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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>>
The Christmas Weekend was fine and clear. Temperatures rose to around 18 degrees and we had lunch on the terrace of a house over at Mavrovouni in our shirtsleeves. The first tentative almond blossoms are already appearing in sheltered gardens and the lemons are the size of grapes. On Monday it clouded over again and we have had intermittent showers which are set to continue for most of the week, with the occasional strong wind. The different television channels were vying with each other last night as to who could produce the most alarming forecast - it seems we can expect anything from Force 6 to Force 10. Right now there are a few ripples from the south east flickering across the harbour and the sun is appearing in patches across Nimos. I would give you a webcam shot but the webcam is not speaking to us at the moment and I will have to try again later. Otenet, the Greek internet service provider, seems to be struggling under the weight of all those animated Christmas ecards! It was rather a quiet Christmas on the island this year as there have been many funerals in recent weeks, mainly of elderly Symiots, so many families are in mourning. We will be covering some of the better known in the January edition of the SV. The big boat came through yesterday, taking away with it the Symi bus for its annual overall and giving Lakis the opportunity to do something other than drive round in circles. For those of us who live in Chorio this means doing our shopping up rather than down - the Kali Strata seems to have about 900 steps in it when laden with shopping bags and wading against the flow of rainwater gushing down. Have a good week Regards, Symi report; Thursday 23rd December It is a calm overcast slightly drizzly day clearing slowly from the East. The wind is changing to the north which will bring clear skies and low temperatures tomorrow. Christmas is expected to be fair for most of the country. Southerly winds with rain and warmer temperatures are expected on Boxing Day and Monday. At the moment the wind is expected to be Force 6-7 in the Aegean and Force 8 in the Ionian for Sunday and Monday but this situation may change. The hydrofoil does its last trip of the winter tomorrow before shutting down for maintenance. The Symi II will continue to run 3 times a week until further notice and we are all still waiting for the new boat whose arrival has already been postponed by a month for reasons unspecified. The Metropolitan is delivering a speech to the people of Symi over Star Radio today - a landmark event for the people of Symi. For those of you who do not subscribe to the Symi Visitor newspaper, the island has had its own radio station operating out of the Nautical Museum for the past year and the island has had its own Metropolitan (Greek Orthodox equivalent to an Archbishop) since July.
The foreigners who own holiday homes here are starting to arrive for Christmas. Those who have been at this time of the year before are armed with thermal underwear and know better than to force open more shutters than they can close quickly in a downpour. Those who can't quite believe Greece actually has a winter will be homing in on the discount store across the harbour selling wellies, oilies, anoraks and fleeces. Have a wonderful Christmas, everybody, and a special message to the Brits: Please don't overcook your sprouts! My next
report will be on Tuesday. Symi report; Tuesday 21st December Whoosh. Sloosh and whoosh again. The forecast considerably understated the reality and the weather this weekend was on the far side of wild. Heavy rain accompanied by a Force 9 gale gusting 10 was rather more dramatic than many roofs could stand and the heavily overcrowded Symi II on Monday morning, the first boat out since last Thursday, was full not just with Albanian workers trying to get home to Tirana for Christmas but also locals swopping tales of cracked tiles, lost chimneys and low-flying TV aerials - not to mention various boat dramas as those out of the water fell over and those in it were swept ashore.
One property owner returning to Symi for Christmas was in an Olympic Airways airbus which only succeeded in landing on the second attempt at Rhodes airport early on Sunday morning and the later flight in, scheduled with a smaller plane, was cancelled due to the wind.
Torrential rain on Sunday afternoon calmed a turbulent sea and we had a brisk roll from Symi down to Rhodes on Monday morning leaving only half an hour late after the last car and passenger had been squeezed onto the boat. We left a black cloud raining over the Vigla in the morning and it was still there and still raining when we returned some 11 hours later. Slow moving rain showers alternated with rainbows through the day and the storm had knocked out most of the traffic lights on Rhodes, making getting about a slow process.
The weather is expected to remain unsettled for the rest of the week with a 24 hour lull promised on Christmas Day before the rain closes in again on Boxing Day. Parts of the mainland, particularly in the north and on high ground can expect a white Christmas. This blast is not unusual, considering that it is the Solstice. Let us not forget that this time last year a boat laden with refugees sank between Marmaris and Rhodes in a similar storm and 3 people in a car were washed off the quay and drowned in Rhodes harbour. We can only hope that this year there will not be similar tragedies. Have a
good week. My next report will be on Thursday as the
Symi Visitor office will be closed on Christmas Eve. Symi report; Friday 17th December The sustained period of sunny weather is coming to an end. Clouds are gathering and the forecast for the next 5-6 days is not good: rain, storms, southerly gales, snow on the mountains on the mainland. The town hall is already broadcasting announcements requesting everyone to move their cars out of the water courses and the weather forecasters on television have also advised farmers to secure their greenhouses and make sure their livestock are safe. Those whose boats are still in the water are laying extra lines and anchors as a precaution - even if the worst of the wind passes us by, the storm surge can be bad in a big blow. Fortunately it seems likely that it will blow itself out before Christmas Day itself but it is a nuisance for anyone wanting to travel at this time. I've been
down in Pedi the last few days, doing some long overdue
boat maintenance, and it was very pleasant working in
the winter sunshine. The drone of our power sanders
joined with that of many others similarly employed along
the shoreline. The big date palms are quite laden with
fruit now and the birds are really enjoying themselves.
The rushes have set seed and the wells are full. Most
of the houses are shut up, particularly along the side
towards St Nicholas and the kiosk is wrapped up like a
big parcel. The owner has moved round the corner into a
small but more weatherproof brick structure next to the
church entrance in which he and various locals watch
television and gossip. The church towers are surrounded
by scaffolding and there is some painting work going on
inside, to the accompaniment of some distinctly secular
Greek pop music. The market gardens are a combination
of tethered sheep grazing and rows of distant greens. Symi report; Tuesday 14th December Symi is basking happily in the winter sunshine. An enterprising soul over on the sunny side of the harbour has put speakers out on his balcony and plays the kind of lyrical Greek songs evocative of old Melina Mercouri movies. To this cheery accompaniment, fishermen are mending bright yellow nets and servicing their boat engines. Higher up the amphitheatre, shepherds are dag-locking sheep and housewives are stringing fairy lights around balconies. An air of tidy industry prevails. The town hall has set up small Christmas trees made out of lights at many places around the harbour and Chorio and even the Pedi road has its quota of stars and doves lining the route. In the evenings shutters are left open to reveal twinkling trees and those whose houses are too small to permit decorations indoors have set them up outside instead. Boats sail across gables and robins ski across pediments. Real robins, by the way, are common winter birds here and are often to be seen among the olive trees.
The breeze remains northerly
until the end of the week at which point, when it
switches to the south, temperatures will rise slightly
and some rain showers are expected. Up to now it has
actually proved to be quite a dry winter with lower than
average rainfall in November and December and Greece as
a whole and Symi in particular will require some serious
rain to bring the watertable up to acceptable levels.
While we wait for this to arrive, if ever, we are
certainly enjoying the mild weather. Symi report; Friday 10th December There's a chill north easterly breeze skipping over the harbour, chasing away the low clouds that threatened rain earlier. There is a lorry laden with bags of grain parked below the balcony and sacks of maize and chicken feed are being transferred to smaller pick up trucks for transport up the mountain. As the rains came late this year there is not very much grazing available and most livestock will require additional feed for some months to come. Speaking of the grazing of livestock, I was awakened by some strange bangs and thumps in the night, accompanied by scrunching noises which turned out to be a donkey tethered in the field behind our house munching on the olive tree that overhangs our bedroom roof.
There is a lot of coming and
going this weekend as airfares go up shortly to high
season rates so those who are travelling to spend the
holidays with their families are either boarding planes
to other climes or arriving armed with exotic gifts for
Symiot relations. Everyone else is working out how many
ferry trips to Rhodes there are between now and
Christmas.
Symi
report; Tuesday 7th December A big boat came in last night, bringing among other things a truck full of big floppy savoy cabbages and a chap selling sensible slippers. The Christmas lights are inching their way round the harbour - a procession of neat doves, stars and sailing ships. Symi acquires a real toyland charm at this time of the year as all the municipal decorations are in proportion with the houses and the locals generally follow the same trend.
The recently ploughed fields are
sprouting luminous green in the Pedi valley and tiny
mushrooms and toadstools are coming up between the
cyclamens. It is very pleasant out of doors at this time
of the year and the lower temperatures make walking
enjoyable. Symi report; Friday 2nd December The overcast and drizzly weather has cleared and it is a bit warmer today. The weather is expected to remain fairly settled for the next few days, only changing again on Monday with a little rain before the wind shifts to the north on Tuesday and temperatures start to fall once more. The snow can be seen quite clearly over on the Turkish mountains now and the view from the Vigla is spectacular. A big boat passed through last night and while walking to work this morning I noticed that several shopkeepers in Chorio were packing out Christmas trees and decorations along with fresh supplies of halogen heaters, wellies and the big rolls of clear plastic sheeting with which Symiots solve any shortcomings in the weatherproofing of their homes. (It is not unusual to see quite elderly people crawling around on their roofs, wrestling with big sheets of plastic and strategically placed stones to keep the rain out.)
The first lambs have been born.
As Greek Easter falls at the beginning of May next year
there is plenty of time to fatten these chaps up. Yep, it
is the males who are earmarked for this honour, being of
limited use for anything else...
©Adriana Shum 2004
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