/">SymiDream

Remember the old Symi bus?

As I haven’t been out of the house since Saturday evening, when we went to the taverna for dinner, there isn’t really much news to impart. I’ve been staying in, out of the rain which was heavy over Sunday and Monday, but which so far today seems to have moved on. So, while in the house, I was browsing around for blogs about life in Greece and found this one that may be of interest to everyone interested in life in Greece in general: http://thegreekadventure.blogspot.com – well worth checking out. And a big Yasou to our latest Twitter followers!

Thanks to Norman for this old photo of the Symi bus, taken in the early 1980s. Before I opened it I was expecting to see the old green Symi bus but no, this one even predates that. I should look out my old Symi photos, they are up in the mousandra with Jimmy Hoffa’s briefcase and half of the Rosetta stone, but they are only going to be 14 years old now, which is actually quite old enough thank you very much, but they may be of interest Maybe that’s a job for another rainy weekend.

Tonight and tomorrow see the name day celebrations for Godson Harry and we’re putting plans into action to take him to church as we did last year. I found this photo from last year’s service, which is a bit dark. We were invited to take photos last time so maybe we will be able to this time. Church and church events used to be one of the top questions when I did the village walks a few years ago, and, as the larger churches are often closed when not in use, people were interested to see inside; so here is at least one photo taken inside a Symi church.

Which kind of reminds me of my favourite moment from Smoky Thursday last week: One of our parish priests was there and he called to me from a distance.  Could I draw the attention of the lady standing next to me, who was looking the other way? Certainly. I did, and told her that she was wanted. She approached the priest and, when in range, got squirted with foam. I think I was what’s called an accessory before the fact? Made everyone laugh though.

Could this be one of this season’s limited editions at the Symi Dream shop?

There are some great photos on Adrianna’s blog from the last couple of days. (But I am not going to mention the one of Neil and I looking like a couple of Muppets which is on the Symi Visitor’s Symi-Photos page, oh I just did! Rain clouds gathering again, must get on…

More smoky photos, and some more old Symi photos

It’s pouring down out there this morning but luckily we have no plans to go anywhere today. Had it been a glorious day like yesterday then a walk would have been on the cards, but that’s gone out of the window as the towels go down in strategic places around the house.

I’ve put a couple of Neil’s photos from last Thursday, the smoky party in the village square, on this post and added a gallery of some more. [Click here.]  You should get an idea of the fun and theatricality of the event from this little gallery, and from the video clips too – scroll down the page if you’ve not seen them yet. “Loved the "Smoky Thursday" video’s got quite jealous…wish we were there.” Chrissie.

The old photos of Symi sent in by Lynne & Mike have been generating a lot of interest too, and we’ve had several offers of more old photos for later in the year when people return to the island. We’ll scan them in when we get them and post them, then we can slowly build up a gallery of ‘Symi in the past’ pictures. (Anyone else with any they’d like to share, simply send them in, with permission to post them, and we’ll add them.) Meanwhile there are some more, including even older photos, at Symi Stories. [Click here.] 

As well as our gallery there are more Symi Photos at the Out and About pages at http://www.symi-photos.com/

Smoky Symi video clips

Tsiknopempti. There are various translations of this word, from ‘barbeque Thursday’ which is not literal to ‘smoky Thursday’ which is a bit more literal, the word coming from τσικνίζω to burn (in cooking) or to have a burnt smell (not to be confused with the expression τα τσίκνισαν ‘they had a tiff’), and the word for Thursday, Πέμπτη.

You can, of course spell smoky with an ‘e’ and have smokey, or you can add an ‘ie’ at the end and have smokie, which I’ve just discovered is a kind of Scottish smoked haddock, so now you know.

 Part one of two showing Symi residents celebrating ‘Smoky Thursday,’ Tsiknopempti in the village square. This short compilation, shows some of the early evening on February 4th 2010.

We had a great time in the square last night, cold though it was. The wine was flowing, and the Fanta orange, the mayor and co. were handing out souvlakies and the children spent most of their time spraying each other with foam, a more recent ‘tradition’ that has crept in to this event. I’ve put together two short films, the first showing the start of the evening mainly with the children running around and the second showing the rest of the evening, that we saw. We were driven to the Rainbow bar by the need for warmth. There may be some photos from last night on the blog in a couple of days.

And talking of photos – we’ve had a great response from people about the old Symi photos which may be from the 1980s rather than the 1970s, what do you think? Scroll down to find them or check our Symi Photos page for the complete gallery. Thanks for the comments and emails.

Part two of two showing Symi residents celebrating ‘Smoky Thursday,’ Tsiknopempti in the village square. This short compilation shows more of the evening on February 4th 2010.

Some more old Symi photos, circa 1975

Again, our thanks to Lynne & Mike for taking the time and trouble to scan and send these photos of Symi from the past. I’ve put all 13 in a gallery, click here to view it. We think these photos were taken around 1975, which is around the time ‘Ten times empty’ a documentary about Symi was made. (It was released in 1976 I believe: and there are full details on this site here.) I guess the task now is to identify the places and the people. The images in the gallery will be slightly bigger than the sample ones I’ve put here.

I’m glad of my Penzance fleece today, there is less wind this morning but it’s still feeling rather chilly up here, and the head cold isn’t helping my spirits. Hopefully it will have sorted itself out by tonight, in time for the Tsiknopempti celebrations this evening in the village – assuming they are still going ahead.

And I should mention the Symi golf tournament. I got told off for not mentioning last week’s rounds, where Ian won a couple of neat victories – so well done to him. And again for last night’s two wins, well done to Neil for his hole in one and a slight pat on the back for me for winning one round. If you’re following the leader board then Ian is first, then me, then Neil, which is kind of a turn up for the books. To fill in the quiet moments this winter we’ve also been playing ‘Civilization’ on the Xbox, which is one way of wasting time when you should be doing something more important. I just mention it because it amuses me to be able to build the Colossus of Rhodes in Athens, while Madame Curie has settled in Berlin, and while archers are battling with tanks in Mongolia, all at the same time. Ah well, never was any good at history.

See the rest of the gallery here

Some recent Symi photos and not much news really

Well, it certainly feels colder today with a chill wind and clear skies. The sea is a deep blue, speckled with white as the wind blows across it. The Alarm Cat must have been feeling the cold this morning as he went off, outside, even before it started to get light. I was hoping to give you some more old Symi photos today but had a bit of a disaster with my email programme, it somehow decided not to allow me to receive the photos and lost them somewhere. I’m just waiting for them to come through again and hope to have them in a day or so.

Meanwhile here are some recent ones. For those who enquired about what the difference was (between the image of Harani 35 years ago and the one taken last week), I guess the difference is that there are more buildings. Can’t hang around this morning, there are things to be done around the house and outside, which I’m not looking forward to. Neil’s gone off to the shop wearing several layers, hat, gloves and a jacket, not the easiest costume to work in, but there you go.

Yialos, Symi harbour, January 2010