by valr » 24 Feb 2008, 00:22
Our 1st visit to Symi was our 1st experience of independent island hopping and we fell in love with the island at 1st sight! We stayed at a wonderful guesthouse called "Kokona" at the side of St Johns Church in Yialos. I'll never forget our 1st view of Symi from the early morning boat from Rhodes - it was like sailing into Heaven! After unpacking etc we had late breakfast at a small bar on the harbour, which had a parrot in a cage at the entrance, then after pottering about all day, we ended up on Nos beach where (for the next 4 days!) my other-half - Alex - ended up helping a local man (who was wearing one wellington boot and one flip-flop!) shift loads of boulders to create more beach! On the times I managed to drag Alex away from building beaches we managed to do a bit of exploring but we knew that we'd only seen the tip of the ice-burg (so to speak) and it would take more visits, as it has done, to see the true picture of the island. We had to spend an extra, unexpected night on Symi, due to a ferry strike - other prospective ferry passengers were moaning about the delay - but we were filled with excitement - YESSS another day on Symi! That was our 1st experience of Greek shipping and we now know to expect the unexpected. We've been to other Greek islands - and loved them - but nothing fills us with so much excitement as the approach to Symi - or so much sadness as the departure from Symi!