Friday, May 31st 2002

Summer is simmering gently across the harbour and the heat haze is drifting off the mountains. The virginia creeper climbing the stone building next to the office window is ahum with bees. There are two hot pink hollyhocks in the planter along the front of the town square which someone has taken the trouble to stake. Combined with the geraniums which are flowering at last the effect is considerably prettier than the old row of dustbins that used to grace that spot.

There are a lot more people around the island now and our office is quite busy these days. Quite a few people seem to be holidaying with children these days so there are lots more pushchairs trundling past the bridge. It takes a brave parent to bring a small child to a place like Symi where there are so many steps to climb.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana
The Symi Visitor
www.SymiVisitor.com

Monday, May 27th 2002

A falling barometer and looming black clouds whispered rumours of rain at the weekend but rumours they remained. We saw showers fall all around and smelled rain on the air but Symi remained dry although the humidity climbed to just short of 90% in the late afternoon. The temperature continues to rise and there is little growing on the island which is not being artificially watered. The oleanders around the harbour are drooping under the weight of floppy pink and mauve flowers and the scent of jasmine is overwhelming.

There is a hawker in the square selling new potatoes and a group of gypsies has set up camp under the open air stage. The Coca Cola company made one of its infrequent visits to the island on Saturday, dishing out red umbrellas and menu boards and checking that no one was keeping Pepsi in the Coca Cola fridges. We had visions of the Archaeologia in hot pursuit, gathering up the red brollies as fast as they were dished out but nothing has happened as yet although the menu boards certainly appeared outside some surprising establishments. 

The new quay is still keeping everyone on their toes as it is difficult to anticipate which boats will dock where and sometimes split second decisions have everyone running round the harbour but we expect these glitches to be ironed out soon. The general rule seems to be that the Symi I docks on the new side when it comes in the evening, the really big ferries still come in at the clock tower and the tourist boats are divided between the two. Unless the water boat happens to be at the clock tower of course or one of the big blue cargo ships is unloading sand on the new quay...

Friday, May 24th 2002

The season of bright sunshine and shimmering water is upon us. The thyme bushes on the hills cast a lilac sheen over the last of the spring green and the sheep are making short work of the last of the daisies. In the gardens and olive groves small fruits are forming - tiny olives, grapes and figs. The figs will be the first to swell and ripen, the olives the last. The bronze-green pomegranate trees are dotted with scarlet flowers. A promise of things to come.

The excursion boats are in the harbour so there is plenty of activity below our window. A parade of knapsacks and sunhats. Burnt noses and hiking boots. Baggy shorts and baseball caps. Reps with flags on poles leading straggling groups of potential sponge buyers over the bridge to waterfront tables beneath blue awnings. The whiff of grilled fish wafts up from the tavernas with the clink of retsina glasses and the murmur of many voices. 

Some of you on the noticeboard have queried the wisdom of hire cars on Symi. If you think about it, one small car makes far less noise than four mopeds while carrying the same number of people and not all the visitors to the island are confident enough, or proficient enough, to leap on a bike and tackle the road to Panormitis. If it means that more people can enjoy Symi safely and explore the interior of the island, why should they not be able to do so? For those of us who live here it means the option of hiring a car when we need one to take visitors around rather than maintaining one all year round (and exacerbating the island's parking problem) when it is only required for occasional use. All the cars available are the modern compact type with maximum volume for minimal external dimensions, not a motley assortment of beat up old jalopies unlike many of the other vehicles on Symi's roads. One of the main contributors to the traffic on the island is actually the army base over on the other side near the Nimos channel and I am not referring to jeeps full of conscripts either. Just cars whizzing up and down the Vigla, stereo going at full blast, because many of the soldiers are billeted in the harbour and, like young men the world over, tend to leave getting to work until the last minute and then have to break the sound barrier to get to parade on time.

Have a good weekend.

Monday, May 20th 2002

This afternoon I had to meet some new arrivals who were coming in on the Nissos Kalymnos from Kos so I trotted down to the Clock Tower, clutching my laminated 'Symi Visitor' sign board and wishing I had remembered a sun hat as it is hot enough to fry eggs. The usual assortment of trucks and cars had already accumulated, their drivers sheltering in the thin band of shade in front of the Nireus. The police station was festooned with blankets. The sound of a very young baby wailing to be fed came from the cells. Symi Police Station is playing host to another consignment of Afghan refugees and looks unlike any other police station I have ever seen. The young police men seem to quite enjoy playing with the children. It's just as well crime isn't a problem on Symi as the lock-ups haven't been available for their intended purpose for months.

Anyway, the Nissos Kalymnos arrived, about 10 minutes late, dropped its anchor and started to turn, with its ramp down, to dock stern-to over on the new side of the harbour. Then someone must have radioed the bridge and pointed out that the port authorities et al were waiting over by the Clock Tower so it tried to correct the manouevre and over shot the mark. Performing a complex series of pirouettes (I counted four complete revolutions) it eventually managed to wind up more or less aimed at the right spot. The ramp was a bit squiff and for a moment it looked as though it would be necessary to motor out, raise the hook and start all over again but they managed to sort it out with ropes in the end. I should imagine that the captain had quite a lot to say over the VHF to the Harbour Master after that little caper.

Well, it gave us all something to watch on a hot afternoon.

Have a good week.

Friday, May 17th 2002

As temperatures continue their inexorable ascendance the last wild hollyhocks lean drunkenly in the watercourses and small starry white flowers cloak the oregano bushes. Oleanders and geraniums splash hot pinks and mauves among the ochre walls and the grass turns from green to sepia. A brave jacaranda is waving a single plume of lilac blossom from a planter outside a taverna near the customs house. Whether it will ever achieve the heroic dimensions of southern climes remains to be seen.

A certain summery somnambulance settles over the harbour at this time of the afternoon as the last straggling day trippers return to their excursion boats and the tavernas and shopkeepers close to sleep. The island is still very quiet and not many places bother to reopen in the evenings at the moment. Why sit and watch mosquitoes drone over the clean paper tablecloths when you can swat them while watching Greek soap operas in the comfort of your own kitchen? 

So far the only inconvenience attached to the car hire business is the phenomenen of awe-struck visitors stopping dead in the middle of the road to take photographs and admire the view or heading the wrong way up the short cut through Chorio. The hirers of bikes are guilty of the same offences but don't cause quite as much chaos. The Symi bus and taxi drivers perform breath-taking manoeuvres and feats of stunt driving to avoid disaster. If anyone reading this is considering hiring a car while visiting Symi, do behave as you would do at home and park in a sensible place, out of the thoroughfare, while taking in the scenery!

Have a good weekend!

Monday, May 13th 2002

After a glorious weekend we have been watching low clouds rolling over the Vigla with some interest but nothing much seems to be happening. It is highly unlikely that we will have any rain between now and November. The wild flowers are disappearing rapidly under the early summer sunshine as temperatures continue to climb. I spent the weekend planting out tomato seedlings and rigging shade houses.

A hawker is selling fish from the back of a truck in the square. The excursion boats are returning to their berths and people are coming back from the beaches. It starts to become a little chilly on the water at this time of the day although it is light until about 8 pm. 

The benefits of the wider quay are becoming apparent. A big ship was alongside this morning, unloading building materials, and it did not affect the centre of the harbour at all. No big trucks grinding round the bridge, scattering tourists and jostling cafe tables. 

Have a good week.

Friday, May 10th 2002

After a few dusty days of apricot skies and occasional mud splats the air is clearing. The striped canopies around the water front reflect the sparkling harbour. A fisherman is shaking out lemon yellow nets under a sky blue awning on the stern of his newly painted caique. The inevitable circle of concentrated feline interest watches intently from the quayside. Ah! A small silvery fish hits warm stone and is pounced upon. Reproachful glares from the other cats and the game continues.

The buzz of Greek television drifts up through the floor from the gyros bar below and swimsuited children shout in the back lanes. The flags stir faintly on the bridge. A vivid mauve bougainvillea glows among the ruins below the Kali Strata.

Just a soporific spring Friday afternoon on Symi...

Have a good weekend.

Tuesday, May 7th 2002

The Easter weekend was busy, bright, and sunny. The visit of the Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, at the weekend, drew a number of people to the island who would not otherwise have spent Easter here and the harbour on Saturday morning sported several large and glamorous power yachts. The celebrations were as exuberant as ever with plenty of big bangs and some splendid fireworks. On Sunday the whiff of roasting lamb floated across the valley, to the accompaniment of Greek songs and the odd lingering 'bang'. While the rest of us are returning more or less to normal, banks and non-tourist businesses are still closed and the chant of the Papas is still to be heard in Chorio - this latter a reminder that Easter is not really over here until Pentecost.

Coming down the Kali Strata today I found myself behind several war veterans, carefully negotiating steps which were probably already crumbling when they were here during the War. Tomorrow is the VE Day parade and it looks as though there will be a splendid turnout, judging by the number of beribboned and bemedalled blazers in evidence around the harbour. 

There are a few streaks of high cloud around and we hope that the weather is not going to deteriorate. At the moment it is quite hot - around 30C - and there is a feeling of thunder in the air.

Have a good week.

Thursday, May 2nd 2002

Suddenly it's summer. The harbour is full of pink-nosed people in sunhats and baggy shorts rushing to catch the excursion boats back to Rhodes. There are lots of Greek holiday-makers around too as Easter is a time for family reunions. The banks and public offices are closed until 10 May and many businesses won't be opening again until Wednesday at the earliest. Which, as it is VE Day, is another cause for festive fervour on Symi. 

It will be business as usual in the Symi Visitor office though, with the odd gap for photo opportunities as not only are there various religious events over the next few days (the effigy of Judas which will be burned on Sunday at the Clock Tower passed me in the back streets this morning!) but we have all the excitement of a visit from the Prime Minister so keep an eye on the Out and About page. (Did I hear Mike groan?!)

The 'modern' butcher in the corner of the harbour has just tricked out his display fridge with a rather macabre whole skinned lamb suspended by two meat hooks as a centre piece. I wonder if Hannibal Lecter is among his clientele... 

The island has run out of whitewash and eggs. Every housewife who is not on her knees painting the steps is preparing hundreds of dyed eggs and huge trays of cheese pies to take to the baker. As domestic ovens are still a luxury rather than standard household equipment, the local bakers let out oven space in the afternoons and overnight, when their bread baking is done. A big advantage of this arrangement in a place where houses are small and beds in the kitchen are not uncommon is that it keeps unnecessary heat out of the house. And it is about 27C out there today so who really wants to be slaving over an AGA?

Have a good weekend and I'll report back on Tuesday.