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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: MAYERITSA-Easter Soup Friday, March 29th 2002 Chill breezes continue to whip across the harbour and Pedi, chasing small clouds across the crisp blue sky. More rain is forecast for the weekend, along with north easterly gales, low temperatures and sleet on the mainland. Hoorah. But we will dutifully change our clocks on Sunday and pray that the Symi I will run on Monday morning for those brave souls who decided to come here for the Easter holidays and have planes to catch. Yes, those muffled figures shuffling round the harbour with pink noses and bemused expressions are the first 'visitors' of the season. This morning as I went to the post office there was a sort of scuffle among the debris of several half renovated tourist shops and a hand trundled out a rack of Symi souvenir T-shirts and postcards. Further rummagings produced an optimistic display of bright red plastic buckets and spades which the wind quickly sent cartwheeling down the quay. Various yachts have tied up in Yialos and Pedi in the course of the week as delivery crews make their way from Rhodes up to the more northerly cruising area of Kos. Luminous yellow and neon orange wet weather gear fly from the rigging along with various flags and charter banners as frozen fingered crew thaw out over mugs of coffee in salt encrusted cockpits. Happy Easter, everybody, and think of us, marooned on a small Greek island with no hot cross buns or chocolate eggs. We're sampling the latest line in feta-cheese flavoured crisps instead... Regards, Tuesday, March 26th 2002 The forecast gales arrived all right. Temperatures plummeted and sleet lashed Rhodes. Symi had a succession of hail storms which shredded the gardens and flattened the daisies. Shipping was disrupted throughout Greece and many people were stranded. It was also a holiday long weekend so many family reunions failed to take place - or lasted rather longer than planned! Symi received 20 millimetres of rain over three days, not counting the hail or that rain which was so wind driven it arrived horizontally! There was a gap long enough yesterday morning for the traditional parade to take place but it was a chilly and windswept affair. The drop in temperatures has had us all rummaging for winter woollies again and my chickens spent the night with a hurricane lamp in their hut for warmth. Of course this has rather hampered the painting and decorating that goes on at this time of the year and everything is wet again. Very frustrating as the excursion boats are supposed to start this week and the harbour is awash with muddy puddles. The barometer is still very low so the water level has risen and the sea is lapping up through the gratings and under the bridge. Apparently the weather will remain unsettled for days yet with temperatures getting no higher than 14 C at best. Although the storms were from the south, the wind is now from the north and very chilly indeed. Have a good week. Friday, March 22nd 2002 Despite gloomy weather forecasts predicting rain and howling gales, the sun is shining, the birds are twittering and the flags on the bridge are scarcely aflutter. Just as well really as activity to get everything ready for the beginning of the season is reaching fever pitch in certain quarters. In the queue at the bakery this morning I was surrounded by paint spattered cement encrusted locals waiting to buy their breakfast chocolate croissants. The same restauranteurs who dazzle as hosts in the summer are up ladders with paint rollers and chasing recalcitrant carpenters. The pick up trucks alternate between shunting cement mixers from site to site and delivering new tables and chairs from the Symi I. The boats hauled out around the town square are all becoming a uniform shade of primer orange as their owners deliberate over exactly which shade of blue to go for this summer. Monday is another holiday. Not only is it the Annunciation but it is also the anniversary of the day in 1821 when Germanos, the bishop of Patras, raised the flag of revolt in the monastery of Ayia Lavra and the Greek fight for independence officially began. There will be parades all over Greece on Monday and Symi is no exception. The schoolchildren have been practising on the playground in Chorio, to the accompaniment of shrill whistles from their harassed drill master. Although this holiday falls in Lent all dietary prohibitions fall away for the day and there is much feasting and merrymaking. Tuesday, March 19th 2002 Sorry to be a day late - yesterday was a holiday... Clean Monday was a perfect day for picnics and kite flying. The exodus up the mountain started early in the morning although some shops were open for a few hours, selling last minute requirements. Great barrels from which pickles and olives were ladled into dripping plastic bags while matrons tussled over who got to buy the last frozen octopus and children staggered out with carrier bags full of the beer of choice. No, not Mythos but Amstel. Yes, sorry to disillusion all of you out there but it's Amstel and Cutty Sark rather than Mythos and ouzo! For those of you on the Noticeboard who find retsina doesn't 'travel well', trying buying some Greek retsina tumblers and a length of plastic table cloth, preferably in traditional blue and white checks, and set the scene. Meanwhile, back on Symi, the first cruiseship docked this morning. From Scotland. The sponge shops might still be closed but the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the bees are rolling in the poppies with wild abandon which can only be an improvement on the Scottish weather. The '2002 Season' has started, ready or not!!! On that happy note, Have a good week. Friday, March 11th 2002 Monday's gale force winds and dust gave way to rain clouds and on Tuesday we had 12 millimetres of rain, largely mud. Since then we've had delightful spring days with fluffy cumulus puffing across blue skies and mist on the Vigla. The birds are chirping, the daisies twinkling, the fat lambs gamboling - it's all too kitsch for words! Showers are forecast for much of Greece for this weekend but the general outlook for the holiday long weekend is reasonable and there should be enough of a breeze for the children to fly their kites without actually doing a Mary Poppins. On Sunday there is a competition for the best fancy dress and Carnival floats. In the big places there are proper processions but on Symi it is more practical to put the floats up as displays in the town square. I'm sure our indefatigable photographer will be out there, snapping away, so watch out for more pictures! Have a good weekend! Monday, March 15th 2002
It is still quite warm though, with temperatures around 20C but a cold spell is forecast for later in the week as northerly gales are forecast following on the coat tails of this lot. Anybody out there who doesn't believe in equinoctial gales?! Have a good week! Friday, March 8th 2002 Spring seems to be turning into summer with alacrity but there may be a few welcome showers early next week. Walking down the Kali Strata today the path was strewn with Carnival streamers and confetti. The remarkably warm and settled weather has meant more street parties and carnival festivities than usual this year and the children seem to be living in fancy dress round the clock. There is certainly no shortage of photo opportunities, as anyone keeping an eye on the Out and About page will have noticed! Yesterday there was also a parade in the morning to commemorate the day in 1947 when the Dodecanese was finally united with the Greek State. Meanwhile Easter lambs are being fattened and it is not unusual to see plump lambs in pens behind houses, stuffing themselves on daisies and fresh grass. By the time Easter comes around at the beginning of May some of them will probably be well on their way to being mutton rather than lamb. I'll be giving you some lamb ideas closer to Greek Easter. Have a good weekend, planning your summer holidays. Monday, March 4th 2002 The warm weather continues. It is very humid and the nights are so damp the grass is dripping within hours of sunset. The island is gearing up for the season. Doors and shutters swollen shut by the rain are being battered open and shops closed since October are being aired. Conditions are still a bit on the wet side for painting but time is running out. The housewives only aim to have their houses spruced up in time for Greek Easter which is still two months away so they can wait, but the tavernas and tourist businesses have to get everything ready by the end of this month, regardless of the sodden woodwork and damp seeping out of the walls. The watertable in the harbour and Pedi is still abnormally high and pumps have been running to drain water from flooded basements and excavations. A bit of a futile task really as it is like trying to drain the Mediterranean! Oh, just in case you're wondering. The blocks and rocks are in the water and the crane departed on the big boat on Friday night... Have a good week! *Carnival & Clean Monday The above article is taken from the March edition of 'The Symi Visitor' Friday, March 1st 2002 A big high pressure system is over the Eastern Med and the unseasonable warmth continues. Peach and apricot trees are prematurely in bloom and the first poppies are nodding among the daisies. As the wind is from the south the humidity is high and low clouds promise rain that never falls. The rain last weekend brought snowfalls to the high ground in Turkey and the snowcaps can be clearly seen from Symi and Rhodes. The barometric high combined with the full moon has dropped the waterlevel in the harbour, revealing vivid green weed on the customs house slipway and a scuttling of crabs under the bridge. It is the first of March and the new tourist season is almost upon us. Winter just never seems long enough. Enjoy the weekend! © Adriana Shum 2002 |
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Oh no! A glitch in the halcyon days of spring
in the form of gale force winds and dust all the way from here to Cairo
and beyond. Visibility is poor and all shipping has been stopped. Every
shutter on the island is rattling and coming down the Kali Strata to work
today I was dodging flying branches and, in one instance, a television
aerial. Waves are rolling across the slipway by the custom's house and
water is squirting up through the gratings at the head of the harbour.
Pedi is also awash as the storm surge has raised the sea level
considerably.