First evenings I always approach a bit carefully. I end up walking up and down looking for a suitable place to drink, eat or both on my own. Symi has none of the shi-shi cocktail bars of the Cyclades. Hospitality here is a bit more traditional. I opt for an Aperol Spritz in an unassuming taverna just set back from the harbour. It’s still early and the town is quiet. Nobody has come out to play yet apart from the poor scrawny town cats. It’s daylight until around 9pm here so everyone hides until it’s safe to appear away from the burn of the sun. I eat gyros in a small taverna around the corner and then walk it off along the seafront just as dusk falls. I have seen many sunsets in the Aegean but never a moonrise. A silver ball suddenly appears between the hills. It’s mesmerising. A fitting end to my first day here. I’m tired as sleep in Rhodes was elusive.
I am a stone’s throw away from the small town. Down about 30 or so steps from my small hotel. The hotel is also traditional with none of the boho design features or high class toiletries of Mykonos. It’s the beginning of July and even the Greeks are telling me how hot it is already. Imagine August they say. I don’t want to! My room is very warm overnight. I only sleep through exhaustion but I am uncomfortable. I need to sort out air conditioning. I think it’s an extra charge. I am normally as tight as a packet of biscuits when it comes to these things but for my sanity I need cool air to sleep, at any cost.
It’s Monday morning and my plan is a water taxi to one of the beaches today. All inaccessible by road I plump for Aghia Marina a 15 minute boat ride away. I buy my ticket, grab a frappe to take away and embark on my way. The boat saunters past Symi harbour and then goes full throttle in open water like a speedboat. I resist the urge to shout ‘wee!’ and look for dolphins instead of embarrassing myself. Disappointed that no dolphins came alongside I arrived at a small cove 15 minutes later. It is an organised beach so I can lie on a sunbed, get fed, watered and gain access to a toilet. I’m sorted for the day.
On the beach my phone notifies me immediately that Vodaphone ‘welcomes you to Turkey’. Another indication how intertwined this region is. I also hear Turkish spoken on the beach. The Greeks and Turks communicate in English. There is an obvious and easy entente cordiale here that the wider international media would have you believe does not exist between these two communities and countries. The only sign I see if any possible tension is the presence of the Greek naval vessels in port. I am sure they keep a check on each other along this blurred coastline. All of the yachts and sailing boats that I see are registered in Turkey. They are from, Istanbul, Marmaris, Bodrum, Gocek, Cesme…the list goes on. The big gin palace in town though is British. A swift Google tells me that ‘Sailing Grace’ belongs to the British billionaire owner of Price Waterhouse Cooper. A reminder that some people really do live a very different life.
The end of the day many swims and a Greek salad later, I board the water taxi for the thrilling and speedy ride back to town. I am sunburnt even though I used my factor 30. I got too engrossed in my book, and putting suncream on your own back is one of the challenges of a solo traveller. Air conditioning sorted I am sitting writing this with a glass of wine. I bought a cardboard carton of it in the supermarket yesterday. It was in the fridge and it said ‘dry’ and ‘reddish’. I hoped that meant rose but it didn’t. It’s brown and looks and tastes like syrup of figs. I’m not sure what else I expected for 3 euros…but my air conditioning works and it’s lovely! Did I say it was hot? It’s I’ve had to put my makeup bag in the fridge hot. Everything is melting and liquifying. But, all in all, a very happy me.
Gigi's Travels 