Day 3 at St Nicks

This year the main aim for our holiday is relaxation. For many different reasons it has been a hard year and doing very little except reading and swimming was the aim for the day., and most of the holiday.

It was with this in mind we walked down to pedi and picked up the boat to St Nicks. As we almost the first to arrive we had pick of where to sit. Finding the lounger we had last year that gave enough shade for V, we spent most of the morning buried in books and sleeping.

After lunch at the taverna on the beach it was back to more of the same, until we got the last boat home.

As we had not done much exercise during the day we walked back up to the village and sat watching the sun go down before going out for some food.

We ended up at the music night at the Secret Garden. getting home just after midnight.

Day 2. First full day on Symi.

As always on the first day of a holiday we were up and out relatively early. The weather was beautiful, with a hot sun and a slight breeze.

This year V wanted to do more walking than last year, so we started by walking up through the lanes and steps that make up the 'streets' of Horio.

One of the targets for the trip was a walk up to the Castro with its church on the top. As no maps exist of Horio and all it's maze of paths, we were lucky to find arrows painted on the walls indicating the route to the Castro. We followed these and sooner than we expected we came out to the church on the top of the Castro.

We wandered around and were treated by a magnificent view of the harbour, made all the more special by the cruise ship, Club Med 2, lying off Nimborio.

After some time resting and taking pictures we set off back down to the meet up with the tour rep. As we came down we got a great view down the Pedi valley towards the sea.

After the meet up we went back to our apartment and packed the bag for the walk down to the beach at Pedi. As you come down to the pier you have the choice of turning left and right. Go left and after 100 yds there are about 6 sun brollies and some loungers these are free to use. If you go right the loungers and brollies are charged for.

After a swim and a lounge we walked back up to the apartment.

We had a rest and in the evening we walked down the Kalistrata to look for somewhere to eat.

It was a shot like this that I ran into the main problem regarding the compromise I had made with my choice of camera. With my 'big' camera I could increase the ISO gain and with its faster lenses I could have shot had held much longer than I did. But I knew this was the compromise I had made.

Day one Travelling

The trip to Symi is a bit of a slog.

We were collected by taxi at 6am to get us to Gatwick for a 7am check in.  We live an awkward distance from the airport. For one week it is cheaper to drive and pay for longterm parking. For two weeks it works out cheaper to get a taxi.

Anyway we arrived at 7am and were through checkin, security and passport control in about 20min. The flight with Enter Air was on time but the plane was very basic, full and with the most uncomfortable seats I have evert had on a flight. There is more comfort and space on Southeastern  Railways, North Kent commuter lines!

Anyway we arrived on time in Rhodes and got dropped of at the same cafe as last year, so food and a cold beer were in order.

The boat boarded on time and sailed off into the sunset towards Symi.

By the time Symi town came into view it was pitch dark, quickly off the boat and up to the apartments. A run to the supermarket for some much needed supplies and it was time for a drink at The Sunrise and then home to bed.

Guest blog

For the first time I did a guest blog post for another blogger.

Where we we on holiday in the summer was a wonderful greek island called Symi. A British writer who lives on the island as a daily blog. At the moment he is on holiday and was looking for content, I made contact and a guest post was the result.

Symi Dream

Good fun and something I hope to do again.

Agia Nicholas beach Symi

The next beach we visited was Agia Nicholas beach or St Nicks as it is sometimes called.

As we were staying in Horio we took a leisurely stroll down to Pedi to get the boat round to Agia Nicholas beach. We were the first customers for the boat and were told to jump in and off we went. the beach was deserted and we had the choice of all the sun loungers

Did not note what the boat cost was but it was not great. The beach is full of trees and has lots of shade.

We sat at the east side away from where the boats come in on the west.

There is a taverna at the west end near to the jetty. which serves a good lunch and at  similar price to the rest of the island.

There is a path round from Pedi which is about a half hour walk, its over very sharp rocks so best for good shoes. No road access so it's either walk or boat.

The beach is a mix of sand and pebbles with some rocky bits in the middle. There is also a small church at the east side near where we were sitting

Further up the Kali Strata

As I said in the last post the Kali Strata is the main 'street' between the harbour and the old town at the top off the hill in Symi. It is lined by the houses built by rich merchants in the 19th century. During the war the island was occupied and damaged by bombs and departing German army.
Many of the houses are still ruined, awaiting someone with a large amount of money to rebuild.
Because of the amount of classical houses on Symi any building built must be built in the local style, and as there is no vehicle access to the street the cost can be astronomic.

 But when the houses are restored the results are beautiful.

Up the Kali Strata

I am going to be blogging some of the images I took on our summer holiday in Greece.
We booked at the last moment without doing any research, not like me at all. Well I say no research, but as the girl in the travel agent was pulling up destinations I was frantically searching on my phone.
Our original plan was a hotel with a pool, near a beach, either half board or B&B and near an airport. We ended up on the beautiful island of Symi.
Never heard of it?
Neither had I!
Well it turns out its a small island about an hour and a half from Rhodes by ferry. Sitting about 5 miles off the Turkish coast.  The island has no natural water so no swimming pools, all the water either comes in by boat or from the local desalination plant. Traditionally each house had a cistern to store water from the winter rain, but this is not enough for a tourist trade. Also I would add that all the beaches are a boat trip or long walk away and we were in self catering!
So almost exactly what we had wanted originally!
Anyway we arrived safely and the island was everything we wanted for a holiday. The town of Symi is split into Yialos which is the area around the harbour and Chorio which is the older part of town up on the top of the hill. The two parts of town are linked by the Kali Strata a stone stepped street lined with old buildings.

I will put a few more images of the street up as I get them processed.