Apocalyptic Weather and Post Election Quiet

Sunday morning - a sandstorm creeping up the Pedi Valley.

Sunday morning - the sandstorm at its worst.

Sunday morning, before the rain.

Monday morning, after heavy rain over night and before the rain resumed.  A very different picture.

At one point Yialos, Harani and Nimborio disappeared altogether.

This isn't a piece of avant garde art - this is what a black car looks like after 'red rain', the rain that accompanies sandstorms.

Raking leaves in Lieni.

Dry stone wall with a fern garden in Chorio.

The dry side of the Pedi valley is a most unfamiliar shade of green at the moment.

Look at that tail!

The new wellness centre, Ey Zhn, at the back of Yialos.

Wendy Wilcox from Symi Visitor Accommodation, Rachael Skerry Papakalodoukas from Ey Zhn and Frances Noble from Kalodoukas Holidays with the fish tank we all clubbed together and bought for Ey Zhn.

It is a wet and blustery day on Symi.  We have had all kinds of weather in the last few days, everything from gale force winds and sand storms to torrential rain and thunderstorms and it looks as though there is going to be more unsettled weather ahead this week. Friday's gales resulted in the Blue Star being 11 hours late and only actually leaving Rhodes at 6 a.m. on Saturday instead of 7 p.m. on Friday evening, which threw out its program for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday saw the opening of the new wellness centre, Ey Zhn, at the back of Yialos. This will be a venue for yoga, reflexology and all sorts of other treatments, therapies and activities.

The island was very quiet this morning, after the post election celebrations, but is slowly coming back to life now.  The schools are closed for the moment because they were used as polling stations yesterday so there wasn't the usual early morning rush hour of parents walking small children to school or giving them lifts on motorbikes either.  The kafeneions are buzzing today with everyone discussing the election results and the internet has slowed to snail's pace as everyone is on line, monitoring developments. As the euro has taken a dive, now would be an excellent opportunity to anyone from outside the Eurozone to book that long-desired Symi holiday!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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Symi Winter Greens

Pallas Athena, with her helmet, looks down from a rooftop in the harbour.

A Christmas wreath and an election pamphlet on a door on the Kali Strata.

Symi's old stone ruins become wild gardens in the winter.  This is a staircase on the Kali Strata.

Nicotiana growing in an entrance on the Kali Strata. That is another election pamphlet lying on the threshold.

Moss growing on the steps of the Kali Strata.

The wild cats seem to have found something of interest in this tree outside Agios Elefterios church in Chorio.

A fine figure of a cockerel in the Pedi valley.  Fences are no barrier to this fellow.

The first of the asphodels, ghostly pink flowers shimmering in the winter sun.  That is a fig tree to the right.

The wild cyclamens are also starting to flower.

The landmark oak in Lieni is rapidly losing its leaves now.

A fat cat not quite ready to face Monday morning.

We had a sunny weekend with heavy dew fall and misty mornings.  The anticipated rain is now forecast to reach us later in the week, With the national election coming up next week the pamphleteers have been busy and I followed a Hansel and Gretel trail of soggy electoral material all the way down to work this morning.  Those shops that are open have their televisions tuned to election debates and the conversations in the cafeneions are quite heated.

The new wellness centre in Yialos is opening on Saturday - another facility to benefit locals and visitors alike.  Apparently yoga classes will be one of the options on offer.  I'll bring you more information when I have it.  We already have aerobics, zumba and pilates classes available on the island.

We are still working winter hours at the office so if you need to contact us, please email us rather than phoning as there may not be anyone around to answer your phone call whereas emails we can pick up wherever Wendy and I may be.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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