Category Archives: Day to day on Symi

Day to day on Symi

Symi Festival 2019, Symi Shrimp festival and things

Symi Festival 2019, Symi Shrimp festival and things

As mentioned previously, a couple of morning photos from a walk the other day. We went out yesterday too, Neil ahead of me at 6.45, and we met on the road up near the bridge and walked back together. About three miles each in total. You have to go then to avoid the heat of the day which starts around 7 a.m., not that the nights are much cooler at the moment, but that’s how it is in July and August around here.

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There’s a festival programme out for the Symi Festival 2019, and I’ve seen a page for July so far. There’s also the Symi Shrimp festival on Sunday. If you’re in Horio in the evening, there will be the usual free Symi shrimps, music and wine, dancing too I expect, and the square will on doubt be busy. If you’re planning to eat at one of the two tavernas up here, it’s best to book in advance, as it is on busy nights like Friday when there’s live Greek music at Giorgio’s.

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And on the subject of music, I see the new bar (and, I heard, live music venue) now has its name up. ‘Scena’ is by the car park and bus stop in Horio, very handy for coming up and down from Yialos or Pedi by bus, just below Taverna Zoi. I don’t know when it will be open or what exactly you will find there, but it’s certainly coming along. If you are looking for other places to eat and meet in the village, don’t forget you’ve got the Olive Tree (open until mid-afternoon), The Secret Garden on the Pedi road, the Sunrise Café, Ringo’s, the two bars in the square and the late-night bar, the Jean and Tonic… Have I forgotten anyone? I hope not, and I don’t think so… Oh, there’s the cantina on the hillside out of the village on the main road that’s open in the evenings and looks down over the Pedi valley, while down in Pedi itself, there are two tavernas open for lunch and dinner. There; a quick roundup for you.

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Day to day on Symi

Wednesday

Wednesday

I went for a pleasant morning walk yesterday just as the sun was coming up. The usual photos will appear one day, no doubt. After that is was back home where the house is being painted. Our landlord has decided that the downstairs and the outside needed doing, and so we’re now yellow rather than peeling white. The decorator has done a quick job on the large outside walls but needed to come into our place to do some window recesses he can’t get the ladder outside because if the height and the steps. As he was hanging out of the living room window over a 15-foot drop, I thought I should ask his name, just in case… You know. Turns out, Napoleon is painting our house.

The other day boat on Symi. The Maria, via Lakis Travel. Not around the island, but to some places others don't go to. I must try in sometimes.
The other day boat on Symi. The Maria, via Lakis Travel. Not around the island, but to some places others don’t go to. I must try in sometime.

He’s not done the front yet, and we’re expecting him to come and put ladders on the balcony at some point, but today he’s downstairs doing other things instead. I did ask if he was doing the windows, and he said yes, but I’m not sure if that’s just the recesses or the woodwork and shutters, a good few of which need doing. He’s also not doing the courtyard apparently, so if the woodwork is done on the windows, the two that overlook the courtyard won’t get done and, I assume, neither will the doors. We will have to wait and see and take whatever comes, as is the way of life around here.

 

After that, I set about printing some documents for a thing I need only to find my printer playing up and telling me it can’t print. I left it alone, and ten minutes later it spluttered into life when least expected. Odd things going on there, but at least the docs came out. Anyway, that was a bit of a ramble after a ramble up the hill, and now I’m going to go and… Oh, not I’m not. The printer has started printing things I didn’t ask for, I’d better attend to that instead while I await the next advance from Napoleon.

By the taxi boats in Yialos.
By the taxi boats in Yialos.
A traditional boat and I believe the trip comes with lunch too, and a smaller party of travelers.
A traditional boat and I believe the trip comes with lunch too, and a smaller party of travelers.
Day to day on Symi

Refugees on Symi

Refugees on Symi

There was a post on the Facebook Solidarity Symi page a couple of days ago letting us know that there has been an increase in the number of refugees arriving on Symi. The numbers are up, not as bad as elsewhere tough, and nowhere near the levels during the 2015 crisis, but still, these people need help. But: The charity (Solidarity Symi) no longer operates, and the authorities are doing what they can.

However, if you are on Symi, you can help by donating food and supplies via the supermarket in Yialos, Taxas (pronounced ‘Tahas’ or ‘Tachas’ with a soft ch, and not Tax-as, as it might read). Yiannis, the owner there, knows what’s needed. Unfortunately, there’s no way of assisting from abroad as yet. I’ve had a few messages asking what people can do from afar, but all I can tell you is to contact the Symi Solidarity page on Facebook. Even then, Andrew, who used to run it, is also working 24/7, as is everyone at this time of year and the charity isn’t there anymore, so he’s doing what he can from the goodness of his own heart. In other words, don’t hassle as it’s no longer his responsibility, in as much as it’s all of our responsibility to do what we can. I hope that makes sense

While that sinks in, here are a few photos from Yialos, taken on Monday.

Taxas supermarket
Taxas supermarket

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Day to day on Symi

As seen in Horio

As seen in Horio

Out and about in the village yesterday late afternoon and I noticed a couple of things that might interest you. First of all, the new cake shop that’s opened up where the fruit shop was last year. This is just along the main lane from the square towards Zoi’s taverna, and it’s open during regular shop hours. That’s regular Greek shop hours, don’t forget siesta time is when most shops close. (Roughly 14.30 to 17.00.)

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And the reason for that siesta is the temperature. A neighbour recorded 44 degrees on their terrace on Monday, while we recorded 36 late in the afternoon. That was about that same as inside one of Sotiris’ freezers…

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The freezer is in the process of being cleaned and aired. I was interested to see that it was as warm in there as it was outside – the freezer was turned off, by the way. And the other interesting thing I saw has been there for at least ten years. It’s an old ACS bag in the shop that used to be the ACS courier in Horio. I assume there’s nothing in it, but if you have been waiting over 10 years for a delivery, then it might well be inside this place. The guy who ran it moved off to Rhodes, I believe, and I reckon that was at least 2007, if not in 2005 or 2006. I wondered what had happened to my garden seed catalogue…

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Day to day on Symi

Monday

Monday

It looks like the warmer weather is back with a vengeance; 36 degrees in our courtyard on Monday, with the thermometer on a west-facing wall in the shade. I, as usual, was inside most of the day with a fan on me and the windows open. I don’t realise how hot it is until I leave the house. I intend to do that every day from today onwards, leave the house and not come back for an hour. I’ve been very lazy with my morning walks of late, getting up and straight into work which I don’t want to leave until it’s finished. By that time, it’s too hot to go out for a , walk up the hill, so I need to retrain myself to go at dawn, or just before. Certainly before it gets to 36 degrees.

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While I’ve been working, I’ve been listening to the landlord and his decorator working downstairs. The ceiling of the flat below must be made up of our floorboards as I can hear everything. Ladders moving, talking, the occasional bodily sound; I hate to think how it would be if anyone ever moved in there. They’d hear our TV as if they were in the room with us, and we’d hear every intimate detail of their lives. I’m not sure how lucky he will be in renting it out, he’s had no-one there for over four years, but then it has been in a mess. Now, it’s being done up slowly, but it still remains not the nicest place to be. Last time I saw it, there was water pouring everywhere, and there’s a strange pipe that looks like a soil, pipe, running across the kitchen ceiling from somewhere to an unknown destination. I couldn’t work out where that was meant to go as it wasn’t coming from or to our bathroom above, as far as I could see. All very intriguing.

Interesting light in the sitting room. Looks like 1!
Interesting light in the sitting room. Looks like 1!

The chap working downstairs is also doing some odd jobs and called on Saturday to ask if we had anything he could borrow to cut down the vine. This comes from our courtyard and across the road (more across the road than across our courtyard actually), and it was ladened with grapes. They attract hornets who feast on the fermenting fruit, get drunk and get in the way, and it makes a right old mess on the road, so it needed cutting back. We have these loppers which are lent out more than we get to use them, and the chap was delighted. I was also able to lend him a ladder. In return, he asked he we wanted our vine cutting back. Very kind, but it’s the only shade we have, and there’s isn’t that much of it. On Monday, we were also expecting another round of plumbers to call and check out the water situation across the road, but so far, they’ve not been. It’s still all go at our place.

Found this photo of me and the nephew on Sesklia back in May.
Found this photo of me and the nephew on Sesklia back in May.