Day 9 Symi



Pastel houses line the hills

The winds have not been too cooperative so we motored our way to the small island of Symi; a former sponge fishing and ship building powerhouse, its wealth diminished with the advent of the artificial sponge. We choose a small harbor on the other side of a hill from the main harbor, figuring it would be quieter and easier to anchor away from the ferry traffic.
The local bus runs hourly, so after a lunch of cheeses, salad, olives and bread we hoped on to see the main town. The views as we crossed the summit were amazing; pastel colored houses lined the hills surrounding the busy harbor as boats motored in and out. My first order of business was to get a sim for my phone, the roaming charges between the EU countries are reasonable so this will probably be the last one I need for this charter.



Herbs dry at a shop in the harbor

I met up Dan and Em, we decided to have a coffee at one of the many cafes along the waterfront and watch the people as they walked by. Arv and Marita arrived on the next bus, having explored the area around our anchorage, so I went with them as we strolled along the boardwalk taking photos as we went.



A fisherman uses an umbrella to shield himself from the sun while mending his nets

I walked up a steep roadway and some steps to a church on the hill and got some nice pictures from there, plus a little more exercise in preparations for adventures yet to come. As we were walking earlier, a woman from one of the restaurants invited us inside to see the beautiful architecture and while there I took a look at the menu.



A church on the hill

The plan for the evening was to have dinner on board before making a night passage to Leros, our next stop; but I couldn’t resist the temptation of a nice lamb dinner sitting under an umbrella at the harbor so stopped back at the restaurant and ordered up a meal with a Greek salad to accompany it. The portion was huge and very tasty, not to mention the ambiance of the setting.
We all met up at the bus stop for the ride back, but I got off at the top of the hill to photograph some old windmills that had been converted into houses. Walking back down to the harbor was easy, but not much in the way of photo worthy views.





The old windmills, one of them had a For Sale sign if anyone is interested

Back on board I grabbed some shut eye, in preparation for the midnight to 3:00am watch that Peter and I had drawn; while everyone else enjoyed Ems pasta bolognaise, putting mine in the fridge for an on watch snack later.