Tuesday, 26 August
Our final day in Symi. At 9.00 am, Derin and I rode electric bicycles up to the windmills. The town’s residents live higher on the hill, while the waterfront is given over to restaurants, hotels and shops. Clearly, the income comes from those businesses below. Up here it is modest and less well maintained. Thanks to the electric bikes, we climbed over hills and stones; otherwise, we could never have reached these places.
The view down from the windmills is beautiful.
We also learned that these windmills were supposedly the birthplace of “pantomime”. Pietro, whose face was white with flour, began performing silent games to entertain children, and the practice later spread through Europe. We read it on a sign; if it is untrue, blame the sign.
We left Symi at 11.00 am and returned to Agios Georgios Dysalonas Bay, where we had stayed on our first day. The sea was deep navy again, and the rocks rose straight up. Derin drew the bay so beautifully that we will never forget it.
It seemed as though everyone in Symi arrived by boat during the day. At one point, I think there were five hundred of us in the bay. With the sea this beautiful, everyone threw themselves into the navy and turquoise water. We swam to the pebble beach and visited the tiny church. Then came fishing. I caught a parrotfish, my largest fish so far. We toured the bay in the dinghy, but it made no difference. The rest were pufferfish. Derin set a record by catching two pufferfish at once.
A quiet dinner in the evening.