winters.  This 35 year old almond tree, one of the last left in my garden, is weeping resin all over the bark, an ominous sign.

I never tire of this view.  

Thomas and friends, the bin cats on my corner.  As very few places on Symi have vehicle access, instead of rubbish collections from the houses there are skips at strategic points along the way.  Everyone takes their rubbish to the nearest bins  when they go out and the bins are emptied daily all year round with extra collections in the summer.  At the moment there is no viable recycling system so all rubbish is taken to a lined dump up on the top of the mountain, above Nanou bay.  Not ideal but still more efficient than the refuse collection systems in many other parts of the world.  As long as you remember to take the rubbish out with you when you go, there is no need to have smelly bins in the house and the plagues of insects that are inevitable in a hot climate.

Symi chic.  This bike has featured on my blog before, when it was sporting a Burberry print plastic table cloth.  Now it is wearing a coffee motif.  The original black vinyl upholstery will have long since cracked up and disintegrated in the Mediterranean sun.

Virginia creeper turns this old building at the bottom of the Kali Strata into something mysterious.  Who knows what lurks behind that boarded up balcony?

Another one of my favourite views, this time taken at sunset by Dawn Sproson.

September is drawing to a close but we are still surprisingly busy with new arrivals this week including many walkers.  The weather is still mild with midday temperatures in the high twenties and pleasantly cool evenings.  The long range weather forecast teases us with rumours of rain which always seems to pass us by.  The waterfront bars and cafes have not yet rigged their plastic tents - that will happen later, in October.  It is still warm enough to sit outside in the evenings with a shawl or sweatshirt if there is a breeze.

The ferry schedules have changed as Dodecanese Seaways is no longer operating its Samos service and have simplified their schedule to give the crews a break.  Remember, if Dodecanese Seaways does not suit your itinerary, you can always try Sea Dreams and the Blue Star.

We still have some last minute availability for various houses from 7 October so if you are wanting to enjoy some late Symi sunshine, please email us. We have some great properties at discounted prices.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Symi Rainbows

As you know from my previous blog, Friday was a wet and windy day.  At sunset we were treated to this wonderful rainbow at Pontikokastro - 'mouse castle', the neolithic stone circle on the hill by the windmills that local legend says is the grave of King Nireus.

The Michaelaki, the statue of the little fisher boy by Kostas Valsamis, the famous Symiot sculptor, used to be by the clock tower.  It was moved to the head of the harbour, opposite our office, when work was done on the quayside at the clock tower to improve facilities for cruise ships a few years back.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation office this morning. The statue in the previous photograph is masked by the date palm on the right.

It is a clear calm cold day today.  It is about 10 degrees centigrade in the sunny.

Balconies on the sunny side of the harbour.

Happiness is a warm stone bridge in the winter sunshine.

There are very few places open to eat at this time of the year but this taverna tucked in one of the back lanes of the harbour is open for trade.  Look at all those marvellous tomatoes.

The latest round of strikes and storms has passed and we have emerged, blinking in the winter sun. I can hear locals chatting in Pachos downstairs and debating the merits of various purchases at the chandlery in the lane.  The Dodecanese Pride came through from Rhodes this morning, bringing some fresh produce and more is expected on the Blue Star which is once again making a special detour through Symi this afternoon to make up for the disruptions on Friday and Saturday.  We should have a couple of days of settled weather and then it will probably turn showery again on Wednesday and Thursday. No strong winds are forecast this week and the agenda also looks surprisingly strike free, aside from the farmers who are still blockading roads on the mainland. On the whole it has been quite a dry winter so far and the water ship from Rhodes is currently in Pedi, topping up the reservoirs.  Temperatures are still low, even in the sun, and there are little plumes of wood smoke rising from chimneys all round Chorio.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Talking About the Weather

The big oak tree in Lieni, at the top of Chorio, is starting to lose its leaves.  

Monday morning 8 a.m. and the lanes at the top of the Kali Strata are quiet.

You know the season on Symi is drawing to a close when all you see on the Kali Strata are sheep droppings!

Not much happening down in the harbour either.  Indeed by the time I got down to the bottom, that big gulet had gone.

Another section of the roof is getting a make over on this old mansion at the top of the Kali Strata.

Empty.

A Virginia creeper, intent on raising a few tiles.

There might not be many customers about but the herb man has just taken delivery of several branches of bay which will have to be dried and bagged for next year.  When you buy herbs on Symi the chances are high that they are gathered locally rather than imported.

The fish market by the bridge in Yialos - and a big piece of gauze to keep the flies off the fish.

The Symi day excursion boat coming in from Rhodes - while there are very few tourists still staying on Symi, Rhodes is still fairly busy if the number of day trippers is anything to go by.  They are mainly older people and families with young children, speaking a wide range of languages.

A colourful display outside the chandlery in the lane outside the Symi Visitor Accommodation office. Dino also sells agricultural implements - hoes, rakes, spades and the like.

Just before 12.30 and the Panagia Skiadeni has come into view.  It is not usually possible to see her when she is that far out but there are no yachts to obscure the view today!

It is a quiet October Monday on Symi and the main topic of conversation is the weather which is expected to take a turn for the worse midweek. Will the storms reach us as early as Tuesday night? Will they arrive on Wednesday? Will the rain be as heavy as expected?  Will it all be over by Sunday or will it linger on into the beginning of next week?  It all depends on which weather forecast you are following but whatever it is and whenever it is, it is coming our way and everyone is preparing for it. Those cafes and tavernas that are still open have been rigging their plastic drop cloths which can be deployed very quickly to turn pavement tables into sheltered ones.  It makes a change to be talking about the weather instead of Greek politics and the state of the Greek economy.

Many of the boutiques and more niche market shops have already closed, their owners heading off to other places for the winter. Those more practical shops that cater to the needs of the locals through the winter are concentrating more on the things that they know will sell than the exotic goodies demanded by megayachts and foreign visitors. There will probably be a flurry of treats in the run up to Christmas but for the next few weeks the philosophy is 'buy local, buy in season' - think pomegranates rather than pineapples!

Twenty-nine Syrian and Iraqi refugees, including quite a few children aged between 5 and 7, arrived on the island last night and their paperwork is being processed at the moment.  We hope that they will be ready in time to leave on the Panagia Skiadeni at 4 p.m. this afternoon as they will otherwise have to spend the night here as the next boat out is the Panagia Skiadeni on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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September Postcards from Symi

Pedi Bay.  Villa Jasmine and the Pedi Katoi/Anoi apartments are in this corner of the bay.  If you walk along this side of the bay you will find the footpath that leads to Agia Marina, an alternative to taking the water taxi.  That is Symi's only power station in the bottom left hand corner, with all the silver chimneys.

Sunrise over the hills above St Nicholas' beach, Pedi bay.  On Thursday morning we woke up to a brief sprinkling of rain just before dawn.  The clouds then drifted gently eastwards to Turkey.  

The Kastro area of Chorio catching the early morning sun.  This old traditional neighbourhood was badly damaged during the Second World War and is slowly being rebuilt.

The Dodecanese Seaways catamaran waiting to depart early on Wednesday morning.  What really caught my eye was the vivid magenta bougainvilleas among the houses on the hill behind.

The Panagia Skiadeni is out of commission until at least 15 September so the Dodecanese Seaways catamarans are particularly congested at the moment.  Not only are they transporting passengers between the islands of the Dodecanese archipelago but they are also bring the freight that normally comes over the the car ferry.  The 9.25 was about 10 minutes late this morning and unloading was a real scrum.  Dodecanese Seaways use wheeled orange bins to rationalise luggage and freight which speeds things up to some extent but the sheer volume of people and goods in a confined space still causes delays.  The orange bins will be picked up again on her south bound journey this evening.

The windows in the hull of this boat have some sort of mirror finish that makes them particularly eye catching.

Bright T shirts drying on a balcony on the Kali Strata.

Due to the water restrictions we don't provide beach towels in our houses and guests are asked to bring their own.  They can be bought cheaply in the harbour. This display seems to be catering for Hello Kitty fans.

Ripe for renovation.  A neglected house in Harani. There is no for sale sign on it though so perhaps the owners are simply far away, in Australia or the USA, and don't know that their inheritance on Symi is peeling away under the summer sun.  As Symi went through various phases of economic decline in the 20th century, Symiots emigrated en masse to far flung places where there was a demand for their sponge diving, boat building and mercantile skills, leaving their heritage behind.

The remains of Lazy Days.  She has been rotting away in the boat yard in Harani for at least a decade and has now finally collapsed into a heap of firewood.

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Kalo Mina!

The remnants of a child's birthday party on the Kali Strata. Look out for this rather distinctive facade and plant pots on your way up or down as the building opposite is...

... the current home of the Symi Gallery where a new exhibition opens this evening.

An amazingly detailed facade on an old mansion on the Kali Strata. This building is a true landmark.

Street names are largely ignored on Symi.  This is the official name of the Kali Strata.  Ierou Lochou means Sacred Band, the group of crack Greek troops formed during the Second World War, named after the Sacred Band of Thebes.  Virtually have town, city and village in Greece has an Ierou Lochou street.

As we go into the first week of August, the busiest time of the year in Greece, Yialos remains packed with yachts and gulets.

The line up of excursion boats and water taxis at the head of the harbour, Yialos.

The big floating crane that is operating near Petalo and the fuel station, arranging the concrete blocks for the new commercial jetty. Yes, that is the road from Yialos to Chorio, Pedi and Panormitis passing above.

A chapel bell tower in Lieni.

As the figs ripen in the sun they start to exude sugar syrup.

An old trunk from a house that is being gutted for restoration.  As Symi houses are very small and have limited storage space, trunks and chests were a common form of storage, particularly in the days of sponge fishing when the menfolk would be away for months at a time and lived out of their seachests.

Kalo Mina!  Good month!  The traditional greeting on the first of each month and particularly significant at this time of the year as the first two weeks of August are the busiest of the tourist season, coming to a peak with the Assumption Holiday on 15 August.  In all the Catholic and Orthodox countries the celebration of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin is a major holiday which is why the first two weeks of August have traditionally been the summer holiday period in those countries.  As the Eid visitors from Turkey depart, the August holiday makers are arriving in their droves and Symi is bursting at the seams.  All of our houses are full and there is very little accommodation still available on the island. Anyone who has left it to the last minute to find somewhere to stay - or to book ferry tickets - may well be disappointed as the ferries are packed too. The ferry websites are www.12ne.gr/en and www.bluestarferries.gr and it really is important to book your tickets well in advance.  Now that we no longer have ANES, Symi's own ferry company, we are dependent on boats that serve many other destinations as well so naturally they are serving a far wider client base.

This is the fortnight when many seasonal businesses have to make their winter rent money and hope that their earnings will tide them through an increasingly long and hard winter as economic recovery is slow in coming to the islands. No wonder, then, that the shopkeepers, barkeepers and taverna owners of Symi are wishing each other Kalo Mina!

Cultural events this weekend include the opening of a new exhibition at the Symi Gallery featuring photographs by Ged Horton and collages by Ian Haycox, and the annual Symi Shrimp Festival on Saturday evening.  This will take place in the Syllogos Square in Chorio and will feature traditional music and dancing in addition to bountiful Symi shrimp!  You are all welcome.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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