Today, we took a boat trip to the island of Symi. It’s about a 2 hour voyage from Mandraki harbour in Rhodes town. Happily the sea was very calm, as Sarah doesn’t really get on with boats!
First stop was the town of Symi, which is perched on the steep sides of the hills coming down to the harbour. The people of Symi made their money (and evidently quite a lot of it) from sponge fishing. This continued up until the 1920’s, when the combined competition from steam ships and man-made sponges meant that it was no longer economically viable. Now, the main income is from tourism. Symi was bombed twice during the second world war, once by the Italians, and later on by the Germans. This is why most of the buildings look so pristine – they’ve been rebuilt.
We had a bit of a wander through the narrow streets and bought one or two bits and pieces (including the obligatory sponge). We had gyros pita for lunch which was very nice – and a lot cheaper than the tour guide suggested restaurant.
Then we got back on the boat for a short trip down to the south of the island to visit a monastery and Byzantine church. Since this was my first experience of a place like this, I joined the scrum and managed to fight my way inside the church. It was amazingly decorated inside – frescos on every surface, and icons everywhere. It was oddly depressing to see the level of superstition in a place like this – people kissing icons and lighting candles whilst continually crossing themselves.
The decoration was fabulous and the clock tower especially so. We were told that the clock had been bought from London, when the monastery was built in the 1800’s and was still going strong.
A great day – and nicely bookended with a two hour cruise