The Summer Drought has Broken

Tuesday brought torrential rain until well into the evening. Rhodes had heavy weather and sustained damage to the runway which caused flight disruptions over 2 days.  Fortunately none of us sustained the kind of damage inflicted upon the island Skopelos, the Peloponnese and  the nearby Turkish coastal town of Bodrum.  It is unusual for us to get such heavy and sustained stormy weather so early as this is more common in October. 

The morning after the rain - drifts of leaves all the way down the road and a everything washed bright and clean in the September light.

No, this isn't a 'nodding dog' on the parcel shelf. This young ginger cat took advantage of an open window to shelter from the rain overnight - and the greenhouse effect the next morning was pretty cosy too!

Pine needles and random petals, caught in the storm water grating half way down the Kali Strata.  

The whitewashed monastery on Nimos, gleaming in the early morning sun.

A lizard drying out on the roof of the Sunflower laundry's shed.

I never know what I am going to see when I look out of the office window.

The view from the Symi Visitor Accommodation balcony on Wednesday - a boutique cruise ship alongside, the Panagia Skiadeni stern to and a Turkish power boat in the middle.

The trees look so green after their recent wash.

The crew of the Sea Dreams Symi doing a spot of maintenance around the bow.

Pedi and Yialos are really full at the  moment, mainly with Turkish boats coming across for the Eid al Adha holiday.

This big cruise ship came into Nimborio bay early this morning. Too big to come into the harbour, it is anchored off and the passengers have been shuttling in and out of Yialos on bright orange lighters

Harani at 7.30 this morning, waiting for the Blue Star.

A quarter of an hour later and the Blue Star docked at the clock tower.

If it has an American flag, the chances are good it has come from Turkey.  Many rich Turks register their yachts and motor boats in America for tax reasons so if you notice dozens of Stars and Stripes around the harbour, it doesn't mean that Symi is the number one cruising destination for American yachtsmen.

One of the bright orange lighters from the cruise ship.  The passengers are brought ashore at the customs house by the bridge.

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The Promise of Rain

Yialos on Tuesday morning, as seen from our balcony. There are still lots of yachts around but they are much smaller and the armada of gulets has diminished considerably as the season draws to a close.

This does not mean that fouled anchors are a thing of the past. This tangle involved a sailing yacht, a small gulet and a motor boat.  In the end the motor boat dragged them all out into deeper water until the anchors were hanging free of the bottom and could be easily unravelled.

While anchors were being untangled in one part of Yialos, the Salamis Filoxenia was pulling in by the clock tower.  Wednesday was a really busy shipping day on Symi as we had the usual Dodecanese Seaways catamaran plus the Blue Star Diagoras and two Cypriot cruise ships, one after the other.  Shortly after leaving Symi the Salamis Filoxenia made the news when she picked up a ship in distress off Paphos, Cyprus and rescued 300 Syrian refugees who at time of writing are refusing to leave the ship and are demanding to be taken to Italy.

A misty morning over Pedi bay on Tuesday. The Turkish coast is lost in the mist.

The sun rising through a thick humid haze on Wednesday morning.

All clear in a brisk breeze on Thursday morning and the opposite coast is clearly visible.

Sunrise touching the row of old windmills on the crest of the hill that separates Yialos and the Pedi valley.

La Dolce Vita, a name that proved ironic when her German owner decided to dabble in a little informal people trafficking and was overheard bragging about it in a taverna in Pedi.  The boat has been impounded by the Greek Coastguard and the owner is awaiting trial so it really wasn't worth it, was it?

Waiting patiently to be loaded up outside Agios Eleftherios church in Chorio, near the Kampos bus stop.  

An elegant carob in a pot outside a shop in Yialos.

The season is drawing to a close and the first autumnal storms are expected to reach us this weekend with the promise of RAIN!  Time to clear gutters and dig out the rolls of plastic sheeting.  The first rains are always eagerly anticipated by the locals as by this time the cisterns are dry and the island baked solid in the summer heat.  This doesn't mean that we are in for a spell of cold weather though.  Temperatures remain in the mid to high twenties and the rain is likely to be in the form of sporadic thundershowers rather than hours of continuous rain. Gusty winds are forecast for Sunday but are unlikely to disrupt shipping.  If you don't fancy going to the beach, there are plenty of interesting shops to browse around and pretty cafes to enjoy.

The Panagia Skiadeni remains out of commission for the foreseeable future so there have been significant changes to the Dodecanese Seaways schedules for October.  If you are travelling at that time, please check.  Remember, if you prebook your tickets on line they will notify you of any changes whereas if you just turn up on the quay you may be caught out by last minute changes.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Rosy Fingered Dawn

A bustling morning in Yialos.  There is a cruise ship lying off Nimborio at the moment and the guests are being brought ashore in the lighters such as the one on the right.

Taxi boats heading for the beaches.

The downstairs of this building is a carpenter's workshop but upstairs, which was a merchant's office, has been boarded up for years since the old man died.

Before the advent of modern paints the houses were repainted every year with whitewash (asvesti), tinted with different pigments at the whim of the householder.  As the years weather it away again, a kaleidoscope of different colours emerges, creating this lovely effect.  Much more picturesque than peeling emulsion!

Most of the ruins on the Kali Strata have been restored in recent years but these two remain to capture the imagination.

A scrap of a kitten in Lieni.  Symi, like many places in Greece, has a flourishing feral cat population.  In the summer there is plenty of food around but pickings are leaner in the winter and that is when Symi Animal Welfare's admirable feeding scheme comes into play.  If you have any loose change when you pop into our office, please put it into the collection box on my desk.  Volunteers feed the cats several times a week at various feeding stations around the island throughout the winter so even when there is nothing to be found in the bins there is still something to keep them going.

The early morning sun creeping over hill at Milos.  That is the vast roof of the new undercover sports'facility in the foreground.

Homer's rosy-fingered dawn touching Pedi bay.

The equinox has passed and in theory it is now autumn.  Temperatures are still mild as the wind has now swung to the south, the direction from which our rain comes, and thunder showers are forecast for the weekend.  The hunting season has started and men on bikes with dogs riding pillion are heading up the mountain in droves to shoot partridge and quail.

The Panagia Skiadeni is still out of commission and Dodecanese Seaways are issuing schedules on a weekly basis at the moment. The on line schedule is not often updated to reflect new developments which can be very confusing but the on line ticket sales system seems to be up to date so it is best to check there.  If you prebook your tickets on line and there is any change the shipping company will then notify you.  Andy is doing his best to post regular updates on his travel blog whenever new information becomes available and we also post updates on our Symi Visitor Accommodation Facebook page.

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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