Pilgrimage to Panormitis – September 2015 (part 1)
From Julia

Symi was a lot hotter than I had anticipated when I planned my walk, back in the UK – I’d travelled overland from England and it had been really roasting hot since Milan. I actually chose to visit Symi because it had the monastery, and the fact that it was on the other side of the island from the town was guaranteed to make me want to walk there. (James, when I emailed him, very kindly told me that it wouldn’t be that difficult)

I had the idea of staying a night – everyone I asked said it would be easy to get a room once I arrived – and I’d talked with Yiannis, captain of the Poseidon, before I left, and he said I could join them on their Tuesday visit and come back by sea rather than re-walk the 12 miles back. So I set off on Monday morning feeling cheerful.

Getting out of Chorio was the hard part. If you don’t know the warren of little paths and alleys, it’s easy to lose one’s sense of direction. I must have climbed up and down twice as many steps as I needed to, and was getting pretty desperate, when I said a prayer and an angel on a motorbike popped up and said “Hop on, I’ll take you to the main road.” I hopped on, and in two minutes I was being told “All road from here. All, all, all road”.

I’d left before dawn, and had forgotten my hat, my sunglasses, and my earrings. (The earrings were not necessary, but I missed the other two once the sun got up) But how hard is it just to follow the road? And I like to walk. The views were spectacular on the first stretch, the road wasn’t busy at all and the walking was good.

It was still cool because I’d started so early, and while the sun was low there was still a lot of shade. Here and there I saw little groups of goats, saw some kind of buzzard at one point, heard a few birds but not a lot of wildlife.

I took one detour that cut off a loop of the road and came out at a little church (St Catherine’s, I think. It seemed to be frequented only by goats) but it was so rough and rocky that I was glad of my sturdy walking shoes and thought to myself that it would have been just as quick to walk the loop of road as struggle over the rocks of the shortcut.

The last few miles are always the hardest. The sun was up, and there are seven switchbacks that take you down the last big slope of the mountain, all in the open in blazing sunshine. I had got through most of my one and a half litres of water by this time, but once I’d come out on a curve of the road, still high-up, and seen the monastery nestling in her cool almost-landlocked bay below, nothing was going to stop me. I admit that I did feel a certain smugness going up to the gate past people getting out of cars that had taken just minutes to drive from Symi town, knowing that I’d been walking pretty much non-stop for four hours.

I found the place to ask about a room, and it was no trouble at all, one night – €16. I dumped my little rucksack and went to explore the Monastery and the church (such a shame there are no photographs allowed inside the church – the iconostasis is the most amazing piece of carving. You could stare and stare at it for hours. I saw the great silver icon of St Michael (and said a few quiet prayers for absent friends) and lit a couple of candles. I went into both the museums, and saw all the famous boats that have arrived miraculously in the bay with appeals from seamen all over the world for help from St Michael. I even found Captain Yiannis having a drink in the cafe and told him I would definitely be coming home on his boat the next day. He was delighted to see that I’d made it: “Four hours! No stops!”

It was worth all the sweat and sore feet.

Share on Facebook

In case you missed it: For the next two weeks you are going to find guest blog posts (and some pre-written posts about my books in order to try and tempt you to buy them for people’s Christmas gifts, wink) which I am setting up before I go away. It’s actually still early November as I write this so things may have changed by now but I am going to put up the first guest post today and schedule it for two weeks’ time and cross my fingers. Here we go.

Today’s guest post is from Andy Hornby, who also supplied the photos, and he lists his favourite Symi things:

Hi James.

Thanks very much for doing Symi Dream. It’s a place very close to our hearts and one of the most beautiful places in the world and you keep it alive for us…Favourite bits?

A trip round the island, superb swimming and a hearty lunch on the Poseidon!

The walk from Yialos over the top to Nimborio. I ever I feel heavy hearted, the memory of that walk is a sure remedy!

The bus journey to Panormitis. Stunning views and excellent spanacopita from the bakery there.

A day on St Nicolas beach. The best moussaka for lunch, snorkelling (look out for the rainbow wrasses) and walking back to Pedi along the coast path.

Music at Giorgio’s on a Friday night.

Watching the world go by from café Mediterraneo.

Reflections in the water. The light in Symi is really special

Pics.

1. Swallowtail on Lantana up the Kali Strata. Two of my favourite things in a favourite place!
2. No health and safety on the taxi boat back to Pedi.
3. Very useful goat rack on the walk to Nimborio.
4. Watery reflections at Nimborio.

We hope to come back asap.

Bye for now

Regards

Andy

Share on Facebook

Then And Now, from Michelle Duffy, is the first of our Guest Posts; these will run until 14th December with a new post every day (except Sundays). There are a lot of interesting posts coming up, today Michele starts us off with:
I first sailed into Symi harbour in August 1987, more by luck than choice. We wanted to go to a Greek island, and fate lent a hand, as although I had never heard of Symi it was the cheapest one we could find. Little did I know then that this was the place to which we would both be forever drawn back. I always love seeing old friends again – both two legged and four pawed, and am always amazed by the number of people who not only recognise us when we return, but also give us such a warm greeting.

So what has changed over the years? On our first visit the volume and condition of the stray cats was very upsetting, and that has definitely improved. Also so has the plumbing – thankfully. There was virtually no traffic, – and that is most certainly a change for the worse. I remember lying in the road and admiring all the stars (don’t ask) on our first visit, – now I would just get run over, and there are too many lights to be able to see any stars anyway.

The bus driver in 1987 was a slightly grumpy young man by the name of Thanassis. There were so few visitors in those days that he used to toot his horn each time that he passed our apartment, and it is a joy to find him now older and just as grumpy driving a taxi. The food and wine have improved beyond measure. The sheer variety of wonderful, fresh food on offer is one of the great attractions, and it is no longer necessary to take a packet of Rennies with you if you are planning to have a wine or two.

One of the great joys of travelling has always been the lost in translation menus. Sadly over the years many of these have been corrected, but while I mourn the fact that we can no longer go into the kitchen at Georgios and admire the wonderful “Pissoles”, we can still delight in a visit to Syllogos to sample the “Cock Wine- Coloured”.

Actually I decided to play safe and ordered the chicken with prunes, which was delicious.

I now live in a small Spanish town in the Guadalhorce valley, but I still miss being on Symi. I miss the people, the food, Captain Yiannis’s boat trip – not to mention the barbecue lunch, and the sheer beauty of the island. I have consoled myself by reading all of James Collins books, then all of Anne Zouroudi’s Greek Detective series, and Sara Alexi’s Greek Village books. All great reads, but nothing can quite take the place of the real thing.

Symi and I have both lost our innocence, and had to grow up and face the realities of life. I always take hundreds of photographs, and am in the process of using some of these as inspiration for my art work. I usually paint murals ( www.micheleduffy.com ) but am now working on a series of 3 or 4 pictures based on Symi. I would then like people to choose the one that they like best, as I plan to turn this one into prints, with all profits going to Solidarity Symi. I have just completed the first one. Hands up who knows where this wall is?

You can contact Michele through her website: www.micheleduffy.com

Share on Facebook