Perfectly Polished

Unlike his ancient and battered cousins in Yialos which I photographed last week, this proud lion on the Kali Strata is kept perfectly polished.

Flowering cactus near the Gymnasium, the high school.

Stripes at the Pantheon pension on the Kali Strata.

Honeysuckle and jasmine in fragrant harmony.

The newsagent next to Symi Flower and opposite the bakery at the bottom of the Kali Strata. Limited foreign press is available in a wide range of languages in the summer.  In the winter we only have Greek newspapers, often several days old due to the infrequent ferries.  This is also the shop to go to for good quality maps.

This fast food outlet went out of business and became a carpenter's shop long before I arrived in 1993.  The signs linger on as a reminder that Symi just doesn't 'do' fast food.  The gyros bars in the harbour are all traditional places providing good value for money without resorting to brash plastic signage to advertise their wares.

The fuel ship docked at the clock tower in Yialos on Thursday morning.   It is too big to dock at the bunkering jetty by the fuel station so the fuel is transported by road tankers round the harbour - quite a slow process. The anchorage behind is the area called Harani.  NOS beach is just round the corner on the right, where the large white motor yacht is anchored.

The old white horse is slowly munching his way round the Pedi Valley.

Today's sunrise over Pedi Bay with the mountains of Turkey in the background.

It is a hot and hazy day with some feathery shreds of high cloud.  Temperatures are in the mid to high thirties and we are very glad that the air conditioning at the office is now working!

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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April Postcards from Symi

Lush new vine leaves reaching for the sky from this old courtyard on the Kali Strata.  This is when we switch from making dolmades with cabbage leaves to the better known ones made with fresh vine leaves.

The Vapori bar is open for the summer and Bella Napoli has rolled up the plastic tent and switched to summer mode.  The greengrocer is, of course, open all year round.

The fuel ship, preparing to come stern to in Yialos.  It is too big to come in at the bunkering jetty at the fuel station so the fuel is driven round the harbour in tankers. 

Judging by the paint swatch below, perhaps somebody else apart from myself thought that radiant raspberry might be a bit dazzling for the largest building on Symi.  No, it is not a fire station - it is our new undercover sports facility.

Wow.

Still no signs of life at the Windmill Restaurant in Chorio but it should be opening in a few weeks, once the weather is guaranteed to be settled.  I don't know about you but I find the pink of the oleanders particularly attractive when juxtaposed with the delicate green of the doors and gates.

Another one of my favourite views, from the top corner of the Kali Strata, before one begins the descent to Yialos.  The Diagoras was about an hour late this morning, which is considerably better than Wednesday when it was still catching up with Easter traffic.  As it goes to Kastellorizon on Fridays it will, however, be late leaving Rhodes this evening.

There is an elusive foal learning the route at the moment.  Camera shy, it kept skipping in among the adults when I tried to photograph it and my rather basic Nikon was just not fast enough to catch up.  You can just see a glimpse between the two horses on the right.  The foals learn all the routes around the island but only start to carry loads when they are fully grown and their backs are strong enough to take sacks of cement, stones, bricks and builders' rubble.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Peace and Quiet

Fuel for the fuel station is brought in by ship and then trucked round to the fuel station as ships this big cannot dock at the fuel jetty.

It was quite cloudy this morning.  Pedi bay at 8 a.m.

The spiders this year are quite something.  I photographed these cobwebs in my garden, spun overnight along a path that is frequented several times a day.  Don't stand still to long or you will find yourself supporting a web!

Plumbago on the Kali Strata

The grapes are swelling on the vines.

Shifting rocks up the Kali Strata.

Symi harbour is humming with activity.  The Tilos Sea Star is just pulling in with day trippers from Rhodes, the coast guard patrol boat is on its way out of the harbour, the water taxis are plying their trade...

One does not have to go far, however, to find peace and quiet and the higher one goes up the steps the quieter it becomes.  Here are some photographs I took over the past two days to give you an idea of what life on Symi is like at the moment.

There have been some significant changes to the ferry schedules that come into effect from this weekend so please check our travel blog on http://symivisitor-accommodation.com/blog/ and the Dodecanese Seaways website before booking flights.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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