Category Archives: Day to day on Symi

Definitely autumn

Definitely autumn

Delightful weather, all rather peaceful, quiet in the village in the afternoons and yet busier in the evenings. There are several homeowners here at the moment, coming for an end of season holiday and to check their properties before preparing them for the winter months. Checking the weather-proofing, tidying up, putting things away and making sure everything is in place so that their houses are looked after during the coming months.

Symi Greece

There are also several long-stayer preparing to head home after a summer on Symi. That must be a very difficult thing to do, to say goodbye to your second home for a few months. But, as I always say, you have to leave in order to come back.

Symi Greece

As for us, we’re falling into the pre-winter routine: up early still (a huge array of stars from the balcony at 5.30 this morning), work in the morning, and afternoon actually, a pause for lunch, Neil still guarding the bar for a couple of hours, a drink or two there before home for a film, or friends for a dinner, that kind of thing. The shorts have gone back into the wardrobe unless we’re out in the sun in the mornings, but we’re not yet in full winter garb. That will come later. The courtyard is tidy, the flat roof cleaned ready for a coat of waterproof paint, the barbeque still needs to come inside to go into hibernation in the spare shower room, but other than that… Oh, the chilli plant has now decided to flower, so we’re hoping it stays warm enough for those buds to turn into chillies. Seems a bit late, but then, what do I know?

Symi Greece

The day boats are still coming in, though numbers of day visitors may be falling. A couple of tavernas have closed for the season, but I still see taxi boats heading out. The Poseidon is finishing its trips this week unless the weather holds, the licence runs on, and there are enough takers for a trip. So, you can safely say, it’s definitely autumn here on Symi.

Symi Greece

Symi Scenery & Screenings

Symi Scenery & Screenings

As well as some photos taken from the balcony yesterday (and the bonfire at the new jetty site from a few days before – it was a controlled fire), I have some updates on films. One of the organisers of the Symi International Film Festival sent me the list of award winners and I’ve copied it below.

Symi Greece
No need to worry

Before we get there, the news from ‘The 13th‘, the film shot entirely on Symi, is that it has been entered in 74 festivals to date – it may not be entered into any more. It has been selected for ten so far, and in those it has won about 20 laurels/awards and been seen by several hundred people. More publicity for Symi there. It had been rejected by 34 so far, but there are still 30 in the pipeline. Now you know, and now the Symi International Film festival awards list:

Symi Greece
Waiting for a boat

Award for Best Feature Film              Mousse

Award for Best Short Film                  White House

Award for Best Animated Film          Cuerdas

Award for Best Greek Film                Ο Λέων της Πεντέλης (The Lion of Penteli)

Award for Best Direction                   John Hellberg – Mousse

Award for Best Actor                         Stéphane Bertola – Mousse

Award for Best Actress                      Huichi Chiu – Huidas (Escapes)

Award for Best Cinematography        White House

Award for Originality                         A Mirror

Award for Best Music                         Antonis Zacharakis – Ta gemista (Salted)

 

Highly Commended- Short Film        Zero mm

Highly Commended- Short Film        The Shoe Maker Pages

Highly Commended- Short Film        Initiation

Highly Commended- Feature Film     Life is Lovely

Highly Commended- Animated Film Shame

Highly Commended- Greek Film       ΓΕΝΕΘΛΙΑ (Birthday)

Highly Commended- Actor                Gunnar Ernblad – Mousse

Highly Commended- Actor                Roberto Gonzalez- Mousse

Highly Commended- Actress             Julia Campanelli – 116

Symi Greece
There’s a lot of sea out there

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Ταινίας Μεγάλου Μήκους

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Ταινίας Μικρού Μήκους

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Ταινίας Κινουμένων Σχεδίων

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Ελληνικής Ταινίας

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Σκηνοθεσίας

Βραβείο Καλύτερου Αντρα Ηθοποιού

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Γυναίκας Ηθοποιού

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Φωτογρφίας

Βραβείο Πρωτοτυπου Σεναρίου

Βραβείο Καλύτερης Μουσικής

 

Ειδική Μνεία – Ταινίς Μικρού Μήκους

Ειδική Μνεία – Ταινία Μικρού Μήκους

Ειδική Μνεία – Κινουμένων Σχεδίων

Ειδική Μνεία – Ελληνική Ταινία

Ειδική Μνεία – Αντράς Ηθοποιός

Ειδική Μνεία – Γυναίκα Ηθοποιός

Symi Greece
Blue view

A post about post

A post about post

Morning! Just a quick post today. I was rather uninspired on Sunday, so didn’t get around to writing anything in advance. In fact, I had a whole day off; no work of any sort, just some online shopping and some pottering around at home. Talking of shopping…

Symi Greece Symi Dream photos

The other day I sent a package to the UK; some old camera equipment for one of our nephews. I packaged everything up and wrapped it well, put the pieces (camera, lenses etc.) into an old camera bag and into an old water box. Found some brown paper, covered the box and wrote the addresses to and from, and then wondered how much it would cost to post. I took it to the post office where it was weighed, 4.2 kilos, and was told how much it would be to send it ‘snail mail’. €35.00 approx. And off it went. That was on the Friday morning.

Symi Greece Symi Dream photos

It arrived in the UK, at its destination, on the Wednesday morning, which I thought was pretty good going, particularly as it wasn’t going with a courier. This is unlike a hard drive with a film on it that a friend of mine sent as an entry to the Cape Town Film Festival the other week. This was sent by post, from the UK, and the post office told him it would take three to four days as some kind of priority mail. What they didn’t say was that South Africa was having a huge problem with the post and there was a month’s worth of backlog. This meant the file had still not arrived with two days to go before the film was due to be shown. My friend got onto the post office and, somehow, the CEO of… whatever it’s called. A couple of emails later and the package was found (in the backlog, in Cape Town), and finally delivered just in time. I think the fact that he got a national South Africa newspaper interested in the story over there helped.

Symi Greece Symi Dream photos

Anyway… Random postal thought on a Monday morning, early, so not fascinating news, but good news. The Greek/British postal service did me proud without me having to get the press on board.

Symi Greece Symi Dream photos

Symi Light

Symi Light

That’s Symi Light, not Lite as in sugar-free and chemical-packed. I was trying to get some shots of the changing early morning light as seen from the house and came up with a few photos, shown here today.

Symi Light

I was out on the balcony at six in the morning when it was still dark and could see the stars. I’ve still not worked out how to get good night sky images, so maybe that’s a project for the winter. Later, the sun came up over the Pedi hills, as seen through the cables and poles. As the dawn continues, the light changes and casts on different places which, after sunrise, fall into their usual colour scheme and lighting pattern.

Symi Light

At certain times of the day, you can see things in the rocks… Did you know that if you stand on St Nicholas beach at the right time of day and year, you can see a sleeping dragon? The headland opposite, around to Agia Marina, ends with a dragon’s snout in the water. If you use your imagination, you can see a closed eye and the top of its head, all the way back to a humped body and closed wings. Honest. I have seen it, and I had not even been on the ouzo at the time.

Symi Light

And, if you are in Nimborio at a certain time of day (evening is best) you can see a sleeping Titan on Nimos. You can, again with some imagination, make him out from across the bay in Horio. See the image below and look for his chin, which extends just beyond the left of the frame. To the right of it you can make out a closed mouth and a nose, and one closed eye above the water; the rest of his face is under the sea, so maybe this is Poseidon having a kip. He has a parting in his hair, and he is moulded into the rocks behind him. Again, no ouzo involved, just a bit of imagination.

Symi Light

Anyway, that’s what I was doing yesterday morning before going to work.

Symi Light
Sleeping Titan?