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The latest news & weather from Symi, reported by Adriana Shum from 'The Symi Visitor' office. Adriana's Greek Recipe of the Week>>
FRIDAY, MAY
30th 2003
After a few days of unsettled weather and mud showers the sun is out again. A stiff breeze is fluttering the flags on the bridge and temperatures are comfortable. I noticed today that an optimistic soul has carefully planted and staked some sunflowers in the planter in the town square to replace the hollyhocks when they are spent. The proliferation of dustbins around the island seems to be paying off as you would have to be a particularly perverse soul to drop litter when there are now bins only a few paces apart in all directions - including in Chorio in all places where people might congregate while waiting for the bus, taxis etc.
There is quite an assortment
of yachts in the harbour these days. Apart from the usual
plastic charter boats we have seen some interesting privately
owned wooden sailing yachts, a vintage 1930's gentleman's power
yacht, a monumental 3 masted schooner, several hi-tech
catamarans and a couple of Dutch steel motor-sailers. The
gulets from Turkey also call in regularly, particularly the ones
from Datca.
The wedding at St Nicholas on
Wednesday was a great success, even though the weather teased us
all day. A great time was had by all and the reception was
one Symi will remember for a long time. Pictures will be
on the Out and About page shortly.
Have a good weekend.
Regards,
MONDAY, MAY 26th 2003
All of this means that the
island has reverted to jungle - the grass is growing again, the
vines are a tangle of tendrils, buds and brilliant foliage, the
carmine hollyhocks on the town square would do any English cottage
garden proud and the oleanders are bowed down under the opulence
of their blossoms. The caper bushes and pink and white rock
roses are starting to flower on the rocky slopes - delicate blooms
to reward early risers as they burn away quickly in the sunshine.
Drifts of white oregano flowers flow across the stone walls and
terraces and the locals are gathering bushels of them for drying.
A faint whiff evocative of pizza lingers on the air and a walk in
the country works up an appetite in more ways than one.
Have a good week.
FRIDAY, MAY 23rd 2003* The fine weather has broken. A big depression is passing over Greece, bringing with it lower temperatures, rain and strong winds. On Symi it is still warm and dry, and the wind is not much in evidence but huge clouds are drifting overhead and sunrise over Turkey was quite spectacular this morning. Rain showers over Bosburun, rose pink and grey clouds above a silver sea and some Biblical sun beams highlighting random patches of sea and shore - it was worth getting up at 5.30 to see it!
Some parts of the country have
already had heavy rain which is a relief. The wet spring
followed by extremely dry conditions and hot winds has created ideal
fire conditions in many areas as the weed growth is greater than
normal. The flooding experienced in mountain and rural areas
during the winter storms damaged roads, reducing access to many
potential trouble spots so the fire fighting authorities have been
using additional air borne surveillance and implemented extra
foot patrols to prevent any problems arising. It is unusual to
have to implement such measures so early in the year but Greece has
suffered some catastrophic forest fires in recent years and cannot
take any chances. For those of you who don't know it already,
this is the main reason why camping is illegal in Greece outside
designated camp sites. They are not a nation of spoilsports -
just wary of untended BBQs, overturned camping gas bottles,
carelessly discarded cigarettes, sunlight glinting off old bottles
etc.
Have a good weekend!
*Apologies
for the late arrival of last Friday's news; Mike, the Symi Visitor
Webmaster has been in Paris for a couple of days.
MONDAY, MAY 19th 2003 As I was walking down to work this morning several trucks wallowed past me, heading up the mountain with big plastic water drums for the sheep and goats. Keeping livestock fed and watered is a very labour intensive exercise in the hot months as there is little grazing once the rainy season has passed and there are no springs or streams from which the animals can drink. At least with the improvement to the roads and the availability of trucks it is now possible to take significant amounts of water up the mountain relatively quickly whereas in the old days of donkey transport it must have been a real chore.
As the weather remains hot and dry
the earth is hardening - the pick has once again become the tool of
choice in the garden, making digging up the potatoes an interesting
experience!
The new booms for traffic control
in the harbour and the top of the Kali Strata have been fitted.
Now we all have to remember to be in the right place at the right time
to avoid such disasters as being stuck at Nimborio until 3 pm when
traffic can once again flow through Yialos or having to abandon the
vehicle and take the shopping home on the bus.
Have a good week.
FRIDAY, MAY 16th 2003 Yesterday was briefly overcast and showers were seen falling in distant curtains over Datca and Bozburun but only a few drops fell on Symi, evaporating before they even reached the ground in most places.
There is the possibility of cooler
weather with rather more normal temperatures in the early part of the
week but it is unlikely that the island will really cool down again now
as the rocks are hot. The oregano bushes are flowering and the
roses are doing exceptionally well this year as long as they are kept
irrigated.
Now that shipping is back to normal
the trucks full of garden furniture and pots and pans are circulating
the islands. A recent clamp down on truck and trailer safety in
the aftermath of a horrible accident on the mainland shortly before
Easter means that they are not as precariously laden as usual. The
chick seller came round last week with his truck full of cages -
ducklings, guinea fowl and all sorts of young poultry are for sale.
Many Symiots still keep poultry for eggs as well as for the pot - as
anyone who has been awakened by cockerels celebrating daybreak will be
aware!
Have a good weekend.
More on Monday.
MONDAY, MAY 12th 2003
Midday
temperatures rose into the upper thirties over the weekend
and the island is soaking up the heat.
Last night at midnight it was still 26 degrees centigrade
and the whirr of fans and air conditioners joined the whine of
mosquitoes. According
to the Greek Meteorological Service this is the hottest May in
more than twenty years and the whole country is sweltering in
these exceptional temperatures.
The
local shepherds and goatherds are taking advantage of every
scrap of grazing for their flocks and the tinkle of bells is the
only sound to break the siesta in the valley.
In the late afternoons, when the worst of the heat has
passed, young men come with scythes and sickles to cut the grass
from the terraces. Where
once they would have arrived on donkeys, now they clatter up the
dirt road on motorbikes, scythes over their shoulders like some
bizarre parody of the Grim Reaper or Old Father Time. The
wildflowers are disappearing rapidly, lingering flashes of
yellow daisies and pale blue cornflowers marking the last traces
of surface moisture in a rapidly browning landscape.
In the gardens watering is becoming a daily chore if the
bright geraniums and bougainvilleas are to survive the summer.
Down
along the Pedi road new dustbins have been provided at intervals
to cope with ice cream wrappers and soft drink cans and the new
oleanders are starting to flower along the road. Have
a good week!
FRIDAY, MAY 9th 2003 The VE day parade was a tremendous success. Various dignitaries including the Prefect of the Dodecanese as well as a dancing troupe, a brass band and several television companies came over from Rhodes to augment the local dancers. Yesterday's webcam shot shows the dancing in the square. More photos will be appearing on the out and about pages soon once we have decided which of the dozens taken are the best ... The marching school children seemed more motivated to stay in step with the accompaniment of a 'proper' band - or perhaps it was the knowledge that they were appearing on television!
It is still sunny and hot on Symi and it is unlikely to be anything else from now until September, with only minor variations in the temperatures i.e. hot, hotter, hotter still etc! We haven't seen a cloud for days. The weekend will be spent wrestling with bales of shade cloth, wire and string before the vegetable garden becomes too frazzled to salvage.
MONDAY, MAY 5th 2003 It seems as though we are in for a long hot summer. The heat has settled over the island like a blanket and the valley crackles with the sound of dry grass and munching locusts. The snails have definitely packed it in - small colonies of firmly sealed shells are attached to the rocks in the shady crevices. Lizards of all sizes and colours bask on the rocks, occasionally venturing to the dog's water bowl to drink when the cats aren't looking. The cats are too languid to pay much attention, only emerging from shady places to go hunting once the sun has sunk behind the Vigla. The city-dwellers are making their way back to Athens and Thessalonika after the Easter/May Day holidays so the big ferries are packed. Symi is suddenly quiet again as the cafes along the waterfront are no longer crammed with elegant Athenians in smart city clothes chatting animatedly and waving mobile phones around. The day trippers who have replaced them are shell-shocked into torpor by the heat and just slump in flushed heaps waiting for something cold, anything cold, but please make it cold, to arrive on the table in front of them.
FRIDAY, MAY 2nd 2003 We've gone from dismal days to sizzling sunshine in a flash. The thermometer continues to climb as a huge area of high pressure has settled over the eastern Mediterranean. The spring grasses are browning before our eyes and the daisies, ever shallow rooted and ephemeral, lean thirstly against each other in tipsy heaps on the terraces. It is unusual to have temperatures in the mid thirties this early in the year although we would be kidding ourselves to believe that the transition between the seasons here is ever a gradual process. With plummeting humidity levels the old houses creak and crackle as timbers suddenly dry and shrink. Shutters which last weekend still required force to open and close now show chinks of light and rattle. Frantic rummagings in trunks turn up mothballed shorts and mildewed t-shirts. Fortunately laundry is dry within the hour! Have a good weekend. I'm rushing home to water the cucumbers!
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