It looks like the festival concerts are a great success, and there are a few more left to go. This week, if you’re on Symi, you can attend the wine festival on Tuesday, with music from the  Giannis Barbaris Band, and on Thursday, there is a concert from Symi’s own young musicians and their band, both being held in the town square. Also happening this week is the traditional feats of St Maria of Nimos, so there will be boats going back and forth to the island throughout that evening and into the night; everyone welcome. [Festival programme here. Scroll down it for English.]

The concerts at the weekend were well attended. The amphitheatre was packed, with the chairs at the back full, and festival goers forming large rings to dance on the main amphitheatre floor. People were still on their way home from a good night out when I got up early on Sunday, and it’s been a while since I’ve heard the harbour still going at that time of day. Both sides were full of boats; there were more lying off in the bay, and come the Sunday Panagia ferry and the end of the weekend getaway, well, I’d say that boat was totally full. Obviously, the church festival on the 15th swelled the numbers greatly, as they did on Tinos and other islands where this festival is particularly marked, and I get the impression that many people will be returning to work today with a sense of, ‘Phew!’

I see the opposite of this during my coffee break in the afternoon. I’ve fallen into my own tradition of heading down to join Neil at Rainbow around 16.00, and to sit there and watch the world go by until five. Only, there isn’t much world going by at that time of day, and sometimes it’s only a couple of us. I remember, when I started work at the bar in 2004, ‘Just for two weeks’, it was in late September, so the afternoons were busier. Over the following 12 years (because two weeks is a long time in Greece), I found July and August to be almost embarrassing; I was basically paid to do nothing because there were few customers during the siesta shift. Everyone was either at the beach or taking a nap, and my only customers were the occasional day-trippers with enough time for a quick snifter, or people on holiday who weren’t beach fans. It seems the afternoons are still the same. The evenings, though? Apparently they have been very busy, and that’s partly due to us now having 12 or 13 places to eat and drink up in the village where a couple of years ago we had fewer. I’ll put up a note about them, maybe tomorrow.

One thing I did do at the weekend was get distracted by a cardboard box. I know. So fickle! I was going for a walk, and dropping off the rubbish on the way, when I noticed a decent box, and thought, Ah ha! I took it home, cut it about a bit, and placed it over the water pump, leaving an airflow for the machine, and then bunged an old towel over it with an even older pillow on top as a muffler, and a couple of rocks to keep it down, and he presto! It made hardly any difference to the noise, but it’s helped a little. It’s only temporary while we wait for a new and hopefully quieter pump to come in before this one breaks down. It should be with us, ahem, ‘within the next two weeks.’ And we know what that might mean. Not to worry; the box has helped in the meantime.

I also had a look at our thermometer, which came from the Chinese emporium a couple of years ago. Convinced it wasn’t capable of rising over 37°, I put it in direct sunlight while I threw some water on the plants. Within five minutes it had climbed to its maximum, 50°, and was still climbing, so I put it back in the shade. Just think, while you’re sunbathing, swimming, or just walking about, you’re walking in temperatures of over 50°, and thinking, ‘It’s only 37,’ when, of course, it’s not. So, bear that in mind the next time you pay €10.00 to oil up and lie down. All I can say is eek!

Meanwhile, as you will see from the photos, Neil has been catching more sunrises in Pedi.

It looks like the island is now full.
This weekend is the holy festival of the Dormition of Mary, also known by other variants of the title depending on what you read. On Symi, the day has traditionally consisted of church services in the morning and a festival of service and celebration at Aletheni on the Pedi Road. You may have heard it called the Panagyri, which is the festival after the service where, for those that keep it, the 14-day fast of the preceding weeks is broken. More colloquially, here you might hear the day referred to as simply the ‘Aletheni’, the name of the church where the festival is usually held.

Apparently, this is not happening this year. The morning services will be, but not the festival in the evening. This has been replaced (or postponed) by a star attraction concert in Yialos’ main square on Saturday night, raising the question among some, ‘Is this a sign of the over-commercialism of Symi?’ Or, put another way, ‘Are pop concerts now more important than religious events?’ Maybe the consumer culture is the new religious event?

I expect there was great debate in the council chamber when setting dates for the festival, itself much scaled down since its heyday in the late 90s and early 00s. Deep discussions with the ruling Church elite must have also taken place, I imagine, but who knows? Not everyone is happy about this change in island tradition, and not everyone is happy that ‘the island is full.’

When I say ‘full’, I am quoting what I have read on some social media; stories of people frustrated at not being able to find a table at a restaurant, or a car to hire, or a place to stay, all of which are avoidable issues. Book in advance has been the mantra for several tavernas in recent years, but now, perhaps, it’s best to book at any eatery if you want an evening meal. The same applies for accommodation. Gone are the days of rolling off a ferry and finding someone with an advertising board and a whisper (for the practice is/was illegal) touting rooms to rent. These days, you will need to either book well in advance, or take a very rough chance. Even with every other apothiki, cow shed, granny flat, old shop and whatnot converted into an Ikea showroom Airbnb, there is not enough room for everyone who wants to attend the non-existent August 15th festival. Greek news has been reporting the ‘great exodus’ from Athens, via X number of ferries from Piraeus on Thursday, and X-thousand people going on their annual within-Greece holiday. It is probably the busiest time of the year for travelling within the country. As for bike or car hire. You might find somewhere to rent you something now that we have an inordinate number of cars, mopeds, electric vehicles, electric mopeds, bicycles and mules for hire – except for the mules, I made that up. You can hardly move for Rent-A-Thing parked up waiting, or trying to find a place to park (there aren’t any), or trying to get along the harbour side when a day boat has come in (don’t bother unless experienced, it’s dangerous and you might end up in the sea).

The island, full? It sounds like one of those ‘no boats’ no hopers claiming the yUK is full and ‘we can’t take anymore’ as an excuse for their insecurity or racism, but that’s not the reason on Symi. Here, it’s simply that it’s a very popular island at this time of year because of the festivals, and, probably, the reputations of some restaurants and hotels that attract the visitors with money to burn. I mean, don’t turn up tomorrow hoping to find a room, because you probably won’t, but having said that, I’ve seen plenty of new Airbnb properties standing unused all summer, so maybe there will be one of them left lying around.

Meanwhile, as a background, it was 32° in our courtyard at 03.30 this morning with 60% humidity. We’re not seeing the 40° + temperatures of further north, which we are usually suffering by now, but the humidity is back, and that’s draining, so as usual, take care. Let’s hope there are no fireworks or other dangers used as part of the festivals, which are very well attended. Last night ‘Locomondo’ was on the Yialos main stage, and the audience space looked packed.
Let the good times continue…

Last night in Yialos. Video from Symi TV

No solar eclipse viewing for us yesterday. I don’t think it was visible from where we are, but if it was, we didn’t see it. We see lots of sunrises though, if that helps. As the sun sets behind the island, as it were, we tend not to see much of that, only the start of it. To see the sunset proper, you’d have to go up high or over to the west side of the island. It can look dramatic just before it dips behind the hills behind Yialos, but you won’t see it sizzling into the sea. Similarly, you won’t see it rise from the sea, but from behind Turkish mountains to the east.

If you are staying in Horio, you can easily see the sunrise from up in the village, though the higher the better, as you will need an unrestricted view of Pedi Bay to catch it all. Or, you can be down on the shore in Pedi. To see it from elsewhere, you’d have to get yourself to a place somewhere along the east coast of the island, or just off it if you’re on a boat.

Yesterday, Neil took this one from up on the main village road where you can see the sun come up over the bay.

The best place though might still be down by the water, where the colours change by the second once the spectacle starts.

Now, who’d want to hide such a view as this with a pair of cheap paper and plastic glasses bought from an online retail store? (Just don’t stare at it openly for too long.)

I just picked up on two pieces of news that might be of interest but bear no relation to the photos I am adding to brighten the page. (The photos are to remind you how sultry the weather is right now.)

First, ‘Scientific research focuses on creating chocolate that does not melt in the heat.’ I mean, forget everything else, let science take a pause for a moment and stop trying to get computers to do everything for us, from heart operations to writing Mills & Boon romances, and concentrate on the real things that matter: Chocolate that doesn’t melt. Very Willy Wonka if you ask me, but if successful, you’ll be able to take your Quality Street to the beach and have it beside your sunbed all day with no fear of sticky fingers. Whatever next? An initiative to stop the world from overheating? An end to famine?

Mind you, you have to get to the beach first, and on your way, you may once again encounter a problem: News item number two, the on/off situation regarding Schengen entry requirements.

In Greece, this was ‘on’ earlier in the year during that quietest of travel times in Greece, Easter. Yeah, great idea. After that fiasco, it was ‘off’ again, and as far as I can make out, was then both off and on depending which airport you were using. Then, there was a quiet ‘off’ period, according to travellers in and out of Rhodes, but now, according to whatever the UK Government happens to be right now, it’s back ‘on.’ Whether it will be on when you get off your plane, or off when you get back on, I can’t tell you. I tend not to hang about airports watching the queues, so maybe the best advice is simply to be prepared for delays.

If you’re coming from the UK or any other non-Schengen country, you may need to register your biometric details, such as fingerprints and a photo when you arrive and before reaching the immigration desk. (Or you may not if it’s a busy time of day.) This can cause delays. You may also need to provide either your fingerprint or photo when you leave the Schengen area. This might also cause delays. But then, it might not.

So, there you are, now you know. If you are coming from the UK, you might want to check the latest news on this with the official UKGov website; here’s the latest page.

In more local news, the festival continues. There is a dance performance in Yialos this evening, and a concert from ‘Locomondo’ tomorrow night, and two more concerts at the weekend. All free, all in the main square, and all starting around nine PM.

And in even more local news, I might need to fiddle around with this website again at the weekend. The theme it runs on doesn’t easily support the left column where I put info about books and things. Judging by the click reports, not many pay attention to it anyway, but I want something there so I can keep up the link to Neil’s Symi Calendar, making it easy for you to order hundreds of copies, and right now, I can’t work out how to do it. So, if you notice odd pages or an odd look while you’re browsing, or get error messages, it’s because I am making the change ‘live.’ Obviously, I will be live while doing it, but so will the site. The alternative is to pay more to the hosting company so I can keep version A running while I work on version B, but as I only intend to spend an hour or so doing it live, that seems pointless. Anyway, now you know the news, and can take your Milk Tray with you to the airport knowing it won’t melt while you stand in a queue for hours waiting to be processed, because it is ‘on’ again. Make sure you don’t buy the kind of chocolate that melts, though, else your fingerprints won’t take and you’ll have to go to the back of the queue.

What can I tell you today? Yesterday started well with the main water being turned on and filling the tank from 04.00 in the morning. The valves you see around the village attached to the black pipes are opened manually, so either the conscientious operative did it on the way home from a concert or a late night, or gets up and goes to work as early as I do. Either way, the trickle and drip is always a welcome sound. The pressure is also better at that time of day because, I guess, other properties haven’t opened their sterna intakes because, like most sensible people, they are asleep, so we get a head start. Our tank was full by eight, ready for a day’s battering from the four people who now have to share it.

That seen to, and after knocking out a draft chapter, we headed down so I could continue upgrading my teeth, and Neil could search out gifts for the grandchildren for when he sees them in November.

Now there’s a thing. What to buy? What’s a classic Greek souvenir that you can only find here, has been made here, says ‘Greece’ and sparks in the young person an interest in another country? There are plenty of choices. For example, a bottle opener in the shape of a phallus. A mug bearing the face of a surprised donkey. A plate in the ancient style, mass-produced in Asia. A bottle of wine with ‘Malaka’ on the label (for the grown-up children, and it’s actually a very nice wine), and other such ‘must-haves’ are to be found everywhere. There are, of course, the slightly less low end of the market trinkets, including evil eye keyrings, colourful pottery and similar things produced mainly overseas. Then, there’s the top end (which wouldn’t be suitable for the grandchildren yet), such as the pottery and jewellery you can find in the more specialised shops in Yialos. So, the world is your oyster when it comes to taking special gifts back to young people. So far, they have a tin of baklava each, and we’re still scratching our heads.

Anyway, the harbour was busy, but we were out before the great twelve-to-two rush. Constantinos, who drove us up, tells me that’s the worst time of the day for foot traffic, the taxis and the bus. The Sebeco comes in on the south side, the red trainer ‘boot’ boats too, and the larger ships dock in the Petalo port. They all bear passengers who want to get into town, with most walking on the road because they’ve never seen a road before, and others cramming around the six-foot-wide piece of harbour front as they trudge along like refugees from a sunbed encampment. Between twelve and two is the time not to be driving around the harbour, yet people must. I am glad I don’t have to; I wouldn’t have the patience.

What else? Er…The temperature seems to have been a pretty regular 37° in the shade in our courtyard for the past month at least, occasionally only getting to 35° now and then – and that’s a lot cooler than usual for this time of year. The humidity has been reasonably bearable too, and the promised Meltemi hasn’t yet made itself known to any extent at all. When that blows in August, it’s usually like sitting in front of a hairdryer, but I’ve not noticed that yet.

And so on into the rest of the week ahead.