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Read March 2001's news
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| Tuesday, May 28th 2001 |
| We
had a very weird weekend - heavy rain was forecast but not forthcoming.
Instead we experienced strong westerly winds on Saturday and
exceptionally muggy drizzly weather on Saturday and Sunday. The drizzle
evaporated as it hit the ground so it did nothing to alleviate the water
shortage, merely adding streaks and spots to whitewashed walls and
washing lines. It was a little cooler which afforded some relief but we
are sweltering again today. The long range forecast is quite boring
really - sizzling little sun icons all over the place. Sunhats are
selling well, as are those little things you plug in to repell
mosquitoes. The spiders and their amazing webs grow stouter by the day.
Anyone watching my ducking and diving and bobbing and weaving as I
negotiate my way around the garden would be puzzled by my limbo dancing
but I try hard to avoid demolishing any webs as I go. The water taxis
are all operational now and are doing brisk business to the beaches. A
Greek matron, clad in the ubiquitous black, has just trotted over the
bridge with an enormous bright green inflatable alligator under one arm.
The other hand is towing a bathing suited toddler (trailing a melting
ice cream) at some speed. I can almost smell the suntan lotion from the
office balcony!
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| Friday, 25th May 2001 |
| Anyone
who has looked at this morning's webcam shot of Symi town bridge
will think the webcam's not working. What you are actually looking at is
blinding early morning sunshine. I think our webcam is going to need a
pair of Polaroid's... The dazzle off the water and the whitewashed
buildings is enough to make even the most dedicated webcam squint.
Temperatures are slightly more bearable at the moment - around 28C - as
there is a cooling breeze from the north. The island itself is soaking
up the heat so the rocks are hot to the touch and the soil temperature
is over 30C in sunny areas. Far too warm for lettuce seeds to germinate.
On the plus side, about a kilo of cherry tomatoes a day is ripening on
my vines and the aubergines and peppers are flowering enthusiastically.
The gypsies are on the island, selling wobbly handmade terracotta pots
and huge ropes of garlic as well as plastic garden furniture and beach
towels. Water restrictions are already in force as Rhodes, from whence
Symi's water comes, also had a dry winter so we are all having to be
especially frugal. The sparkling waters of the Mediterranean are very
inviting when landbased activities are too hot to contemplate.
Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend.
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| Monday, 21st May 2001 |
| Summer
swathes Symi like a shawl. The temperatures are in the high twenties
to low thirties and are heading upwards. The locals rise early to do
their chores and spend the late mornings sitting in shady doorsteps,
gossiping. By midday the streets and lanes of Chorio are empty and the
siesta takes over. The 6.30 pm bus groans up from Pedi, laden with
returning bathers, and dusk brings the hum of voices once again.
Everyday life is moving outdoors, bringing with it evening aromas of
charcoal fires, grilled fish and citronella. Strains of Greek music and
the murmur of a hundred conversations fills the Chorio lanes and drifts
over the Pedi valley, punctuated by hoots from the scops owls and the
whine of mosquitoes. Duvets, blankets and carpets are having a last
airing before being packed away and enormous lavender scented polythene
bags are sold for the purpose. An interesting form of moth proofing is
to wave the household incense burner over each item before packing it.
Remember, in this country frankincense and myrrh appear in shopping
baskets rather than on Christmas cards!
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| Friday, 18th May 2001 |
| Last
weekend we had howling winds and mud rain. Mid week we had Spring -
moderate temperatures, cool breezes and clear blue skies with bright
white clouds. That was it. This morning Summer arrived. It was 22 C at
8.30 am and the temperature continues to climb. There is a big
barometric high over the area so the fine weather is set to hold for a
while. My garden is looking very dry now. At least weeding is no longer
a problem as only the things we want to keep receive water and
everything else is dying back rapidly. The aubergines and peppers are
starting to flower so we should be adding them to our diet in about 8
weeks time. Meanwhile the glut of courgettes continue and I never leave
without a bagful to deliver to somebody. The apricots are ripening too.
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| Monday, 14th May 2001 |
| Another wild and windy weekend. This time I failed to take my own advice and spent the weekend stranded in Rhodes, having gone over on the Saturday morning hydrofoil. The weather deteriorated rapidly in the course of the day. The excursion boats went to Symi in the morning and provided their passengers with an unscheduled bout of white water rafting on the return trip. The Symi II failed to make the entrance to Mandraki and docked in Colonna next door. At 5pm Captain Phil announced that the Symi I was not going anywhere until further notice and that was that. It rained on Symi (about 3mm, mostly mud) that night and Rhodes had some quite heavy showers. While watching CNN in my hotel I was interested to see that Cairo was experiencing the worst sandstorm in a hundred years so it was hardly surprising that it was raining sand on Symi.
The weather in Symi improved dramatically in the course of Sunday with a slight change in wind direction but the crossing from Rhodes in the evening was nonetheless quite wet until we passed Cape Apostoli and were in the lee of the island. Today is bright, clear and breezy with visibility to infinity. The Poseidon website shows strong winds again for tomorrow and the day after, though, so it seems there is more to come. |
| Friday, 11th May 2001 |
| True
to form, VE Day closed with a 6mm downpour that co-incided with the
departure of a hydrofoil full of veterans and dignitaries back to Rhodes
in the afternoon. Since then it has been very pleasant with temperatures
in the mid twenties, clean blue skies, fluffy white clouds, refreshing
breezes and wouldn't it be nice if it was like this all year round?
Alas, all is set to change again tomorrow with further strong winds
expected and possible rain showers on Sunday. This is unlikely to last
long though and from next week we can expect the temperatures to
continue upwards as we head towards the June solstice.
The last of the leaf crops in my garden look distinctly frazzled but that doesn't matter now as the courgettes put on a splendid display of new golden Art Nouveau blooms every morning and the cherry tomatoes are reddening on the vines. Basil is taking over from dill and the plant shop is doing brisk business in flowering plants of all kinds. As it is light from about six in the morning now, the business hours are changing to summer ones with more activity out and about at 7.30 or 8 am than at 3 pm - suddenly long sleepy afternoons are with us. As I write this at 4 o'clock in the afternoon the last of the excursion boats has pulled out and the only life to be seen from the office window is an old codger applying the last lick of paint to the bottom of his boat before it goes in the water tomorrow. The indications would seem that summer is now here at last. (I may eat my words tomorrow, of course!) More on Monday. Have an enjoyable weekend, making those Symi holiday plans.
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| Monday, 7th May 2001 |
| Stormy
weather has once again disrupted travel plans and streaked the
whitewash with mud. Saturday morning started off warm and breezy but
clouded over rapidly so those who started the day in shorts and T-shirts
were soon digging out jeans and jumpers. By evening we had had a few
light showers and the clouds scudding across the rising full moon were
quite impressive. On Sunday it howled and the showers intensified. We
measured 3 mm - nothing fantastic but it came down fast enough to get
the gutters flowing into the cisterns. This morning we awoke to a
westerly Force 8 which prevented any traffic between Rhodes and Symi.
One of the big boats from Pireaus is trying to dock in Symi this
afternoon en route to Rhodes in the hope of getting some people off the
island. A strong westerly wind sets up a heavy swell in the Rhodes
channel as it is quite a long fetch and this takes a long time to drop
so the hydrofoil is unlikely to run tomorrow either.
Tomorrow is VE Day. This is celebrated with great enthusiasm here, as Symi was the capital of the Dodecanese at the time that the Peace Treaty was signed (Rhodes was still in Axis hands at the time). The bridge and waterfront are decorated with flags, streaming horizontal in the wind, and a Town Hall employee is carefully painting white lines down the road to guide the marchers. Some of us can remember the VE Day 3 years ago when the rain started as the procession stopped and it rained for fifteen solid hours. We hope this year won't be as drastic but it is highly likely that there will be rain at the end of this wind as it seems to be raining, one way or another, all the way from the Peloponnese to Gibraltar.
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| Friday, May 4th 2001 |
| Yassou On the whole it has been quite a good week. A few showers on Monday and Tuesday, ferry delays and cancellations due to high winds in the Aegean on Wednesday and relentless sunshine ever since. Yes, I know you're all sitting glumly in offices, looking at rain streaming down the windows and wishing you were here. If it makes you feel better, think about the adverse side of sunshine like mosquito bites for instance or getting suncream in your eyes. We're getting a bit fretful in the office as the air conditioner is still moribund and its absence is becoming perceptible. If the shutters are closed, it doesn't mean we're not at home - we're just keeping the sun out. The various forecasters have come up with a real mixed bag of predictions for this weekend; anything from thunder storms and showers to continued sunshine and high temperatures. What will probably happen is that the rest of Greece with get the storms and showers and we will continue to fry from now until September. |
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© Adriana Shum 2001 [HOME] |
