Tag: Seaside holidays

October Postcards from Symi

St Nicholas, Symi
The sunbeds and umbrellas have been packed away at St Nicholas beach in Pedi. They won’t need them to celebrate the Feast of St Nicholas at the tiny chapel on 6 December.
balcony
The salt-laden sea air is nibbling away at the terrace of this neglected Art Deco waterfront property in Pedi.
bird on a wall
Invisible bird.
bougainvillea with butterfly 30 Oct 2019
Butterfly and bougainvillea.
Camo cats
Camo cats.
classic yacht
 This elegant Canadian beauty was anchored in Pedi for several days last week.

Crocuses 2

crocuses
The squill flowers have faded away, replaced by ghostly drifts of pale autumn crocuses and other tiny plants.
Elegant lady
Another classic, this one with a Maltese flag.
fan
There has to a story behind this carefully placed ceiling fan blade, resting among the herb bushes in the Pedi valley.  Look at how green the sage bushes are after just a little rain.
from beach to boatyard
Apostoli is switching from beach mode to boatyard mode.  The sledges and skids are being positioned to start hauling out boats.
Gone fishing
The fishing season has started.  This small trawler will be away for days at a time, if not weeks.
kamares
That fragment of shadow is cast by the meander-pattern railing of the Art Deco house you saw earlier.  This dilapidated colonnade was once the Kamares taverna in Pedi.  
mimosa
Mimosa
misty morning
A misty morning in the valley.  The yellow nets on the left are to protect vegetable seed beds from birds and cats.
new green
We have only had two rainy days so far but they were enough to wash the dust from the trees and set the grass growing again.
On the skids
This method of hauling boats up the beaches for the winter dates back to Homeric times.  In Greece there is a strong sense of continuity. Why change something if it still works? The underwater profiles of the boats haven’t changed much over the centuries either and they are still built the old-fashioned way at the Haskas boatyard in Pedi, wielding an adze to shape the wood into ribs and frames.
Pedi beach hotel
The last guests have left the Pedi Beach Hotel and the staff are systematically packing everything away for the winter.
Reeds
If you look about you, there are a lot of reed beds down in Pedi, despite recent developments in the area.  Unfortunately on an island that is more vertical than horizontal, level building ground is in short supply and Symi’s precious wet lands are under threat. That’s the road to Panormitis zigzagging up the hill in the distance.
Road access
By Symi standards, this counts as ‘has convenient road access’.  Mind the step!
sage
Sage, oregano and thyme – the Symi trinity that scents the island’s hillsides every summer.
solar power
Solar power.

 

 

September Postcards from Symi

Agios Nikolaos
The Agios Nikolaos languishing alongside the new jetty in Pedi.  Once the pride and joy of George Kalodoukas and the venue for many a Laskarina welcome meeting, since George’s untimely death two years ago she has been lying forlorn in Pedi.  
Asymi residences St George
St George’s church, Pedi, as seen from ASymi Residences, the discreet and elegant new boutique hotel behind Apostoli’s boatyard and taverna.
Asymi residences
The exterior of the hotel.
bees in the tamarisks
The tamarisk trees are absolutely humming with bees at the moment. They love the sweet-scented blossom. There are a lot of hives on the hillsides above Pedi and in the terraces.
dolce vita
Dolce Vita was a people-trafficking boat impounded back in 2015 and still lying on the jetty in Pedi. The story is that the owners thought that they had got away with hoodwinking the coastguard but they made the mistake of bragging loudly about their exploits in a taverna.  The owners were arrested and the boat impounded.  
Early morning bathers
Early morning bathers in Pedi.
fish baskets
Fish baskets.  
Gone swimming
People staying at the Pedi Beach leave their flip flops on the side of the road when they go swimming.
Pedi beach 1
The anchorages in Pedi have been very full recently.  A few days of stormy weather, gusty winds and big swells have driven sailors to look for safe havens and coffee shops.
Pedi cats
A comfortable nest for some Symi cats.
smartcapture
Forget about popping down to the garden centre.  In Greece the plants and terracotta pots come to you on the back of gypsy trucks.
pomegranates
A bumper crop of pomegranates at the bottom of the steps leading to Villa Jasmine.
Shady sheep
Sheep enjoying a patch of shade in the shelter of an old dry stone wall.
Useful tree
A useful tree provides undercover parking for a bicycle and a baby buggy, a useful place to dry out the water toys, a handy branch for the family budgie and a shady table for baiting hooks.  In a place with a negligible crime rate a tree is as good as a garage.

Some Symi snapshots for you to enjoy.

The photograph at the top of the page shows fragments of heart-shaped confetti on the sand the morning after a big wedding at the Pedi Beach Hotel recently.  A few hours later it was all gone, washed away by the wake of passing water taxis and ferry boats.

 

April Postcards from Symi

blog 22 April 2019 a
Having a little Cape Town moment, the Vigla sports a rare ‘tablecloth’.
blog 22 April 2019 b
A goat on a mission.
blog 22 April 2019 c
She went over the old call box, along the colonnade, hopped over the wall and disappeared up the alley.
blog 22 April 2019 d
Feline supervision is essential to ensure that all is perfect for the new season.
blog 22 April 2019 e
Yum. Broadbeans.
blog 22 April 2019 e2
A mother and child moment.
blog 22 April 2019 f
A tranquil Pedi – before the sunbeds and parasols are packed out for the summer.
blog 22 April 2019 g
The ghost of a cake shop long gone.
blog 22 April 2019 h
Poppies on the Pedi road.
blog 22 April 2019 i
Free range, Symi style.
blog 22 April 2019 j
Symi colours.
blog 22 April 2019 k
Apostoli’s taverna, still in boatyard mode.
blog 22 April 2019 l
There’s wild chamomile everywhere down in Pedi at the moment. The smell is like Golden Delicious apples.
blog 22 April 2019 m
Cock of the walk.
blog 22 April 2019 n
A sledge, waiting for a boat.
blog 22 April 2019 o
Wheel barrow hitching a ride on a quad bike.
blog 22 April 2019 p
There has to be a logical explanation for three taverna chairs balancing on a boat in a yard in the Pedi valley, but I really don’t know what it is.
blog 22 April 2019 q
All tied up.

Pedi in the Poppy Season

blog 3 April 2019 a
Even churches need spring cleaning. St George’s church in Pedi.
sdr
Designer flocks with ear tags take the place of lawnmowers round here. Well, why waste good food?
blog 3 April 2019 c
An orderly view.
blog 3 April 2019 e
A disorderly view.
blog 3 April 2019 f
The end of the road.
blog 3 April 2019 g
Villa Jasmine, the house with the blue shutters, was a popular Symi Visitor property. You can now book through AirBnB.
blog 3 April 2019 h
Pedi bay
blog 3 April 2019 i
Wet lands in Pedi.
blog 3 April 2019 j
This seasonal pond in Pedi is swarming with tadpoles. We hope that they reach maturity before the pond evaporates completely.
blog 3 April 2019 k
Reflections
blog 3 April 2019 l
This was supposed to be a marina in Pedi but something went a bit wrong with the dimensions so it is a haven for small boats instead. Yachts can moor on the outside. Unfortunately there are no actual shoreside facilities available as yet.
smartcapture
Checking out the food chain. Pedi cats are generally very well fed, even in the winter months.