The last time Symi had any significant rain was on 5 March. I am writing this on 14 April and there is still no rain on the horizon. The spring vegetation is already dying back and the ground cracking in many places. Temperatures have been abnormally warm. Great for the Turkish tourists who came over to celebrate Eid and the end of Ramadan but not so great for a region that has experienced the warmest driest winter since records began. There have already been significant wildfires in parts of Greece and farmers in Crete and Southern Rhodes have cut back on their planting of summer crops due to ..read more

Wild poppies in a garden in Pedi.Wild cyclamens growing out of the rockface behind the bus stop in Yialos.Fishing boats lined up on the beach at Apostoli’s in Pedi. The blue cloth is to protect the hull against the sun. These boats are all wooden and the sun dries out the planking, opening up the seams. In a month or so they will all be in the water and there will be sunbeds along here.The view from the other side. Every day their respective owners come down to sand, grind, spackle, paint and patch. The boats are hauled out and launched using greased ‘ways’ and the only change since Homeric ti ..read more

March is rolling past with windy showers and ever-longer sunny intervals. Day time highs are around 15-18 degrees centigrade and the prevailing northerly winds give great visibility, as you can see from the photographs. One big advantage of Greek Easter being late this year is that the Carnival celebrations and Clean Monday picnics took place in balmy sunshine and gentle breezes rather than gales and downpours. There are still regular shipping bans – today brings another one – but the strong winds are 7s and 8s rather than 9s and 10s and pass quickly. The disruptions affect mostly the smaller ..read more

The first phase of the new hotel in Pedi is nearing completion. As you can see, it has been designed to look like a group of Symi neo-classical houses.Flamingos livening up a balcony above the Bella Napoli pizzeria in Yialos.Behind the scenes of a well-known fish taverna in Yialos.The little red figures disappearing into the distance are a visiting football team from Ialysos on Rhodes, over for the day to play against the Symi team.This old bruiser of a tom cat was admiring himself in the puddle but, as cats do, he decided not to face the camera.His friend, however, was more obliging.Happiness ..read more

Spring has come early to Symi this year. The valley is luminous with daisies, wild cyclamens, cistus, asphodels, sorrel, almond blossom and lupins. As you can see, the dandelions and moss are taking over the Kali Strata. A strong south-easterly weather front passed through on Monday, causing Dodecanese Seaways and Stavros boats to cancel their Monday routes. Dodecanese Seaways is running today, Wednesday, instead. The Stavros came through Symi on Tuesday but with an abridged route. It looks like more of the same on Friday. South-easterly storms are problematic because they trigger a heavy swe ..read more

February is slipping past and spring is overtaking a winter that didn’t really happen this year. Oh, we have had rain and wind and ferry cancellations and flight disruptions but by and large we have had a very mild winter. Temperatures have seldom dipped below 12 degrees centigrade on Symi and on sunny days it can be as warm as 26 degrees centigrade. There are concerns in Crete and on the mainland as the mountain areas have not had enough snow to feed the streams and rivers, a problem that is affecting many European countries as snowfall diminishes and glaciers recede in the Alpine regions. Sy ..read more

The Epiphany on 6 January is a big celebration in Greece. Booths like this, decorated with cypress and palm fronds and crosses of threaded oranges are placed by the water in many places. After a morning church service the priest and congregation gather at the booth. The priest throws a Cross in the water, symbolising the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. The local young men then leap into the water to retrieve the Cross. Whoever finds it will be blessed for the year ahead.  Symi is very quiet. The Twelve Days of Christmas are over and the children are back at school. Their older siblings ..read more

Katsaras KittensNew Hotel in PediTimelessSpot the TabbyRed CaiqueBlue DolphinWhat are you looking at?SuperstitionA Robin in a YukkaSteaming SeaRising DampGuarding the Shop ..read more

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Last weekend, on Saturday 15 October, Symi had the first rains that triggered the start of the island’s ‘second spring’. Heavy rain was forecast but fortunately missed us. Symi received about 15 mm over a 24 hour period, not a lot but enough to get things growing. Parts of Crete, on the other hand, received heavy down pours that triggered flash flooding with cars washed into the sea, significant damage to property and tragically the loss of two lives. Early germination in the Pedi Valley. The combination of rain and sunshine has brought up the first flush of green. Seeds are germinating. The l ..read more