Day 8 Pontikokastro

It was another fantastic sunrise with the sun now coming up behind the hill the other side of St Nicks and not over the Turkish hills.

After a bit of breakfast I took a wander up to the Pontikokastro. Going up past the windmills I got a different view of the harbour.

I had a good look at the massive stones that make up the walls of the Pontikokastro.

Moving further up the ridge is a great view of earthworks with Symi behind.

Then it was back to the apartments for a drink then down to Yialos.

Each time we walk down the Kalistrata we seemed to notice a different detail. This time near the bottom I noticed how one of the ruined buildings had some fine cut stone reused in its frontage.

What looks like stone above these finally carved stones is concrete that has been cast to try and imitate the molding of the carving.

We pottered around the harbour did some shopping.

Before going back to the apartment and an afternoon on the beach at Pedi.

Day 5 (Recovering from day 4)

Who would have thought that siting on a boat for a few hours with a bit of swimming, eating and drinking could be so exhausting!

It was and it took a day to recover.

That said I did see the dawn from the balcony.

Anyway it was back down the Kalistrata.

and the day was spent wandering from cafe to cafe around Yialos.

Looking at the residents.

Enjoying the lunchtime view.

We did have a little bit of exercise with a walk up to Ekklisia Evaggelistria 

and then back down for another drink, and the walk back up the Kalistrata.

Round Symi Boat Trip

We had a strong recommendation to do a round the island boat trip on one of the boats that offer the trip. We were recommended to use the Poseidon and were pleased to see that the rep from the holiday company had arranged for us to easily book a trip on the Poseidon.
The boat trip departed from Yialos at 10.30am. We left our apartment in Horio with plenty of time and had a nice walk down the Kali Strata before the heat of the day built up. We found the boat and checked on how busy they expected to be for the days trip, before we wandered of to get a coffee in one of the nearby cafes.

We got back to the boat about 15min before departure to ensure a good seat. We ended up sitting on the front of the cabin under the sunshade. It turned out to be the perfect place out of the sun but with maximum cooling from the breeze, also as we were sitting with two couples we had already met, we were able to share the space without feeling we were encroaching on other peoples space.

The trip we were on was a five stopper. First a visit to the church at St Isidoros. For a swim and a walk around the church.

Next a stop at Seal cave. The seal must have heard us coming as it was not at home but we had a nice swim off the boat.

Then back on the boat and on to Diavates Island for another swim off the boat.

Each of these stops gave us about half an hour swimming time. which was enough.
The next stop was at Sesklia Island for a lunch stop and a much longer swim.

We could smell lunch being prepared onboard the boat as the smell of cooking and garlic was wafting up from underneath us as we sat on the cabin. Lunch was a mix of salads pasta and barbecue chicken, which was cooked by the crew on a barbecue which was lit as soon as we moored up at the pier.

After eating all we could and having had another swim it was back on the boat.
We were then on the run back up the east coast of the island. The only stop here is at St Georges bay this bay is only accessed by boat as it surrounded by steep cliffs which shade the beach in the afternoon.

We swam of the boat and then had coffee and watermelon.

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.