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| Friday, 29th June 2001 |
| The
Nissos Kalymnos is back on the circuit with noticeable impact on the island.
Yesterday afternoon the town square was bustling with melon sellers, gypsies restringing
wooden taverna chairs, displays of terracotta pots with or without potted palms, tottering
stacks of plastic garden chairs (ranging from beige to bilious) and a rather smelly van
load of fish. By the time I made my way up the hill on the 7pm bus, they had regrouped up
in Chorio and the local housewives were prodding their wares, neither fish nor melons
bearing up too well in the heat. It must be quite a fraught way to earn a living,
travelling from island to island in a heatwave with rapidly deteriorating stock. The whole
caravanserai departed again on the Nissos Kalymnos this morning, potplants, melons and
all. There isn't much sign of a let up in the heat. Fans paddle hot air around and cold bottles of water rapidly become tepid. Purple and green figs and grapes are ripening gently among the ruins and the scarlet pomegranate flowers are turning into red-gold fruit. The evening air is heavy with jasmine and mosquitoes. I'm off to water my aubergines and tomatoes. Have an enjoyable weekend, dreaming Symi dreams. Regards,
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| Monday, 25th June 2001 |
| Cats are
caroling their own peculiar discords under the upturned wooden boat by the office
door. The day trippers have departed and the waterfront restauranteurs are eating their
own lunches in the shadows. The Symi dump truck grinds its way round the harbour, emptying
skips - the second round of the day. Despite the eternal grumbles about litter, Symi is
served remarkably well in this regard - how many places do you know of with twice daily
refuse collection? In these temperatures, it is imperative as a health measure if for no
other reason.The island continues to warm up. The aphids in my garden have disappeared on
the back of climbing temperatures. The humidity is very low. Washing dries stiff in a
matter of hours. The scorched leaves have started to fall from the trees. The afternoon
silence is broken by the rustle of crisp leaves falling onto dry grass and the hoarse rasp
of cicadas. The spiders are getting fatter and the webs more ambitious - they seem
unaffected by the heat and continue their labours unimpaired by the afternoon sun. Take a
nap in my olive grove and you are likely to wake up attached to trees and grasses by
strong silken threads.Symi drifts sleepily on into summer while the rest of the world
bustles by, planning vacations and catching planes. More on Friday - if I'm still awake!
|
| Friday, 22nd June 2001 |
| The summer
solstice brought looming clouds and the fragrance of rain on the air but not a drop
fell on Symi. There is a refreshing coolness to the breeze that is more than welcome.
Going up the hill on the bus in the evenings, the aroma of warm thyme bushes on the rocky
slopes above the town comes through the windows. Their tiny purple flowers add daubs of
colour against a grey-gold background as the last of the sun leaves Symi. We've had an interesting crop of glamorous power yachts in the harbour recently. Only overnight, mind you, but it does add a touch of Monaco to Yialos town quay, particularly after dark when touches like little spot lights all the way up the passerelle (gangplank to us lesser mortals) become obvious. Executive toys on the top deck run to mini helicopters and enough communication domes to confound any passing Martian. Unfortunately, splendid though they are, these vessels bring little in the way of income to the island as they are well equipped, well stocked and more or less self-sufficient. It is the humbler boats whose crews dine in tavernas, buy bread from the bakeries, supplies from the supermarkets and paint from the hardware stores that make a real contribution to the island's revenues. It is the latter group which has been affected by the government taxes which made the front page of the 'Symi Visitor' this month and their absence is certainly felt by waterfront businesses. Let us hope that this is a temporary state of affairs and cruising yachts will once again return to these waters. Have an enjoyable weekend.
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| Monday, 18th June 2001 |
| A fast moving
depression whizzed over Greece at the weekend, causing choppy seas and bouncy boat
trips but we're back to glassy waters and soporific sunshine today. Cats are dozing under
the cars parked on the Town Square and the few people about are moving very slowly. The
wind cleared the air so the light is very sharp today and the water has a real sparkle.
Tempers are getting a little testy in the heat; that 'leave me alone, it's hot and I don't
feel like doing anything' kind of irritability. There was a spot of street theatre below
the balcony this morning between a couple of local business men plus their miscellaneous
supporters but no one in the office had a good enough grasp of the vernacular to be able
to work out what it was all about. We were waiting expectantly for sponges and Greek
salads to fly through the air but it was really too hot to bother and the participants
soon mooched off, shouting insults over their shoulders. The last excursion boats are
pulling out now and the siesta is taking over. There's a whiff of grilled fish on the air
as one of the housewives in the lane behind the Visitor Office prepares lunch for her
family on a brazier out on the street. That's what's so good about living here - being
able to cook on a step outside your front door on a hot afternoon so the kitchen doesn't
heat up. No need for sophisticated BBQ equipment or bottles of prepacked basting gloop
from the supermarket. Just a sawn off drum, some scrap wood, a few fish, a lemon off the
tree, a dollop of olive oil and some herbs off the hillside. What could be simpler?
To all of you out there watching the rain drip past the windows, dream on and make those Symi summer holiday plans! PS As soon as website technology permits, we shall be scenting this webpage with oregano, wild thyme and a touch of ouzo!
|
| Friday, 15th June 2001 |
| Temperatures
have dropped marginally but the humidity is rising so we are getting increasingly
sticky and the cool blue Mediterranean is more enticing than ever. Sunrise over Pedi this
morning was a gorgeous golden apricot colour and the Turkish coast was briefly defined as
the sun rose behind it but soon vanished into the haze. Looking from the office balcony,
there's a bright blue truck parked in the town square, selling small charentais melons and
big green-striped watermelons by the kilo. Rain showers are forecast in the northern
Aegean which may bring a little coolness to the breeze. At the moment the flags on the
bridge are drooping and the only air current is generated by the occasional passing
vehicle. Have an enjoyable weekend, everyone, crossing the days off the calendar to the next Symi sojourn!
|
| Tuesday, June 12th 2001 |
| Dear Readers, Did anybody out there notice that I am a day late? Did anybody wonder where I was or if Symi had disappeared off the map? Well, the island is still here and so am I. Yesterday I did a most unusual thing and took a day off to show my mother around as this is her first ever visit to Symi and she seems quite favourably impressed - not just with the size of the spiders in my garden! Symi is sweltering in a heatwave but we're getting used to this sort of thing now. The trick is not to slice your bread too soon unless you really like rusks and to seek out the shady places in the heat of the day. Some of my cherry tomatoes are doing the sun-dried bit directly on the vine and are turning into rather tasty tomato flavoured raisins. Truckloads of hay are arriving on the island with every car ferry that docks as fodder takes over from grazing. Have a good week!
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| Friday, June 8th 2001 |
| This week has
been one of wild extremes. The tremendous pressure gradient caused by a deep low over
the Black Sea , a great high over Italy and the Peloponnese and another low over Turkey
caused gale force winds over the Aegean and the Eastern Med. The excursion boats came over
from Rhodes on Tuesday as usual but the north wind built up rapidly in the course of the
afternoon and they were unable to return until early Wednesday morning. Temperatures
dropped to a refreshing 20 C. Wednesday remained windy and blustery but Thursday saw a
steady improvement and temperatures started to climb. It is over 30 C today and a hot
weekend is on the cards. The wind blew all the dust away so visibility is superb and the
air crystalline. Hope you all have an enjoyable weekend, wherever you are.
|
| Monday, June 4th 2001 |
| Sizzle.
Seriously though, there is actually a bit of a breeze fluttering the flags this afternoon
which brings some relief. The barometer is falling slightly, hence the breeze, but clouds
there are none. With the full moon and the solstice coming up which should see some windy
conditions which will help to break the heat a bit. We had rather a frustrating sail back
from Kos yesterday as there was not quite enough wind to do anything useful so we wound up
motoring, which was considerably cooler than drifting along at 2 knots listening to the
sails slatting around but certainly not as pleasant as belting along at 7 or 8 knots with
all the sails filled. Coming into Pedi yesterday afternoon the warmth radiating off the
cliffs as we turned the corner was like opening an oven door. Anyone reading this who is
either sailing or on any of the boat trips that go through the channel between Symi and
Nimos, do look out for the gorgeous display of deep pink oleanders growing wild in the
valley on the Symi side of the channel, facing Datca.
|
| Friday, June 1st 2001 |
| It's another
hot afternoon in the Symi Visitor office. Sitting on top of a gyros bar doesn't help.
The island is so dry it rustles in the arid breezes. Leaves are starting to fall. Laundry
is dried to a crisp within hours. Cats slumber in every shady corner and even the lizards
are avoiding the hot spots. The green of the vines is turning ochre as the grapes fatten
and the bees gather round any spilled water like wildebeest at a watering hole. All the
doors and shutters that jambed during the winter now blow open in the slightest wind. The
high pressure system dominating the area has had a marked effect on the water level in the
harbour which is low enough for a band of green weed to be visible all the way round the
margin. Close inspection reveals tiny crabs scuttling through a minute jungle newly
exposed under the bridge. The cats are too hot and laid back to care. Have a pleasant weekend, dreaming Symi summer dreams. I'm off to Kos for the weekend, to play yachts!
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© Adriana Shum 2001 [HOME] |
