All posts by James Collins

A Symi day out

December 7, 2015 James Collins

A Symi day out from Ian. Ian is a first time visitor on Symi. He blogs at http://www.thelightroom.blogspot.co.uk/

We fell in to our first trip to Symi, only having booked our first holiday on the Island the week before. The usual research that goes in to a holiday never happened, no maps had been bought and no itinerary designed and no must visit list made. So at the orientation get together with Katia our tour company rep we signed up to do a trip across the island to visit the monastery of Michael Roukouniotis, a walk through the woods to the wine presses, on to the monastery of Panormitis where we were promised pies and at the end a trip at the beach at Marathunda.

It was very hot as we waited for the bus at the Hidden Courtyard but soon we were sitting in the cool of the bus. At the first stop, just off the road above the town, we looked at the view of the town. The view was fantastic looking down on Horio and across the harbour with the hills of Turkey in the distance.

The next stop was the monastery of Michael Roukouniotis. We wandered all around the site looking at the old church sitting under the newer church, admired the frescos and the twinned trunk of two trees growing in the grounds of the monastery. Then as the heat got hotter we were on to the walk through the forest to see the ancient wine presses.

Here we got lucky. We stopped by the Megalo Sotiris monastery and it was open. Never slow in looking at a bonus monastery we all had a quick look around before heading off into the woods to see the wine presses.

The woods thankfully were cooler and the hours walk wandering through the pine trees and looking at the presses and Mihail Kourkouniotis church, was not as tiring as we feared but the path we were following was across some rocky terrain.

Dropping down to the road again to be meet the bus we had our first view of Panormitis.

The road to Panormitis is a series of sharp hairpin bends that drop down to the monastery. By the time we arrived the only pies left were cheese so as we wandered around we were looking at everyone wondering if it was them that eaten all the pies. As time was short we did not do the museum leaving that for next year. A drink at the taverna and it was back in the bus and on to the beach at Marathounta. Here the big decision had to be made food or a swim. As it was very hot the swim won so after fighting the goats we had a short swim in the clear water of the bay.

The trip back in the bus was fun with the stereo blaring out traditional bazooki music. What was interesting was the speed of the bus seemed to be directly related to the beat of the music. This was fine until the last bit of the trip dropping down from the hills into Horio which synchronized with the climax of a very fast piece of music!

Other photos from Ian:

Day to day on Symi

The Symi Visitor forum

December 5, 2015 James Collins

The Symi Visitor forum has been at its new home of http://symiforum.com for almost a year now and is as popular as ever with regulars chatting about their Symi holidays, and prospective visitors looking for information about the island.

Some posters on the site have taken the trouble to write a full report of their visit, sometimes in retrospect after they return home or, more recently, while they are on the island as a kind of holiday blog. Now, with WiFi being so widespread and the advent of smartphones and tablet computers, posters include pictures in their blogs too.

Most of the trip reports are written by regular visitors to Symi but earlier this year we had one from a first time visitor and it was fascinating to read his daily blog as he was seeing the place for the first time. He was, of course, smitten by Symi’s charms and has already booked again for next year.

According to the statistics on the forum these ‘Trip report’ topics are by far the most popular with our members so we have moved them to a dedicated area of the site to avoid them getting lost beneath more recent posts:

http://symiforum.com/viewforum.php?f=19

They make ideal reading for cold winter days when we’re all missing the sun and planning our next Symi break.

Day to day on Symi

A Night at the Monastery

December 4, 2015 James Collins

A Night at the Monastery – from Janet
Prior to the completion of the final part of the road to Panormitis, we walked the spinal road, a mix of tarmac and dirt, between Yialos and the monastery. Rather than retrace our steps we decided to take the soft option and return on the ferry. When the ticket seller learnt we had walked from Yialos he was most generous and insisted we travelled back for free.

On that first visit we were enchanted with the tranquillity of the area and vowed that if we returned to Symi we would spend a night at Panormitis. And so on a later visit and after the tarmac had been laid, we boarded the bus in Yialos, along with all we needed for an overnight stay, including ingredients for our pasta supper. On arrival, it was just as serene as we remembered. We made our way inside the monastery, where after being presented with holy oil, we paid for our accommodation and with the linen provided, made our way along the first floor to a room overlooking the bay.

We bought tiropittas from the bakery for our lunch and the afternoon was passed with Peter fishing while I perched on a rock and worked on my Greek language homework. In the evening, we sat on the balcony; ate our pasta supper and drank wine whilst overlooking the soporific bay, with just a few boats and small yachts bobbing up and down. Before we retired, we took a walk along the harbour front, taking photographs of the imposing monastery with its ornate bell tower illuminated against the night sky.

Ready for a good night’s sleep we settled within our room and then ‘they’ started. ‘They’ were mosquitoes; a veritable invasion! We had always been prepared on visits to Greece for mosquitoes but with no presence in Horio, where we were staying; we assumed the rest of the island would be the same. So we arrived at Panormitis with no mosquito repellents; we were totally ill-equipped. After Peter spent time swatting, in an effort to reduce their numbers; we spent the night, fully dressed with the sheets firmly tucked round our bodies and over our heads, virtually mummified! All night we listened to the ceaseless buzzing of these midge-like flies that had made their entry via a hole in the window net. Sleep was impossible. Never has dawn been so welcome, when finally the buzzing stopped and it was safe to remove the sheets.

Stepping outside onto the balcony, red eyed from lack of sleep; the sun was shining the sea blue and all was calm. With a fisherman out in the bay, casting lines from his boat, it was difficult to imagine a night here could have been so unpleasant. Did we dream it? No, the irritating bites on our bodies, from the mosquitoes that had managed to penetrate the folds in the sheets, was evidence enough that no way had this been a dream.

The moral of this story is – take care about the assumptions you make, especially when in a mosquito frequented country!

Guest posts

Food safari Symi (2)

December 3, 2015 James Collins

Part two of Eleni’s food safari on Symi
Marathounda, the next idyllic stop after Panormitis. After a dip in the cool clear water and a little bake on the sun beds the tummy starts to rumble… Lunch at the taverna on the beach – fresh barbequed calamari, Greek salad, stewed goat, chips and some meatballs. Time for a nap before coffee…

In an attempt to humour myself that I was eating healthily (despite consuming quantities of food that way exceeded the recommended daily calorific intake), I would often forgo ice-cream for fresh fruit! Figs, being one of my favourite Symi fruits and which thankfully were in plentiful supply, hit the mark in satisfying the sweet tooth in me!

A milestone birthday not too far in the distance and having also celebrated my previous milestone birthday on the island, I decided that I should start my half century celebrations a little early in Symi. Dinner at Pandelis – the highlights of fried feta and honey, seafood risotto and Greek wine being a fitting start to celebrations that are continuing to the end of the year!

As my holiday came to an end and the goodbyes were entangled with welcome greetings from people I hadn’t yet encountered, no opportunity was lost to continue savouring the food and beverage offers of the island – a farewell coffee with friends and a midnight gyros snack in Yialos.

Having journeyed through the traditional, nouveau and fusion cuisines, the familiar and the unfamiliar, it was time to go! Packing a few extra kilos (in the suitcase and around the waist) and with a myriad of new memories created, the boat pulled out of the harbour… ‘see you later Symi’… cheers until next time!

Eleni Kyramariou (Kymos)
Sydney, Australia
November 2015

Day to day on Symi, Guest posts

Food Safari Symi (1)

December 2, 2015 James Collins

Food Safari Symi– From Eleni

Eleni wrote: Hi James, I’ve attached something that you may like as a guest blog post while you are on holidays (up to you). I have spent many, many years on Symi and food was always a highlight! Thought it might be nice to share my passion. Cheers from a distant (and cold & wet at the moment) Sydney, Australia! Eleni Kyramariou (Kymos)

A holiday on Symi is as much about the food journey as it is about seeing old friends and family, swimming in crystal clear seas and visiting places where memories are engraved and new ones will be etched! Food is intrinsically entwined in the fabric of all human interaction on this tiny jewel in the Aegean.

Misokofti - breakfast delight! — Misokofti – breakfast delight!

August 2015 – This was my second trip back to Symi after my seven year stint teaching English on the island. Just prior to my departure from Sydney (Australia), an intensive diet and exercise regime achieved its goal of providing the scope to gain a few kilos during my short holiday – an inevitable outcome of a Symi stay! So, the two week safari began and every day was full of flavour!

My days were greeted with simple breakfasts of Greek coffee in a mug (Symi meets Sydney) and island delights such as ‘ misokofti’ (a prickly pear jelly) which is made in nearly every household and often shared in the neighbourhood spurring friendly rivalry on whose is the best creation. These taste sensations, against a quiet Pedi Bay morning backdrop makes me not want to leave the courtyard of the house, but time is not on my side…

Lunch was often determined by what the local fisherman had on offer – brought to, weighed and sold on your doorstep! This day was fresh red mullet, a Mediterranean Slipper Lobster (I had to Google the English name for this delicious creature) and a Greek salad all washed down with a cold Mythos! An island feast by any standard!

Next stop – sights, sea and a smorgasbord! A visit to Symi is never really complete without a round island day trip on the Poseidon. A fabulous opportunity to tickle all the human senses! With the wind velocity checked to the point of delirium with the captain, seasickness tablets taken and distributed where necessary and we were off! Beautiful, raw coastal scenery for the eyes, lovely sea aromas for the nose, the sounds of the boat motor and cheerful holiday banter for the ears and the feel of the cool, blue-green sea on the skin. The plentiful array of flavours laid out at Seskli sent the tastebuds on a fantasy journey that made this part of the safari complete.

A visit to Panormitis is a must and, believer or not, there is no doubt that the monastery and its surrounds have a beautiful, if not haunting, energy that is hard to ignore. Church visited, candles lit, ‘promises’ to the Archangel delivered and it’s off to the next ritual stop at Panormitis – the bakery! The intoxicating smell of fresh, wood-fired oven cooked bread, cheese pies, koulouria and a variety of pastries induces weight gain even before any of these little delights are eaten! It is not a place for those with little or no self control and as I fit into that category, was seen leaving with a number of bags full of all my favourite goodies!

Natasha & me with our goodies from the Bakery

Part two tomorrow…

Symi Dream