Hot Round the Clock

 A procession of gulets leaving Yialos and heading back to Datca through the Nimos channel, early on Wednesday morning.

A welcome sight - the watership in Yialos this morning.

When the larger cruise ships come in, they lie off shore and ferry the guests to and fro in the these bright orange life boats.

The upper reaches of the Kali Strata, heading towards the square in Chorio.

It is traditional to sit outside ones house of an evening and watch the passing parade.  Apart from providing an opportunity it catch up on the gossip, it is also considerably cooler than indoors. Air conditioning is still a luxury in most homes here.

An impromptu gate made out of old pallets.  The countryside is drying out fast now.

Cats and cars - getting dustier by the day.  As very few houses on the island have vehicle access and Symi is notoriously short of water car washing is a luxury rather than something routinely done with a bucket, sponge and hosepipe on a Saturday afternoon.

Tomatoes ripening on the Kali Strata.

Mother love on a scooter outside the dentist on the Kataraktis.

The searing temperatures and low humidity of summer strip the trees of their leaves long before autumn comes whistling through the trees in November.

Golden grasses, so dry that they shatter at the touch.

Temperatures continue to rise and Symi is hot round the clock.  July is always the hottest month on Symi. The days are long, the humidity is very low and the rocks just soak up the heat from 6 in the morning until sunset at around half past 8 in the evening, with the result that temperatures are still in the thirties at midnight.  In the big cities like Athens the municipality opens up air conditioned public buildings for people to cool off in.  Here in Symi you will find crowds building up inside Taxas supermarket, mainly in the vicinity of the fruit and vegetable display chillers.  As our air conditioner in the office failed to make it through the winter and all the big fan does is paddle the hot air around we tend to hang out in the supermarket too.  We have pleaded and cajoled with every air con man on the island but they all seem to be up to their eyes in emergency call outs for hotels or have gone fishing.  No doubt it will be repaired come September, when the pressure is off.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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Honey and Vanilla

Bougainvillea and oleanders in the early morning sun.

Plump pomegranates opposite the Symi Dream shop.

Plumbago tumbling over a wall on the Kali Strata

The golden days of September are nearly upon us and those plants that have survived the endless procession of heat waves that has assaulted Greece this summer are starting to recover.  June and July 2012 will be remembered as the hottest months in Athens since records began and the statistics for August are likely to be more of the same.  Here on Symi it is even hotter but without the smog that makes city heat so dangerous.  We should see a drop to more normal temperatures in the mid thirties in the course of the week which will make the evening temperatures more tolerable.

From my office window I can see the water taxis heading for the beaches and the Poseidon is out on a round the island trip. The ANES Proteus has just arrived and a gulet is carefully docking stern-to by the clock tower. The happy babble of voices rises from the cafes downstairs and the smell of honey and vanilla is heavy on the air from the patisserie around the corner. 

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

It has been many years since the old Glafkos Hotel on the Kali Strata last opened its doors.

A neglected mansion on the right, a lovingly restored one on the left.

Virginia creeper taking over a building at the bottom of the Kali Strata.

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Something to Capture the Imagination

One can always count on a cat to find the coolest, most comfortable spot to snooze.

Early morning departures from Yialos.

The searing dragon’s breath of July is giving way to sticky humidity as August approaches. Temperatures remain exceptionally high in most of Greece and it is not just Symi that is hitting the 40 degree mark on a daily basis.  While humans may find the heat remains uncomfortable, for the plant life the increase in humidity is a relief.  Daytime wilting is reduced and new leaves and flowers are starting to form once more.  July is always the hardest month to cope with in the garden and it is mainly a matter of providing sufficient water and shade to try to keep things alive until August arrives.

The first fortnight in August is regarded as the peak of the season in this part of the world and although 2012 is a quieter tourist season than usual, Symi is still filling up.  Most of the chatter on the streets is in French, Italian and Spanish.  Yialos and Pedi are full of yachts, gulets and power boats every evening, even though the huge megayachts that we used to see in the mid-noughties seem to have found new playgrounds.  I believe that the River Thames is the place to be this summer, handy for the London Olympics even if the weather comes with no guarantees of sunshine.

At time of writing it is Tuesday morning and I am watching the Blue Star ferry, Diagoras coming in.  It has been surprisingly punctual this year which is just as well as it is the only way to leave Symi on a Tuesday morning.

Have a good week.

Regards,

Adriana

Fishing boats by the customs house.  Spiti Grand Helene and Villa Iris are on the hill behind.

All lined up in the golden light of summer.

In a few hours these will be bustling businesses but at 7 a.m everyone is at Pachos, drinking strong Greek coffee and discussing the day.

Back in around 2005, when the archaeologia insisted that all the businesses along the front had uniform plain white awnings there was a lot of muttering but on balance I think it was a wise move.  Look at the delicate wrought iron balcony above.  The fan of spikes was to prevent people from climbing from one balcony to the next.  I wonder what piece of statuary stood in that blue niche.  On Symi there is always something to capture the imagination.

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