After three failed attempts to return to Symi this year, I have finally made it.

A cancelled flight in May because of the pandemic was followed by another at the beginning and then another at the end of June.  I usually fly home at the end of July partly to sort the vegetable garden and partly because August is very hot on The Hot Rock.  The exorbitant cost of PCR tests in the UK and the UK Government’s insistence to having them meant a short visit was not an attractive proposition financially.  So, I decided to postpone further attempts until the end of August.

I finally made it.  Temperatures are mid-30s, a good bit warmer than the 20 degrees before I left, but significantly cooler than the mid-40’s which prevailed for the previous 4 weeks or so.  First task is to acclimatise to the heat.  Normally I come out end of April or beginning of May and then acclimatise slowly as the heat ramps up.  The body undergoes chemical changes to accommodate the heat and it remains to be seen if that change can take place over a shorter rather than longer time-scale.

For now, I’ll be doing shortish walks and avoiding the middle of the day, not usually a problem with early-season starts.  Given that the house is 50 metres above the shops, tavernas and restaurants in the village and 150 metres above those in port, there is plenty of exercise just going about normal day-to-day activities.  But I did a walk via the ridge-top with a friend yesterday.  Fighting over-confidence now.

As an intro, here are a couple of photos of the view from my balcony.

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