Symi: please, don't go

I travel a lot, but only a few of my travel stories make it here. Sometimes, I'm too bored to write, or some places are unworthy of their own story. There is also a third category of non-posts. It contains the places that are too nice and beautiful to share. I wrestled with the idea of placing Symi, a small island at the South-East corner of Aegean sea, to that category.

Symi is wild, dreamy and romantic, an ideal destination for summer tourists who seek a place to relax and recreate. The coast consists of small but deep bays with clear waters in various shades of blue (creating a sense of “dreamy”), the mainland is covered with dry stones, pine forests and monasteries (thus the feeling of “wild”) and the entrance village (Gialos) is unique, architecturally speaking at least (and extremely romantic).

I decided to write about Symi for three reasons:

( a ) It is already a popular destination, maybe not as much as Rhodes, Mykonos or Santorini, but still, it's reached a rather high level of popularity among the tourists who visit the Greek islands. My published experience won't reveal any secrets, it will add to the other web resources on Symi.

( b ) It doesn't matter if I discover a new island or if I write about my recent trip to Mars. Very few people read these posts (due to their mentally demanding nature), so the impact will be insignificant.

( c ) Symi is the perfect place to visit with your special one, your lover, your spouse, your affair. I went there alone and I was the only alone person on the island. That made me feel bad, so I decided to destroy the place by attracting tourists to it. Actually, I'm more interested in destroying the romantic atmosphere that attracts the hated couples or, if I dare, the couples themselves!

Diagoras used to (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagoras_of_Rhodes) be a very successful boxer in the ancient times. Now it's a very slow ferry boat. It's so slow, that it lets you enjoy a cup of cold frappe coffee on the deck, while approaching the dodecanese islands one by one. There I was, with my dark glasses, my frappe, pretending to read a book when in reality I was enjoying the coasts and secretly watching what other people were doing. We visited quite a few islands and none of them looked as good as Symi.

The narrow sea way between Symi island and the smaller rock-islands of Nimos and Chondros is one of the entrances of the natural Symi harbour.

The buildings around the small port of Gialos (it means “coast” in Greek) tell the story of an island. Symians used to be rich. The days of prosperity go back to 1900, when the island was under the Ottoman rule. Greek merchants, sponge collectors and sailors managed to establish a flourishing local economy with exports all over europe. Wealthy Symians elevated tall houses with big windows and balconies all over the coast, which can still be seen today. The Italians conquered the place around 1910 and the decline began. Italian rule altered the economy of Dodecanese and many Symians had to migrate to America, Australia or Africa in order to avoid poverty. What's more, the island suffered a lot of damages in world war II. The local economy never fully recovered, so the locals had to attract tourists.

The town of Symi has shrink from a 25000 peoples town of 1900 to a 2500 peoples village of today

I walked around Symi town. I really liked the decaying glory of the gates and the windows of the many abandoned houses everywhere. Since the town is built on a slope, one can also admire the view. If you are interested to rent a place to stay in Symi, don't ask about the view. Every place has a view. It's impossible not to have a nice view in Symi. Views attract couples. Couples make me want to leave, so I left.

Symi Town The "Gialos" part, from the part that is called "Chorio".

I rent a car and I drove the one and only drivable road to the Panormitis monastery. I drove through a dry, rocky landscape. Most of the 25 kilometers way to Panormitis is constructed on the hill, so that you can always enjoy the view. After a few kilometers I entered a pine forest. It was noon and the sun heat is not joking during that time of the day, so I welcomed the pine-tree shadow.

The Panormitis bay in the center contributes to the beauty of the landscape

The Panormitis monastery was founded at the south coast of the island. Nowadays it is a complex for religious tourists, with places to sleep, eat and shop, as well as protected beaches to lay down. I noticed a man who was collecting urchins from the bottom of the sea. I entered the church.

A man wearing a mask, collecting sea urchins

The art in Panormitis church is very interesting. Most of greek orthodox religious drawings depict saints but in reality they symbolize concepts. The word “icon” was originally referring to this kind of religious images. The main picture of the Archangel Michael is no exception. When you look at it, you can't help but think of death. The Archangel is the personification of death or, to be more precise, the procedure of dying. He was looking at me with his never-laughing straight gaze that is both personal and universal. Everybody dies and you are part of everybody, therefore you die. I couldn't keep looking at the drawing so I looked around. Most of the church walls and ceiling is drawn with what looks to be a very old comics. There are the panels, the iconic figures, the plot, lead and second characters, flying letters above the heads of the figures. Only the speech bubbles were missing.

A church dedicated to Archangel Michael is also dedicated to death. This didn't stop the church artists to develop a comics-like technic for decorating the walls. The church is a few centuries old

As I was stepping out, I admired the calm sea and the pine forest around it. How a beautiful and peaceful place like this inspired such a depressing work of art like this church? I said that out loud, and I got an answer too. A guy, who was sitting behind me, gave it to me.

• The sea looks calm, but it's also a killer. She can feed you and your family, she can make you wealthy, but someday it will take your life
• Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Have you lost anyone in the sea?
• Oh, no, I'm just a tourist, like you
• I see...

A random beach. If you ever go there, enjoy the clear, clean waters and the sun.

Now that I think of it, Symi didn't offer me any adventures, but I had a good time, besides the high prices and the stupid couples polluting the breeze with cuteness. The fish was fresh, the water was clear, the radio was broken (which is always a good thing) and I had enough cocktails miss my ferry. I woke up half wet at the edge of the coast. I felt nice. A couple was looking at me.