Sublime Symi in September

[silverfox]

Love the blog, love the comment on Symi time, love the food, love Symi!

Many thanks for your updates!

[D and E]

Thanks for your very comments Silverfox - the blog is a labour of love for this wonderful place.

[D and E]

Wednesday

Firstly an apology for the short break in service but read on and all will be explained !

Weather Report at 09:00 - Anastasia’s Room 5
Baro Pressure 1005
Humidity 31%
Wind Speed 0 mph
Temp Shade 30 C
Temp Sun 36 C

We often choose a Wednesday if we decide to do the Round The Island on the Poseidon as we surmise that being change-over day for many visitors the boat may be quieter. But as we sit in Cafe Aiglios with our morning frappe more and more people got on.

Next door Irini & Louka’s taxi boats were doing a roaring trade - the island still seems busy from this perspective. Their competitors to the right of the Poseidon are less busy and clearly there are long term loyalties at play.

We are lucky. Our friends 0&L have secured us seats on the upper deck of Poseidon which we always prefer when Capt. Yiannis has the shade up and he has. We set sail at 10:30 and somehow this tardis of a ship accommodates everyone with ease and great to see J and A&A on board.

For anyone who hasn't visited Symi or has and has never experienced a day out on the Poseidon it is one of life’s great pleasures. You don't have to swim and the waters around Symi make for very easy sailing at this time of the year. For €40 it is a great way to spend a day and returned to our must do list for every visit some time ago.

After the first swim stop the coffee and biscuits, retsina, red & white wine and ouzo, apples in cinnamon all appear and people start to help themselves.

We move onto the cave for a second swim stop and then a third swim stop sees us pick up those passengers who have decided to take the guided walk and meet the ship. A shot trip round to Sasklia and the fantastic crew get to work on the BBQ. They have been preparing the Greek, beetroot, potato & rice salads, the spaghetti and the beans gigantes on board but now the chicken has to be cooked. The “bar” is transferred from the boat to where the food is set out and there is always seconds and even thirds available before whatever is left is given to the local sheep and goats. The quality of the food is nothing short of miraculous.

A Day Out On Poseidon

We then head to St.Georges Bay for the final swim stop in the crystal clear waters under a late afternoon sun.

This has been one of our best trips yet as the group that were together on the upper deck which included Scots (D), Welsh (E), Swedish (O&L), Danish (excellent singers), English and Greek all had a sing song and we laughed all the way back to port.

On docking we made our way to Cafe Aiglios for a beer with O&L before we headed up to Chorio in a taxi. A quick shower and a change of clothes and we were in Yiannis Rainbow Bar having our nightly aperitif. With all that swimming, singing and laughing we could only think of one place for dinner and that was next door in Giorgios where the less effervescent but equally charming Other Lefteris served us a very tasty imam, papoujaksi (a long time favourite of ours) and the pastrami and feta pies.

Imam Papoujaksi and Pastrami Pies in Giorgios

And so ended a marvellously exhausting day and we are half way through our visit.

Normally following such a day we have what we call a “lazy day” - nothing planned, leisurely breakfast, do the blog, sort out the photos, read for a bit and then head somewhere mid morning for frappe and just see where the day takes us but we had booked the bus trip to Tolis thus the delay in getting the blog posted.

[D and E]

Thursday

Weather Report at 16:00 - Tolis Bay
Baro Pressure 1012
Humidity 33%
Wind Speed 10 mph
Temp Shade 24 C
Temp Sun 26 C

We woke up to a relatively unusual site - clouds !

Clouds !

We knew the Symi Tours bus could pick us up at the Kiosk in Chorio but we decided to stretch the legs and make sure that all that swimming hadn't taken its toll on D’s finely honed body so we headed down the Kali Strata grabbing a cheese pie for breakfast from the excellent bakery that sits next door to the supermarket on the way to Giorgios / Olive Tree.

The Symi Tours bus picked us up at the appointed time of 09:30 and after pick ups at the Pedi Bay Hotel and in Chorio we head up the Vigla with all those stunning views below. We are met by the 4x4 and we all bundle into the flatbed and head down the road to the taverna and beach.

There is a very fresh breeze and we set ourselves up on the beach beside the water. After about an hour we have a frappe and watch the sea starting to swell a bit more. Back on the sun beds we are starting to feel the spray and then the wash keeps getting closer and closer until we were forced to move up a level. Kominos the taverna owner is very surprised at this sudden change in weather which we are told is likely to last until Saturday. It's perfectly pleasant and is a change from the very humid weather we had during our fist week.

Tolis Before The Swell

Despite the swell and some good sized waves D plunged in - it would take a lot of sea to move him especially after a week of dining on Symi

Thinking about the evening we decided to have a light lunch of squid with the Daphne Salad which we know will be perfect and it was. And in the Taverna was J&M who had walked over - impressive.

Daphne Salad and Calamaris a la Tolis

A bit more sun and reading before we headed back on the bus at 5pm and we were dropped off in Chorio. It was so nice to meet and be thanked by a reader of this little blog as we were departing Tolis - that was so kind.

Back to the apartment and then up to Yannis Rainbow for one and then as we headed down the Kali Strata we noticed that E who runs the small shop opposite Giorgios had returned from Athens so we had a chat with her and her cat.

Now with only two restaurants in Chorio there is a greater need to head down into Yialos of a night. We headed to Cafe Alegrito and found J&M having their pre-diner G&Ts so we had a very pleasant chat with them.

We then headed to Meraklis Restaurant that we haven't been to in several years and yes you guessed it there was J&M - we aren't stalking you - promise !!!

Meraklis has a very traditional menu. We started with a tuna salad that had the right balance of tuna and very thin courgette fritters that came with, without doubt, the best skodalia we have had. The perfect amount of garlic and worked to a smooth and creamy consistency and the perfect accompaniment to grilled vegetables and the likes. We then had the lamb chops - cutlets really (x3) which came with very nice chips and some rice and the giouvetsi with just the right amount of beef and cooked in a pot in the oven and D being a pasta lover really enjoyed this. With the sweetest water melon as a complimentary sweet we were very pleased to have returned to this restaurant.

Starters in Meraklis

Giouvetsi a la Meraklis

As we were eating our Swedish friends were having an after dinner stroll around the port so we were able to say hello to B&C who hadn't been able to accompany us and O&L on the Poseidon but we are all meeting for dinner in Zoe’s before B&C head home.

Opposite Meraklis is Manolis who sells some jewellery, some very nice pottery and shirts and shorts with much of his stock being made in Greece. D spotted a pair of shorts and so at 10:30 pm here he was trying on shorts. He also spotted a Tshirt he had wanted but that Manolis now had in his size - he’s a growing lad. So with a late night purchase we headed for the 11pm bus hoping for a taxi but alas there weren't any.

Our now familiar back lanes took us home and out on our balcony watching the twinkling lights of Chorio we shared the last few spoonfuls of the fantastic trifle we had bought from that baker that we have mentioned - a real find in Chorio.

[Pollychops]

Great post again coming straight from Symi. With our recent visit and your weather forecasting and fantastic images, it has convinced us to visit in September rather than June. Can't wait till next year and more so your next post.

[Gemma1]

More great reports and that giouvetsi looks delicious. I've never had that before and love pasta so will look out for it next year. I'm currently at the airport waiting for a flight to Chania so will be enjoying Greek food myself later today, though doubt it will match whar you've been having.

[D and E]

Taverna Daphne - Tolis

Friday

Weather Report at 09:00 - Anastasia’s Room 5 Balcony
Baro Pressure 1006
Humidity 33%
Wind Speed 0.5 mph
Temp Shade 24 C
Temp Sun 32 C

After two “active” days we decided to have a “lazy” day. D waited until 8am before heading on the bread run and by the time we had done a two day blog with sized photos and had breakfast it was about 11am. There were clouds scudding across Symi from Turkey heading towards Rhodes but Symi was very pleasant and definitely not as hot as recent days.

Now readers might recall that we had a duff kettle last week which was fixed with a smile and a brand new replacement. This morning the shower head started leaking in a big way sending fountains of water this way and that. It might just be us, but getting up the nerve to point this out took a bit of doing but our wonderful hostess, Anastasia, just blamed the “bloody” Chinese manufacturers and said her grandson would be on the case and would fix it.

Somewhat relieved we headed down the lazy steps for our Cafe Aiglios frappe and fresh orange juice and just watched the world go by. It is so lovely to sit somewhere surrounded by different languages and cultures and just feel part of something much bigger and more important.

We then wandered around the back streets and landed in the Corner Cafe for a couple of small beers and fondly, and ashamedly, remember the days when they was no barrier to the slipway and some of the hilarious incidents that we have witnessed over the years. Some cheese, pickled capers, cucumber and olives are the mezes of the day. Then who did we find in the next door Cafe but the ever present J&M

Just as we were about to leave the Corner Cafe, Zoe’s husband Nikos passes and mysteriously two more small beers appear in front of us. That’s Symi.

So we then take a walk around the harbour to the ATM. So handy it is next door to Elpida’s and so we have an ouzo and retsina stop with a lovely mezes of those spicy samosas, sweet tomatoes, cucumber and cheese. Then one of the longest established Symi Visitors and well respected members of this forum arrived and had a chat - great to see Kojak on the island with the other doyens of the SV Forum in Elpida’s.

A second ouzo to keep up with E’s small carafe of retsina comes with spicy salami and salty feta - perfect. A&A are passing and we have a foodie chat - well you do, don't you. They recounted a superb lunch they had just had at The Nireus and a memorable “fruit de’ mer” in To Spitiko the night before - both sounded amazing.

Zeus Day Boat - stops at St George's Bay on way back

E was looking for some sleeveless tops (whatever that might be) and so she headed to Debbie’s in The Square and D headed to Kakoi. By this time it must have been at least two hours since we had seen J&M and that felt wrong but thankfully they soon walked past

Approaching 4pm Kakoi likes to close for a couple of hours and as E was still shopping D moved to Cafe Alegrito and a after one more to watch Poseidon and the water taxis arrive back we headed for the 5pm bus.

Writing the blog on the balcony of Room 5 at 6pm the wind got up again but it was time to get ready and head to Yannis on a much cooler evening.

Our four friends made their way up from Nos, where they are staying, to have dinner with us in Zoe’s before two of them head back to Sweden the next day. Yannis does a great job rearranging the chairs to accommodate us. Another regular visitor (and cat lover) arrived in Yannis and called D over to compliment the blog and give his condolences over the loss of Greyam which was very thoughtful indeed - thanks N.

In Zoe’s we start by sharing a mezes of dolmades with tzatziki, very light and flavoursome courgette balls and the unctuous bouyiourdi that everyone dipped the bread into and loved the taste of the oven baked feta with peppers. For mains D had the hare stifado, E the soutzoukakia in that rich tomato sauce whilst our four Swedish friends had the legendary beef stifado which floored at least two of them.

After some complimentary retsina and apples in cinnamon even Zoe could not get our friends a taxi at around 10:45 so we walked them down to the Chorio Kiosk and Lakis was soon there to bus them down the hill.

The uncertainty of taxis must impact as the demographic of the average Symi Visitor does suggest that they may be less inclined to venture far at night if they cannot be sure of a taxi home, especially those less familiar with the island and the brilliant bus service.

So we headed home bumping into J on the way and then passing the Sunshine Bar that was just getting going by the looks of things.

Another most enjoyable day on “the rock” ended but the wind continued to blow during the night as was forecast and there is still a breeze at 10:00 as the blog is being posted.

Pedi Bay from R5 Balcony this morning

[D and E]

More great reports and that giouvetsi looks delicious. I've never had that before and love pasta so will look out for it next year. I'm currently at the airport waiting for a flight to Chania so will be enjoying Greek food myself later today, though doubt it will match whar you've been having.

Enjoy Gemma1 and hopefully we will read on this Forum how Chania turns out.

[D and E]

Great post again coming straight from Symi. With our recent visit and your weather forecasting and fantastic images, it has convinced us to visit in September rather than June. Can't wait till next year and more so your next post.

Thanks Pollychops - we are certain you will enjoy Symi in September : we have for many years and intend to for many more.

[silverfox]

Mmmmm

Do we need to do late June AND September next year?

Your trip sounds so nice!

[Allan]

Do we need to do late June AND September next year?

Is that a rhetorical question?
Just in case it isn't, the answer is YES of course!

[D and E]

We have found that the more we visit the more we discover about this magical place so take Allan's advice - he makes us look like newcomers

But perhaps try one visit up & one down. You may be amazed at the difference.

[D and E]

Saturday

Weather Report at 09:00 - Anastasia’s Room 5 Balcony
Baro Pressure 1008
Humidity 30%
Wind Speed 6 mph
Temp Shade 22 C
Temp Sun 26 C

The sound of the wind gusting outside suggested to us that our plan to go to Agia Marina on Little George’s boat may be a bit foolhardy so we took our time over breakfast to see if the wind would clam down and as it hadn't by 11am we headed down to Yialos via the Lazy Steps.

Sea Dreams was docking as we came down the last slope but the manoeuvring wasn't as simple as usual with the wind blowing against the side of the ship as it tried to pull itself in with the ropes and winches.

Cafe Aiglios was very busy with a large Symi family using it as a meeting place and as more and more arrived the more the children squealed with delight and it was great to watch.

Poseidon had cancelled the Round The Island trip and Captain Yannis was having coffee in Pachos. He thought that the wind would peak Saturday night and things would be back to normal on Sunday which is what has been generally said since Thursday when we were at Tolis and the winds got up.

We therefore decided to walk to Nimborio by heading from the square up past Iapetos and over by the cemetery having our usual stop at the Church of St.George to take in that wonderful view of the bay. The wind was keen at the top of the hill but eased off as we came down and we had a beer stop at the shack below the Niredes Apartments.

The View From the Church of St George

E's Excellent Pic of The Church of St George

The View From The Shack Beer Stop

We then headed around the corner and had a light lunch of Greek salad and the lightest, and beautifully seasoned moussaka, which was enhanced with the inclusion of star anise. The normally tranquil taverna was very busy but Panagiota and her new fiancé were coping well. She looked very happy when she showed us her engagement ring.

After lunch we walked to the far end of the beach and then headed back to Yialos via the road and as usual turned down the offer of taking “the train” back. We cut over by the church and came down by the Hanari boatyard and then cut up at Tza Ti and walked along the back lanes past the Dorian Hotel and then along the back of the shops dropping down and coming out just before Elpida's which was very busy. We had a beer stop at Stella Bar instead and watched the day trippers return firstly to the St.Nikolas and then to the Skiadeni and once again that lovely calmness of late afternoon materialised.

We walked round to catch the bus but as there was a taxi waiting we jumped in that and caught the supermarket before returning to the apartment to sit out and start this blog. The sun was shining over the Kastro at 17:45 and our washing was being whipped around by the winds which had picked up again. Getting close to Yannis time and the big decision of the day - where to eat tonight - we were thinking Apotholos in Pedi but the wind put us off.

Yannis was busy with so many regular visitors catching up and making plans for the evening. After our nightly ouzo and retsina we decided to head down to Vasilis Restaurant and on the way had another ouzo & retsina stop in Cafe Aiglios and take in the buzz of Yialos on a Saturday night.

We were rather worried that we had a “J&M Free Day” but thankfully they appeared up the Kali Strata and wished us a good evening in passing

It was also nice to have a chat with a couple of first time Symi Visitors who read the blog and made the climb to find the “hallowed” Rainbow Bar.

From the Kali Strata

Vasilis had only one or two Greek families in but this lack of activity should put anyone off. We visit this restaurant only sporadically simply because of time limitations as really it should be a firm favourite as it has a very traditional feel and menu and the food is extremely good. We are always surprised we don't see more visitors dining there of an evening.

With our taste for dolmades being whetted by Zoe the previous evening we started with those. They were herbed well and came with a deliciously creamy yoghurt. Then we had imam which was as good as we have had. E then had the grilled liver which was cooked to perfection and D had his favourite - the reason for heading to this restaurant really - the lemon goat. This dish is made of potatoes, carrots, artichokes and courgettes in a lemony broth with good chucks of goat throughout. It reminds D of Welsh cawl. A complimentary custard tart ends a great dinner and we head for the 11pm bus which is much quieter compared to last week.

Dolmades and Imam a la Vasilis

Grilled Liver a la Vasilis

Lemon Goat a la Vasilis

We went out onto the balcony to have our square of chocolate but didn't linger as the wind was still blowing.

Sunday morning and we have a gloriously blue Symi sky and only a light breeze - what will we do

[Pollychops]

Good morning D and E, what a nice way to start our Sunday morning reading through your post. The lemon goat looks fab, did it taste as good as it looked, like the idea of the broth and it would be ideal back home as an Autumn dish. Hope the wind dies down for the rest of your holiday.

[Lisa B]

Hi there, been reading your blog since joining. You've already become part of our day and we've just realised you need to stay til Sept '18 so we can have our daily fix!

[D and E]

Good morning D and E, what a nice way to start our Sunday morning reading through your post. The lemon goat looks fab, did it taste as good as it looked, like the idea of the broth and it would be ideal back home as an Autumn dish. Hope the wind dies down for the rest of your holiday.

It sure was Pollychops.
Normal service has been resumed & this comes to you from windless St. Nicks which is busy, with a temperature of around 37C and a very good 4G service.

[D and E]

Hi there, been reading your blog since joining. You've already become part of our day and we've just realised you need to stay til Sept '18 so we can have our daily fix!

Sounds like a great Crowd Funding Project LisaB - to including paying for D's expanding shorts !!

[JuliaB]

Promise we haven't been hiding but you seem to have had a J&M free Sunday!

[Gemma1]

More great reading After a night in Chania I have moved on to Hora Sfakion where I am very happy with my view overlooking the harbour and the beautiful blue sea. I will post a trip report in the off topic forum.

[D and E]

Promise we haven't been hiding but you seem to have had a J&M free Sunday!

Phew - good to hear from you : we were worried