Old door, blue steps

Wandering around the back streets of Symi is one of my favourite pastimes.

Exploring the town behind the front and up the hill with it’s little alley ways, staircases, little paths, colourful and derelict houses, numerous ruins, churches, little gardens and pens with livestock simply never tire. Even if you think you’ve covered and seen a section, at the next visit, there is always something new that catches the eye. And after our fifth visit to the island, there are still large parts that we have yet to explore.

Lightning strikes

We woke up this morning to very dark skies over Turkey heading our way. It was not long before we started to hear the rumble of distant thunder. While having breakfast on the balcony the skies got darker and darker, and the wind started to pick up and swirling.

The world around us scrambled to bring in chairs and tables, and to move and secure the boats. The crew of a gullet panicked and cut the ropes to the quay when the swirling wind nearly became a whirlwind round their ship.

The lightning started to become more prevalent with the time lapse to the heavy rumble of thunder becoming shorter. But the eye of the thunder storm never reached us, as it bypassed Symi to the North.

And not long after, the clouds parted and we were drinking a coffee in the sun.

Harani sunset

There is nothing better than watching the sun set with a glass of red wine.

Dolphins in Symi harbour

Windmill and gnarly tree

The left (NE) windmill of the three (when looking up from Imborios) that is, the one that is not lit up during the night.

Kastellorizo sunrise

It is always worth getting up early at least one day while on holiday to see the sun rise, and tuck into bed afterwards again (of course). The view across the water had been spectacular, with blue skies during the day, pink skies at sunset and dark blue skies at twilight. But the sunrise tops them all.

Hoogender Pijp

The Hoogendsterpijp is one of the ‘prestige’ Waterpoorts (water gates) in defensive wall around Sneek (or Snits in the local dialect) dating from 1613.

Pink and blue Kavos skies

One of the highlights of our two week stay in Kastellorizo was undoubtedly the view from our terrace across to Kavos. Nothing beats watching the end of a great day when the pink glow of the sunset appears and very slowly turns into the deep blue skies of the early evening with a glass of wine (or three) before heading out for a bite to eat on the quay side in the harbour.

Loggerhead turtles

The wildlife highlight of our two week stay in kastellorizo was, without a doubt, the loggerhead turtles frequenting the harbour.

It was just wonderful watching the loggerhead turtles swim in the harbour, both during the day while wandering the quay, or at night while having dinner on the quay side. At one point we could see three heads coming up for air, so the locals are probably right that there are four loggerheads frequenting the harbour.

What is surprising is how territorial these turtles are. When another one comes anywhere near them when there is food involved, the speed with which they chase each other through the water is just unbelievable.

Harani ruins

These delightful ruined houses on the harbour side in Harani have been empty for decades.

However, with the progression and increasing tourism on Symi, these ruins have now been renovated to house a thriving little shop, conveniently located on the day trippers route from town to the beech.

Casa Bencomo (restored)

In my previous post Casa Bencomo from 2010, I showed a set of images of the derelict traditional townhouse taken in 2006 and the start of the renovations in 2010. The renovations have now been completed, and the townhouse now houses San Sebatian’s tourist information as well as an exhibition of the history of the island.

When we walked into the restored building, our first impression was that the restorations had been done unsympathetically. However, when comparing the photos taken with those from the derelict courtyard in 2006 that evening, we realised that that judgement had been a bit rash. Granted, the property is fairly empty and a bit too sparsely furnished with a drab colour scheme compared to the look of an original inhabited townhouse. But a few large green plants in the empty pots would go a long way to make the courtyard look less bare.

Please have a close look at the two photos above taken in January with the three photos of the derelict court yard taken in 2006 below. These clearly show that a lot of the original features, especially the woodwork and balcony, have been very well restored. The main differences are that the original three storey East side has been converted in two storeys with less windows, and there is a well that was not visible under the rubble in 2006.

Indian Ocean abstracts

A serie of six abstracts of the Indian Ocean taken at Kalutara on the East coast of Sri Lanka. The abstract nature has been created ‘in camera’ by moving the camera while shooting with a slow shutter speed, a technique known as ICM (Intentional Camera Movement).