More May Postcards from Symi

Courgettes - worth growing for their glorious golden flowers alone but prolific producers of fresh vegetables every day at this time of the year.  Like broad beans in the winter and tomatoes in feta cheese tins in the summer, Kolokouthikia (courgettes) are something that everyone grows.

Everyone waiting at the clock tower for the Blue Star Diagoras.  The red roofs in the right foreground belong to the Panormition, the high school in Chorio.  This photograph was taken from the corner of the Kali Strata, at the bend where it then goes up to the Chorio square.

One of my favourite views of central Chorio, as seen looking across the Pedi Valley from Lieni.  The Taxiarchis Hotel is the multi-coloured group of buildings on the left, just above the trees.  The windmills date back to the sixteenth century and at least two were still in use in the 1950s.  Pontikokastro (Mouse Castle) is the name given to the stone circle just visible on the ridge on the extreme right.  Legend has it that it is the burial place of King Nireus but archaeologists have yet to find anything to confirm this.

A bright splash of lantana in a garden on the Kali Strata.

Symi is a mixture of ruins and restorations.  As all the old houses have cisterns which fill with the winter rains neglected and dilapidated houses often have flourishing figs and bougainvilleas, nourished by the water their intuitive roots locate in those old cisterns.

For those who would not be seen dead on a land train Symi also has a horse and cart for more stylish trips around the harbour.

 

 

Have a good week.

 

Regards,

Adriana

Read more...

You Can Take a Horse to Water...

... but you can't make it swim!

Spotted in Nimborio recently cooling off on a hot September afternoon.
This riding horse used to be a police horse on Rhodes until it suffered an injury while jumping a fence.  It has now been acquired by the Antoniades family as a riding horse.  Horses are quite unusual on Symi.  We see plenty of donkeys, mules and pack ponies carrying loads up and down the island's many steps but a horse for the sheer pleasure of owning and riding such a beautiful beast is a rare thing on the island.

Yanni Antoniades and canine friend giving the horse a splash bath to cool off.

Horses usually enjoy a swim but this one had other ideas :-)

Photographs by Nicholas Shum

Still on the subject of transport but on a more practical level, Dodecanese Seaways have finally filled in the gaps in the September ferry schedule which can be found on www.12ne.gr/en and it is now possible to book tickets for Wednesday 19 September and Wednesday 26 September.

Another piece of good news is that local photographer, Jordan Blakesley, has had his photographs featured in the on line edition of the British daily newspaper, the Telegraph.  Jordan's work is currently on exhibition and for sale at the Symi Gallery on the Kali Strata in Chorio.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

Read more...