Yamas Yialos

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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 15 Oct 2019, 08:48

silverfox wrote:What a superb blog you both do and you do so much for the island.

We spent a little time, mostly drunk in our case, with D&E tonight and we have to say what a great couple they are!

I'm now so behind in blogging and these two didn't help!

Love to you both!

:D

:X
It was great to spend some time with you both.
The bread run was a bit delayed this morning - still trying to fathom out why :o
Take care & see you around.
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Jan » 15 Oct 2019, 17:49

D and E wrote:
Jan wrote:If you can persuade a 'native' guide' to accompany you, do try the walk to Tolis, outbound at least. By far the worst part is the ascent of the concrete road out of the back of the square but after that the views make that first effort worthwhile. And the glow of self-satisfaction when you arrive justifies the first and possibly second beers.


We reckon that if D achieved this he would drink the Daphne Taverna dry :shock:
Maybe next year ;)
:D


And your problem is?? ;) ;)
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Gemma1 » 16 Oct 2019, 08:03

Sounds like a lovely day at Pedi - followed by an excellent dinner at Zoe's (my favourite place for stifado - though I've never had hare) and plenty of liquid refreshment in between ;)
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 16 Oct 2019, 08:36

Tuesday - A Quiet Day

After the previous evening D was a bit slow to get going.

When he opened the balcony doors the Vigla was shrouded in early morning mist but it looked as though the sun would burn that off quite quickly.

As he was running a bit late he just popped down to the baker at the bridge and came back directly, passing the fruit & veg van that was doing a roaring trade. This looks like it is a great source of news as the ladies & gents spend time chatting over the feeling and smelling of the considerable variety of goods on offer. Things are thrown into bags, weighed on a an old fashioned scales, money is exchanged and the chatter continues - there is no hurry.

On his return he checked on the little cat that has taken up residence in our door side balcony. It is one of about six that hang out around the apartments but it is the one that looks like it needs feeding up. He found that he had been beaten to it and that our neighbour, who we hardly see, has already put out some food in a saucer.

On his way to the bakery he made a dramatic discovery so after breakfast and the usual morning chores he took E to see his find and lo and behold -

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The Much Needed Suitcase Ramp

If you take the third opening on the right, opposite and after the Opera House, you find that someone has built a suitcase friendly ramp which makes a considerable contribution to the route up to Irini. If only we had known.

As we were leaving the house we could see the Cypriot cruise liner - the Salamis Filoxenia - that regularly visits Symi during the summer. It takes up its position at the Clocktower and is quite an imposing sight.

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The Salamis Filoxenia

By the time we reached Cafe Aiglios we luckily got the last comfy chairs as clearly the influx of visitors from the cruise ship were out and about. We had our morning frappe and added a fresh orange juice to see if that would help E’s throat and the cold bug that she has caught. Apparently it is doing the rounds on Symi.

All the cafe bars that surround the harbour appeared to be busy even before the Panagia Skiadeni was forced to use the harbour side opposite the Clocktower due to the cruise liner being there.

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The Panagia Skiadeni

Poseidon had gone out for the day but it looked like only one of Irini & Luca’s taxi boats had gone out. We noticed that Manolis and Debbie’s shops just opposite Meraklis had not been open for a couple of days and so it appears that the island is starting to wind down.

E had some transactions to settle so we agreed to meet in the Stella Bar where D had his small beer chating to Vasilis and Panormitis as they tried their best to woo the day trippers in. It is so easy to sit there just watching the world go by and then with the activity of the St.Nikolas arriving a second beer was inevitable. Soon after this we felt the first drop of unexpected rain and before long we had a full on shower that lasted around 30 minutes.

We headed to Elpida’s where we shared an excellent cheese & ham omelette for lunch accompanied by the day’s mezes of lightly curried chicken and spetzofai. The weather had improved trade with several people taking shelter.

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D’s Tipple Of Choice On Symi

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Elpida’s Omelette & Mezes

Around 15:00 the sun was back out and we headed back to the apartment, via Taxas for some fruit and yoghurt. The next thing we knew it was around 18:00 and D went out onto the balcony under a very dark and dramatic sky over the harbour yet some blue skies over the Vigla. It could get stormy.

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Fixing The Nets

One “clever” thing worthy of mention is the key to the apartment. It comes with the small card that ensures electricity isn’t wasted but normally such cards can be removed and then things can be charged when you are out in the evening. They are wise to this in Irini’s where the card and key are on a soldered key ring and neither can be parted.

We had not finally decided on the most important decision of the day so we sat down in a rather busy Alegrito. It is very noticeable how the ratio of tourist to local has now shifted. We slowly had a couple of ouzo & retsina’s watching the sky light up with a storm over Turkey and then headed to Haris Taverna - that’s the one between the taxi rank and To Spitiko.

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Taverna Haris Welcome Retsina

In our early years coming to Symi this was the Orange & Lemon bar where we recall there was a happy hour on cocktails where you could buy two for one of the most extravagant drinks with suggestive bananas, the obligatory umbrella, and lit sparklers sticking out of tall glasses. We regularly visited of an evening and often had a light lunch there. Over the years the bar turned into a fish restaurant and now a place with a much wider menu and for some reason that we cannot really put our finger on it fell off our “must go to” list.

We decided to rectify this and even though only one other table was occupied - it was 10pm and at this time of year ..... - we sat down. There was a lovely point of recognition from Haris after all these years and he went on to cook us a memorable dinner.

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Toasted Garlic Bread With Parmesan

The menu has all the traditional favourites and a few interesting dishes involving pasta, cream and vodka. We decided to share what is described as shrimp saganaki but before doing so checked that these were in fact prawns and not a bowl of Symi shrimps in a saganaki sauce which would prove rather tricky to eat. What appeared was four good sized prawns that had been prepared perfectly for eating in a sauce. They had the head and tail left on but the main body had the shell removed and were slightly butterflied. This makes it far easier to eat especially when they are hot off the bbq. The saganaki sauce with some Symi shrimps through it was one of the best we have tasted.

The garlic bread with Parmesan on top was perfect for mopping up this superb sauce.

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Saganaki Prawns

E decided to have the set-price bream (there was other bream and fish on the menu) and for €13 a very generous sized fish came straight from the bbq with lovely real chips. D went for the lamb kleftiko which came with lemon potatoes that were the equal of anywhere else. The lamb was on the bone giving it a richness of flavour that was simply divine.

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Lamb Kleftiko

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Bream

A complimentary sweet of yoghurt with fig jam followed and whilst we ate that we were shown pictures of the family who had just been born when we first started coming to Symi and the next generation who Papous was very proud off.

This is a very, very good restaurant and D’s next job is to do a Trip Advisor review. This place is so good it is now a candidate for “Last Night” although we have so far been successful in going to a different restaurant every night which was an unsaid aim of this holiday.

As we started to climb our steps a few drops of rain were felt and by the time we were safely home a full blown thunder and lightning storm was dancing over the Vigla followed by quite a stormy few hours. D just fell asleep.

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The Storm Approaches
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 16 Oct 2019, 08:48

Gemma1 wrote:Sounds like a lovely day at Pedi - followed by an excellent dinner at Zoe's (my favourite place for stifado - though I've never had hare) and plenty of liquid refreshment in between ;)


Pedi has alway been one of our favourite places & staying there for a week last year was idyllic. May well be our aim for one of the 2020 visits. As for the liquid refreshments :shock:
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 17 Oct 2019, 08:29

Wednesday - Shack Attack

E’s ears, nose & throat bug is still with her and so she was catching up with zzzz’s whilst D got on with the blog.

The storm from the previous night had left some clouds for Symi to think about but as D looked down into the harbour he could see that this had not deterred the day trippers from Rhodes who were assembling in the church yard for their history lessons. The day trippers are a vital source of income for Symi and we always hope that a few, having experienced this magical little island even for a day, will return and stay longer.

We had breakfast with juicy sweet pears from Taxas joining the yoghurt & honey and then spent the morning just doing the usual mundane things. The next thing we knew it is was gone 11am. Time on Symi just disappears so easily. D also thinks Symi has a shrinking affect on shirts and shorts :shock:

E said she was feeling up for a walk so we headed down our steps, took a left and then a right at Iapetos and headed up the steep hill. As we just about reached the top Captain Yannis with his wife slowed down in his car to say Kalimera and possibly to check on D who was sweating profusely :-) Alas the Poseidon has stopped for the season and so we will miss one of our favourite days out but there’s always next year.

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Captain Yannis Was In Another Car !

We stopped at the church high above Nimborios Bay and took in the glorious views that, no matter how many times we have been there, never cease to give us so much pleasure.

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An Everlasting View

We zigzagged down and were delighted to find the small shack just below the Niredes Hotel open.

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The Shack

This is one of our favourite places on Symi. Such a peaceful setting looking out across the sea where we mixed beer with Fanta lemon and just chilled.

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The View From The Shack

From there we headed back by the coast road.

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Wrecked

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Potted

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Guard Dog

Nos Beach was busy as was Tholos but having just read our friends blog we did not spot them. Manolis was power washing the frontage of Odyssia as it starts the process of packing up for the winter.

We landed in a busy Elpida’s where the salad mezes was accompanied by a small plate of lovely mussels saganaki. By now it was around 3pm and we had to decide between a siesta or a visit to Alegrito.

Alegrito won !

Dawn was chatting with Dimitris and we were soon joined by Faye from Tolis who is real character and had us all laughing. We only had a couple of drinks but somehow (possibly size related) they were quite powerful and after the short shower of rain it was soon 5pm and time to go home and get ready for the evening.

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Symi Evening In October

We had our ouzo & retsina in Cafe Aiglios - just the one after the 3 to 5 “session”. We then went to Vasilis by the bridge which is a firm favourite. The bread came with three amazing dips and we followed that with a mezes of peppers stuffed with feta, keftedes that came with quality chips, the lightest of courgette fritters and just for a change :-) prawns saganaki.

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Vasilis By The Bridge

We then made it back up the steps after one of those disappearing Symi days. Tomorrow may be a boat day.
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Gemma1 » 17 Oct 2019, 08:48

D and E wrote:
Gemma1 wrote:Sounds like a lovely day at Pedi - followed by an excellent dinner at Zoe's (my favourite place for stifado - though I've never had hare) and plenty of liquid refreshment in between ;)


Pedi has alway been one of our favourite places & staying there for a week last year was idyllic. May well be our aim for one of the 2020 visits. As for the liquid refreshments :shock:


I'd be very happy to stay in Pedi as I love it down there and it is somewhere to consider if I ever travel to Symi independently as you are limited to the Pedi Beach Hotel with Olympic - which I'm sure is very nice but I prefer SC. I have seen several properties in Pedi that I'd be happy to stay in so maybe one day... For now at least it's only a short walk down the hill from Chorio and of course there is always the bus :)

Another lovely report and I'm very impressed by the luggage ramp up to the Irini - definitely worth reconsidering if a cheap week every pops up there ;)

I think Harris may have been the first taverna that I ever ate at on Symi as I remember eating in that area a couple of times. I haven't eaten there for years though. Another favourite from those early days was Catherinettes - before the gallery was there.

Glad you made it home before the rain got too heavy and hope that E's throat is feeling better today.
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Gemma1 » 17 Oct 2019, 08:56

Playing catch up here and when I read your latest blog at first I thought it said 'shark attack' :shock: Relieved to hear there weren't any sharks lurking by Nos beach and giggling at D thinking Symi has a shrinking affect on shirts and shorts :P

More stunning photos and sounds like another lovely day and I'm glad the rain stayed away :D
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 17 Oct 2019, 16:16

A few extra “live”photos from the balcony as the sun kisses Yialos Kali Nichta, courtesy of E.

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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby silverfox » 17 Oct 2019, 17:21

Great photos!

What is strange is that we were sat at the comfy chairs reading this morning post from you two and then you turned up too!

Thanks for the little gift....hope we can bump into you again before we go home!

:)
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby rockbottom » 17 Oct 2019, 19:05

We also enjoy the little shack cafe on the way to nimborio. Last visit (when we met you both) a car drew up and two people got out, sat on the beach, cross legged (I was impressed!) and started to play guitars with amazing ability! Then they just got back into the car and drove off - most surreal! Still loving both blogs!
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 18 Oct 2019, 06:45

Thursday - Nos

Although the previous night was early to bed D is well into holiday mode when it comes to getting up and it is around 8 when he surfaces. As the part writing of the blog had been unavoidably detained the previous afternoon due to the appointment with ouzo & retsina he was starting from scratch.

The plan for the day had been to go down and see firstly if the taxi boats were running and secondly, where to.

But before that there was the little chore of a bread run and as the baker by the bridge had no croissants a cheese pie was purchased along with the usual small bread.

Clearly normal service had been restored on the weather front with the early morning shroud of mist over the Vigla quickly burning off and blue skies and sun lighting up Symi.

We headed down to “Comfy Chairs” but by that time any taxi boats would have sailed. Silverfox & Liz were there and so we were able to have a coffee and a chat with them and then with Neil & James who joined us. Silverfox had already logged an impressive step count and taken more of his fabulous snaps and Liz was just chilled.

We had decided that a swim at Nos Beach was in order so said farewell and as we headed round we had the usual chat with Takis that turned into E browsing, that turned into a bit of negotiation, that turned into a purchase :-)

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Another Added To E’s Takis Collection

We had a beer stop on the jetty of the Nireus and Takis must have eyes everywhere as when we came to pay we were told it had been taken care of - again !

We hadn’t walked far and thought Cafe Carnagio at Hirani boatyard would provide a cheese & ham toastie. This place hadn’t been going long when we first visited the previous year and it was really only serving drinks but he always put out a simple but nice mezes. He now has a more substantial menu which was tempting but the toastie and his complimentary mezes consisting of very fine pickled anchovies, a couple of hot dolmades and hot chickpeas in a very nice tomato sauce was sufficient. The place has a lovely feel to it and the guy who runs it lights up the place with his smile and charm. Do not be surprised to see Maria “Herbs” from the Kali Strata trying to woo you in.

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Carnagio Cafe

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Mezes At Carnagio Cafe

We finally made it to Nos where the day trippers had taken over. €5 for a sun bed and at least there was calm at this time of the year. We were told that Dimitris had had a health scare and that he has been told to calm down his exertions - watch this space :-)

E swam and D read and then snored and as the sun goes down there at around 4pm we headed back, picking up the purchases from Takis, had one final beer & Fanta mix stop with the boys in the Corner Cafe and picked up a six-pack of water on the way home.

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Just A Nice Pic

Sitting out on the balcony of our apartment looking down into the harbour and watching the changing colours of Yialos has been a great pleasure this holiday.

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Once The Maritime Museum

We are soon back out and sitting in Elpida’s where they are setting up for a music evening. The usual small carafes of ouzo and retsina are accompanied by a mezes of tomato & cucumber, cheese & salami, chick peas in tomato sauce, a beautiful pork dish, spetzofai, cheese pie and a fish risotto. This amazing array of small but of adequate proportions of totally delightful home made food is always very much appreciated and it did cover two rounds of drinks we should add.
As our host was leaving for basketball practice - the Symi Team have a game in Rodos the next day - another round of drinks magically appeared - efheristo boli.

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The View From Elpida’s Of An Evening

By then it was around 9pm and the very accomplished traditional musicians started up as we were finishing our drinks. We had thought about eating at Cavos but had spent slightly longer than planned in Elpida’s so D got to visit one of his favourites - the Dolphin Pizza & Pasta Restaurant - where we shared a pizza fungi and spaghetti in a plain tomato sauce which is simple and all the better for it.

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Dolphin Pizza & Pasta

We were home and sound asleep by 10:30 after another wonderful day doing very little.

Will we get up and get on a boat the next day ?

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Early Saturday Mist Over The Vigla
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Gemma1 » 18 Oct 2019, 08:13

Another great read and dinner at another of my favourites. I love the Dolphin and it's a great place for people watching as well as serving excellent pizzas and pasta. I enjoy watching the local children playing and the delivery driver coming and going with his pizza deliveries.

The views of the harbour from the Irini certainly take some beating and I missed those views the first time I stayed in Chorio - though the view of the Pedi valley is pretty wonderful too :D

Good luck with getting that boat today ;)
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 19 Oct 2019, 08:10

Friday - Boat Day

D was up around 7 and knew that if we were to go on a boat, breakfast might be in Cafe Aiglios so he just finished off the blog with the photos and then packed the beach bags.

We did not know if or even when a taxi boat might go out - it’s like that now the island is heading towards its slumbers so we erred on the side of caution and had breakfast just after 9 in Comfy Chairs. The usual frappe, with a shared fresh orange, and a shared ham omelette - perfect.

We then discovered that our luck was in and Lucas & Irini were running one boat and it would be the last of the season. It would stop at St.Nicks and Marathounda so we chose the latter. As it departed at 11am we wandered round to the Clocktower and back to see what was occurring and fill in some time after breakfast.

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The Morning Catch

Unbeknown to us that intrepid walker and photographer, Silverfox, had spotted us on the prow of the taxi boat - well D isn’t that hard to spot especially after 9 days on Symi :shock: It was only when E was reviewing Facebook later in the day that we knew the Sheffield paparazzi had caught us :D

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Best Seat In The House

There must have been about 20 people on board and 2 got off at a very deserted looking St.Nicks where all the canopies had been taken down and stored inside the Taverna. We could not tell if the Taverna was even open.

From St.Nicks it was direct to Marathounda where the small cafe bar was closed but the Taverna was open. After getting our free sun beds we had a small beer each and then had a swim in the slightly colder but still lovely water.

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Taxi

Unfortunately for the ever efficient waitress at the Taverna everyone seemed to decide to eat at the same time but the team coped brilliantly as they always do. We had our first Greek Salad of the holiday alongside delicious grilled octopus and great courgette fritters with the obligatory goat looking on, who then decided to munch our paper tablecloth.

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Greek Salad Marathounda

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Courgette Fritters Marathounda

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Grilled Octopus Marathounda

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Goaty McGoatface Marathounda

We dozed on the sunbed after lunch and it was soon time to pack up and head back to Yialos. We arrived at 16:20 and once we all disembarked, the boat was immediately taken to Hirani boatyard.

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Thank You Irini, Luca & Co.

We had a drink in Cafe Aiglios and watched first the Skiadeni and then the Sebeco and finally the Dodecanese Express all depart for Rhodes and the island feels very quiet indeed.

We decided to keep the theme of a different restaurant every night going - can’t see us succeeding as there are at least three revisits that we want to do. Now where would those be ?

Elpida’s has the same magnetic effect that Yiannis does when we are “up” and as we arrived one half of the Taverna was being decked out in helium balloons and birthday related decorations. The great lady herself was front of house chatting to a friend before she headed off for the evening. We took our usual front table and the ever pleasant waitress didn’t even take the order as she now knows us. Our ouzo & retsina came with the usual mezes plate and with spetzofai and a light chicken curry this time.

We had decided to go round and see if Cavos was open and did not want to leave it too late at this time of year as you cannot blame restaurants for shutting up shop if they haven’t seen anyone by say 9pm. So we only had the one in Elpida’s and walked round by the Clocktower and took a sea side table looking over to the ever-busy Tholos and the illuminated church above. We were the only people between the Clocktower and Tholos - that’s how quiet it is now.

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Cavos Restaurant

We think it was last year that we thought Cavos had improved immeasurably and it is great to report that it is keeping up these fine standards. Being confirmed prawnaholics we had to have the garlic prawns as a shared starter and this came as six fair sized prawns semi-deshelled in garlic butter with a small salad - wow. The toasted bread is essential to savour the garlic.

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Retsina

Between courses the Blue Star docked opposite and its is so clear to see how this is the island’s lifeline. It made us think again about doing the Athens run to Symi as Allan has described on this forum and James has mentioned several times on the excellent Symi Dream site.

Back to food. E adores chicken with prunes ever since she had it in the days of Zylygos in Chorio and a lovely oven baked piece of chicken on the bone with real potato chips and rice & peas was declared delicious. D was surprised to find that there was still Symi goat on the menu and a good chunk of oven baked goat with a lemon sauce, again with chips and rice & peas almost floored him - note the word “almost” :-) After a complimentary glass of mastika we said our farewells and good winters to the super friendly family who run this excellent restaurant.

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Cavos Dinner

We walked back around the port where the birthday party in Elpida’s was just getting going around 9:45pm and E was just in time to catch the new mini-market situated between Manos Fish and the bank by the bridge. She needed to get her life-saving tea bags and milk.

We were home by just after 10pm and as D sat with his nightly square of chocolate out on the balcony listening to the much quieter sounds of Yialos E had a Eureka moment ! D has been mumbling on about the inadequacy of the aircon unit. E decided to do a bit of DIY and opened up a vent and wow - a much cooler room and a much cooler D.

And so another wonderful day was given to us by magical Symi.
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Gemma1 » 19 Oct 2019, 09:10

Glad you managed to fit in a boat trip before the boats finished for the season :D Those goats at Marathounda must miss the the visitors when the tourist season ends. Just as well they weren't aware that D was going to be eating one of their relatives for dinner :P

Glad that Cavos didn't disappoint as I thoroughly enjoyed my meal there last September and it is a lovely setting - but then there are plenty of lovely settings to chose from on Symi ;) It sounds as though things are really starting to wind down for the winter now - glad the weather is still great :D
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 20 Oct 2019, 07:46

Saturday - Diverted to Nos

The secret of an early morning came to D - less ouzo and early to bed - it’s not rocket science :?

He was awake around 6:45 and listened to our neighbour packing as it was his last day.

As there were no provisions in the apartment D made E the obligatory first cup of tea of the day and set off down to Taxas where he bought enough to see us through. Early Saturday is clearly a popular time with locals to do the shopping. D even got nice fresh rye bread from Taxas.

With breakfast finished, the dishes done and the blog posted we took our usual route down through the churchyard to Cafe Aiglios and had just ordered the daily frappe when Silverfox and Liz, who regularly have their coffee there, arrived. It was their last day so we had a chat and said our farewells as they went to do some last minute shopping and we set off to walk over to Pedi.

We did think the Yacht Cafe might be showing the Rugby World Cup as we have watched The Open and Wimbledon there in the past and so it was. That was our first diversion - we are easily diverted. Quite a crowd of English people cheered on their side to victory over Australia. We can see us being there again tomorrow if the Wales game is being shown.

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View From The Yacht Cafe

We started to move on and bumped into Frank of Taxiarchis who always used to like a political chat with D so we stood a while with him outside his boat before stopping a few yards up the road for another small beer with “Mr” Yiannis who always charms us with a wave into the popular cafe next door to the pharmacy. A second diversion.

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Another Yacht

By now the idea of walking or even bussing over to Pedi was fading and so we decided to walk to Nos and did that non-stop without diversion, hard to believe isn’t it :-) We passed Captain Yannis hard at work on the Poseidon for the second day - sanding down surfaces, painting, varnishing woodwork, etc.

E popped into one shop to check on closing date as we have seen a ceramic house to add to our own collection. This is a main topic of conversation wherever we go - “when will you stay open until ?”

Several shops are closed now and today only the Sebeco and the Skiadeni brought in day visitors and most of them seemed to be people visiting family rather than tourists.

Nos was much quieter than the other day. The sea was lovely and we just shared a cheese & ham toastie and a beer at our sunbed for lunch.

We timed our return with the departure of the Skiadeni and sat on the Nireus jetty with an ouzo & retsina to toast farewell to Silverfox & Liz who we saw waving from the back of the boat. Hopefully they saw us returning that wave.

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Farewell Silverfox & Liz

As we walked back there was even more people leaving on the Sebeco and then on the Dodekanisos Express and we wonder if we are the only tourists left :-)

E couldn’t resist an ice cream from Patiserie Nicolas on the way home where we said hi to the girl that has worked there for years. We picked up a 6-pack of water which we hope, with existing stocks, will see us through.

When we returned to our room the departure instructions were under the door and so we now know we will be on the Sebeco on Wednesday at the civilised departure time of 08:00 but that’s still four dinners away !

But that did focus the mind and so we decided where we wanted to go but not necessarily the order we will do them in. That needed more thought over an ouzo & retsina in Cafe Alegrito.

After three ! it was decided we would do the nearest of our return visits and went to the very traditional Trata where we shared their amazing mussels saganaki and balanced the richness of this with D having grilled liver and E having grilled chicken fillet. Both dishes perfectly cooked. Our waiter friend mentioned that he had seen us watching the rugby in the adjoining cafe and asked why D had looked rather subdued - we explained about D being Scottish :-)

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Mussels Saganaki at Trata

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Grilled Chicken Fillet at Trata

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Grilled Liver at Trata

And so we walked back up through the back streets stopping for a quick chat and Kali Nichta to Faye from Tolis and a lovely day of diversions ended on Symi.
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Thomasdk » 20 Oct 2019, 09:32

Loving your blog and your beautiful photos. Please keep them coming. :)
Looks like you're always having a great stay, I'm very envious but it also motivates me to visit that gorgeous island soon.
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby Gemma1 » 20 Oct 2019, 09:33

Well done making it all the way to Nos without any further diversions :P

You've got your departure instructions early - though at least you know exactly how much time you've got left and how many meals you can fit in our course ;)

Enjoy your last few days and thanks again for being so dedicated and providing us with a great daily read :D
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby silverfox » 20 Oct 2019, 12:44

Another superb report of a typical day for D&E on Symi.

Loads of beer food and chats with friends.

I puposely didn't read the report from Friday until I was at the airport yesterday, I will do anything to extend that Symi fix!

Looking forward to the few more reports from this wonderful couple before the winter sets in.

PS D&E it's bloody cold back in the UK!

Enjoy your last few days(food).

:D
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Re: Yamas Yialos

Postby D and E » 21 Oct 2019, 07:52

Sunday - Rugby & Pedi

We weren’t late home on Saturday night but neither of us would make the first move even though the bells, the bells, were ringing up from Yialos and down from Chorio.

It was gone 8 before D served E the wake-up cup of tea and we had planned to go and see if the Wales .v. France game was being streamed in the Yacht Cafe with kick-off at 10:15.

So the usual routine, of blog, breakfast & bags and off we went.

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The “Arty” Breakfast View

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Our Olive Tree Outside The Aapartment

The Yacht Cafe was deserted but as we were about to head over to Comfy Chairs and at least stream the commentary through the App, L of L&B, who we have regularly chatted with over many years on Symi, appeared and somehow got things going. The young man who knows how to stream to the outside TV was called and he arrived and had the whole thing up and running only 4 minutes into the game. And what a nail biter it was with a result that cheered E up immensely and of course D whose adopted country is Wales - just as well as his beloved Scotland weren’t up to it this time around.

After our frappe and a couple of small beers during the match we were a bit early for the 13:00 bus to Pedi so we stopped in Cafe Axinos which used to be Katoi Cafe where the ever present “Mr” Yiannis served us our usual very chilled small beers and despite it being the 20th October you need them as it is like a day in June with temperatures between 25 and 30C. Even the locals are commenting on how good the weather is for this time of year - we count ourselves very lucky. A slight downside is the weather is keeping the flying, biting things going and they still love D and even E has been forced to join the “Bite Club” which is very unusual.

Two day boats berthed whilst we were in Yialos and as we climbed the hill on the bus the Skiadeni was coming in so hopefully the weather is still attracting visitors, and money, onto Symi.

Pedi was quite busy for the time of year but then we have always found it is popular with locals on a Sunday. Abi took the sunbed money and served us an ouzo & retsina with a shared spinach pie. We had been denied this on our earlier visit as it had either run out or had not been made and we had made do with a very good cheese pie, but the Katsaras spinach pie is the real deal.

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Wonderful Pedi

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Pedi Boats

We swam and lazed until E went for a short walk round to the small church on the way to St.Nicks where she bumped into J&T of the Olive Tree and A who were out for a Sunday stroll.

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Side By Side

We all caught the 16:30 bus and we were back in Yialos just as the Sebeco was departing. The not-Lakis bus driver mentioned to us that if we wanted, the Maria Boat would be going out at 10:30 next day for a trip :?:

We came home via Taxas as we have a family of cats to keep feeding and one in particular who is the mother, but whose offspring always push in. We always make sure mum gets her fair share.

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Our Adopted Family

And so to the second of our repeat visits.

We first of all went to the ever popular Elpida’s where there was a good crowd and took our usual front facing seats. An impressive yacht was moored outside and it seemed to be serving only a small family who returned with many a shopping bag from the more up-market designer shops, of which there are a handful or so on Symi.

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Outside Elpida’s

Our ouzo & retsina arrived with the additional mezes being mussels risotto and that luscious pork dish. The second round of drinks came with chicken, in what tasted like a honey and chilli sauce which was superb, and the lightest of keftedes.

We then walked back past the yacht where they were having trouble getting the motor launch started - don’t know if we could cope with the trials of the super rich :D

We returned to the Dolphin which had a good Sunday crowd of locals in and shared the pizza with salami and the penne with tuna - both perfect. As we sat there finishing our retsina we reflected on the fact that we have only two days to go. We were hoping that 2020 could see us overlap with D’s sister and brother-in-law who, through our love of Symi, now visits when she can. But a text earlier in the day informed us that our respective dates may not be suitable - there is always 2021. E did a speculative search on bookings.com and we saw a very good price for Pedi and so we now have a cancelable booking for last week of May first week of June :shock:

We may only be able to do one visit next year as we want to spend Thanksgiving with D’s sister & b-i-l at their place in Florida but if we are frugal who knows - a “cheeky week” may be possible somewhere along the line.

We walked back round the square at about 10pm quite excited about 2020 already - that’s how this place gets into your blood.
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