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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, January 31st 2003 If you have looked at the webcam shots today you will see that things are a bit grey on Symi at the moment. The clouds are moving at such a speed that they don't have time to rain on us although we had a few showers during the night. Needless to say the shipping schedule is a mess. Other aspects of nature are considerably less tempestuous. Drifts of pale pink cyclamens light up every mossy terrace and the almond trees have erupted with scented confetti. Armies of snails work their way across the rockface behind the bus stop, gorging themselves on wild angelica and cyclamen leaves. Little old ladies with plastic bags follow in their wake, selecting the biggest specimens for dinner. Waste not, want not. New lemons and oranges gleam on the trees and softly plop plump fruits in pebbled courtyards. The street sweepers have reached the upper reaches of the town with their bags and brooms, collecting up the autumn leaves and windfall twigs. The patchwork fields of the Pedi valley glow green in the dim grey light, dotted with munching sheep. Speaking of munching sheep, on Tuesday, during a sunny interval, I had cause to go up the motor road from the harbour. A comfortable ewe had settled herself on the warm tarmac close to the verge, her back to the passing traffic, munching a convenient cypress branch and admiring the view.
Have a good weekend.
Regards,
Adriana
Monday, January 27th 2003 It's wild! It's windy! But at least we're not under water. Not yet, anyway. While the rest of the world may be wondering if World War III is about to break out, Greeks in other parts are being rescued from their houses in rubber ducks in various parts of the country and the local television channels are full of tales of woe and heroic rescues. No prizes for guessing that the ferry didn't run this morning and is likely to remain firmly tethered to the quay for some time to come. Apparently it's blowing Force 8 out in the Rhodes Channel and still deteriorating so no big boats either. For those who don't know it, passenger vessels are not allowed to sail in a Force 8 or above and not on a deteriorating forecast. This is the point at which local decisions are over-ridden by the central authorities and all passenger shipping is stopped for the duration. Fortunately Symi is relatively sheltered against SE gales so apart from the odd gust and a nasty swell in the harbour things aren't too bad here at the moment. It rained for most of the night and the mobile phone network keeps losing the plot but that happens frequently in the winter when there's a lot of stormy weather around. It is not particularly cold - about 13 degrees at the moment. But I am wearing my wellies to the office... There are no storm water drains as such so it is impossible to remain dry shod, particularly walking down the Kali Strata in a rainstorm. The white almond trees, always the first to flower, are in full bloom and some early poppies are nodding among the daisies. A whiff of optimism (some may call it hay-fever) is in the air! Saturday, January 25th 2003 Symi was slightly drier than other parts of the Dodecanese this week. In Rhodes cars were up to their windows with water in some areas and basement and ground floor flats were flooded. The beleaguered populace of Chios have been flooded so many times this winter that the world mastic crop is in serious trouble. Kos also had more than its fair share of fun and games and one unfortunate motorist lost her life when her car was swept off a bridge as a river burst its banks and she drowned. There is a dense area of low pressure and storm activity moving its way eastwards from Italy and north Africa at the moment, bringing with it more heavy rain and strong winds. The shipping forecast for the next few days is quite simple - nothing is likely to move from tonight until further notice. Probably Wednesday. Meanwhile we are busy with the February edition of the newspaper in the hope that the gale will blow itself out prematurely and we will be able to get it to the printer in Rhodes on Monday. Monday, January 20th 2003 Rain, rain and more rain... And there's more to come according to the satellite picture. On the plus side things are growing. Lambs are gambolling. Kids are frolicking. The ewes and nanny goats are tethered to every available post so their offspring are everywhere. If gates are not closed they nip in to browse on the laundry and wander into the houses, samply geraniums and wet socks alike. This morning I saw a very determined small white hen in a garden full of daisies pulling hard to uproot a big artichoke plant as though it was the last thing left to eat, totally ignoring the weeds around her. Friday, January 17th 2003 After a week of crisp wintry weather the clouds reappeared this morning and parts of Greece are likely to experience occasional thundershowers this weekend. Yesterday I went to Rhodes to retrieve a now-repaired lightning-fried computer and the snow capped peaks on the Turkish coast were quite a sight, gleaming in the winter sun. Rhodes was very quiet in comparison to Symi and many businesses and shops still had signs taped up announcing that they would only be reopening next week. The January sales have started but they do not have the same cult appeal that they have in other parts of Europe, coming as they do at a time of the year when those who are in seasonal employment (the bulk of the population in a tourist based economy) have little money to spend and still have several months to go before the season starts again. In some ways the Symiots are better off as many of the menfolk work in the building industry on the island during the winter whereas in Rhodes there is little work of that nature available. Certainly on Symi one is aware of a bustle of activity from early in the morning whereas in Rhodes town there are few people around and the shops and businesses open considerably later, if at all in some cases. One taxi driver of my acquaintance has gone off to harvest his olives as there isn’t much doing at the taxi rank. Looking out of the Symi Visitor window today, the tree-pruning and general clean up of the harbour area is still in full swing. Houses are being replastered, boats painted, roofs retiled, wrought iron railings delivered - in every direction one looks there is someone busy doing something. The bus has reappeared after its annual overhaul, freshly resprayed and with far fewer rattles. Even Lakis, the driver, seems to be rejuvenated after a fortnight away from the wheel. The maintenance men from the electricity company have arrived on the island to upgrade the wiring in certain areas, plant new poles and do the things that are necessary to keep the island’s electricity supply abreast with the community’s requirements. And I’m going home to play with my new tractor...
Monday, January 13th 2003 After a windy weekend with no boats until Sunday afternoon, today dawned bright and clear with a brisk northerly breeze and the ferry departemmd as scheduled. With a bit of luck we should receive last week's newspapers this afternoon! The municipal workers are hard at it with chain saws, pruning trees around the town square so life is a little noisy in the Symi Visitor office at the moment. Coming down the Kali Strata early this morning, there were more workers out with big black bags tidying away the debris from Saturday's gale. The last leaves have been blasted off the deciduous trees and the bougainvilleas are naked. More strong winds are expected, from the north this time, so we can expect a drop in temperature tonight. It is very pleasant in the sun so those who have the leisure to do so are making the most of it. Everyone else is doing laundry, painting boats, planting beans, scrubbing carpets, airing blankets, chopping firewood, cutting back geraniums, pouring cement or chipping rust (on the Symi I and Symi II!) Friday, January 10th 2003 The festive season is over - the municipal workers are trundling round the harbour, dismantling Christmas lights and stacking them carefully in the back of the fire truck. Coming down the Kali Strata this morning I noticed that most of the domestic decorations have also been tidied away and the builders, plasterers, carpenters and painters are hard at work, making the most of the dry weather. The shutters at the Symi Visitor office are turning wedgewood blue... The telephone company workers are still busy, repairing the damage from the lightning strikes in Chorio last week and not all subscribers are back on line yet. Although there was no damage to the electrical substations, houses close to the strike suffered damage to their wiring and many people lost their TVs, videos, computers and other sensitive equipment. The wind has blown all the leaves off the deciduous trees but it still isn’t particularly cold. Temperatures at the moment are around 18 degrees at midday on Symi. It is very windy with southerly gales and the ferry schedule has come apart at the seams. The Panormitis could not leave Symi this morning and various forlorn figures surrounded by huddles of suitcases were camped on the harbour front this morning, worrying about missed planes and jabbing glumly at mobile phone keypads. Apparently this is likely to be a three day southerly blow followed by a northerly gale starting Monday so the outlook is not promising. On the bright side we are not experiencing the blizzards and floods that are making life miserable for so many people in central and western Europe - and there are worse places to be marooned than Symi. Tuesday, January 7th 2003 It's a lovely sunny day on Symi with a warm southerly wind whipping up white horses in the harbour. Clean picture-book clouds are scudding across the sky and sunbeams are playing on the water. The red hibiscus flowers in the planters on the town square are bobbing in the breeze. Up in the Pedi valley there are lots of new lambs, bright eyed and knocked-kneed among the daisies. The first pale cyclamens are flowering among the mossy rocks. Although much of the country is under either snow or water, Symi is in Camelot-mode and the weather generally has been so mild this winter that the caterpillars and locusts are still munching. The wild purple anemones that grace many ploughed terraces show, on close examination, the unmistakeable signs of insect damage. At least while they have wildflowers to eat they are leaving my broccoli alone! Saint John's church in Yialos is flying flags today as it is one of the many days dedicated to Saint John. Yesterday of course was a holiday because of the Epiphany but given the number of 'Yannis' on the island, the casual observer would be forgiven for believing that today was a full-blown holiday as well. Meanwhile on the back balcony of the Symi Visitor office an orbital sander whines and groans - we're having our shutters repainted. As the shutters have been removed from the front windows for this purpose we have rigged cheerful striped cotton bedspreads to keep the sun off the computers. Shutters are an essential fact of life here. They keep the sun out of our eyes all year round as well as insulating us from the extremes of the weather - an old fashioned but effective alternative to double glazing. Rumour has it we're getting a different colour to the old faded chocolate brown...
Saturday, January 4th 2003 Happy New Year! The big bangs anticipated on New Year’s Eve didn’t happen. It rained instead and the main bangs were actually provided by the weather the following night when a huge electrical storm hit Chorio. There were two major lightning strikes, one coming to ground at Stavros Church where it actually hit the church gatepost and the other up near the windmills. Apart from the inevitable power cuts, the main damage was to the telephone lines which are unlikely to be fully restored until sometime next week. A lot of household electronic equipment was also damaged by the strike with many fried television sets, VCRs and satellite dishes. Down in the harbour there have already been a few changes with the arrival of the new Mayor - various metal awning structures are being removed, starting with the one next to the bridge below the Symi Visitor office which was the first to go yesterday. Apparently only retractable awnings will now be permitted. © Adriana Shum 2003 Send Adriana E-Mail» |
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