There’s no great earth-shattering news today. It remains warm down here, clouds are gathering for some unsettled weather that’s due later in the week (allegedly), although weather reports come and go. When there are clouds, they can make for incredible sunrises, as Neil’s photos demonstrate.
We tend not to get a sunset view from our place because the sun goes down behind the hills to the west. It’s actually quite hard to get a sunset photo unless you are on the main road or somewhere like the Haritomeni Taverna at just the right time in the summer to see the sun just before it goes behind the hills. It can be a spectacular sight The alternative is to get yourself to higher ground or the west coast of the island, which isn’t easy without a car (or boat), but even then, I don’t think you’ll see the sun set over the sea as you might have wanted to. Hey. At least we’re not Santorini with its millions of tourists all trying to cram into the same place for the same shot so they can say they’ve seen it.
No, for us, over here on the east side of the island with a view from the roof towards the east, the sunrise is the thing. You get good shots of it from by the sea in Pedi, where it comes up over the Turkish mountains, and the best time to see it is July/August before it’s moved along and comes up over the Pedi hills. By that time of the year, it’s lost some of its impact, unless there are clouds around to bring some drama, as in today’s photos.
If you’re a collector of the Symi calendars, you’ll know that Neil often places a Pedi sunrise photo for one of the months. That’s because it’s about the only convenient place to get a spectacular view. Next year, the Symi sunrise features in July of the 2024 Symi Dream calendar, which you can order online if you follow that link, or the one at the top of the righthand column. >>
When discussing the Symi sunrise, we must not forget to mention it’s also the name of Claudia’s late-night bar along the lane from the Village Hotel, or that it’s the name of a cocktail Yiannis serves at the Rainbow Bar. Don’t ask me what’s in a ‘Symi Sunrise is good for you’, but I am sure it’s very nice. I worked there for 12 years and was never called on to make one.
Sunrise is still an hour off for me, and there are some clouds about, so I may be in for a spectacle. If not, no worries. We get some kind of weather here all the time, and there will be more spectacular sunrises before long, I’m sure.
