A view from above.

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Fri 18 Sep 2009 19:18
Friday 18th September.

There were a couple of noisy bars still operating around 2.00am but the
unexpected short burst of rain brought them to a close!

7.30am our resident mountain goat aka Sarah, set off up the hill to take
some photos (see the main website at www.rhbell.com ) whilst I spent the
next three hours helping boats leave and fending off new arrivals!
'Severance' took off with their land based friends for an overnight trip to
a nearby island and we made tentative arrangements to meet up again soon.

New arrivals on our quay included Steve and Maggie on 'Rassy Lady' a
Hallberg Rassy 39 which have seen around before but never actually met up
with before. Also Reg and Shirley on 'Celebration 2' who were full of useful
information about the boatyard where we are leaving Serafina this winter.

Meanwhile Sarah clambered up the wide steps all the way to the top. She
walked along the ridge to a line of derelict windmills, some of which have
been converted to houses, all wonderfully constructed and in good condition
and some bearing 'for sale' signs in English - are we the only ones mad
enough to consider them? There seems to be quite a large contingent of
British people living here, listening to the accents. Then retraced her
steps to the two churches at the other end of the ridge, photographing all
the way - wading through digital photos to discard is becoming a regular
feature of our life aboard! One of the churches is alongside the fortress
which used to house the main church of Horio and all the town's records, all
of which were lost during a bombing raid in WWII by the British.

She then visited the lovely little Simi Museum with a few artefacts of
Byzantine and Roman origin, but most interestingly, a house demonstrating
life in 18th/19th century, which appears to have been quite surprisingly
lavish for house in a tiny village near the top of a huge hill, on a very
small Greek island! Like many of the Dodecanese islands Simi was allowed to
self-govern during the Ottoman rule as it produced a valuable commodity:
sponges. Their yearly tax was a boat load of sponges for the sultan's
harem. It went on to be occupied by the Italians in 1917 and, after the war
and competition from sponges from Libya, its 19th century population of
25,000 has dwindled to just 3,000 today.

Horio (the hilltop part of the town) is just charming - a maze of tiny
passages, endless steps, and extraordinary houses of every size - often
attended to by some very inventive and energetic builders (much of the raw
material is delivered by hand, wheelbarrow or hauled by long line). And all
painted in beautiful colours - Farrow and Ball eat your heart out!

We both visited the "noteworthy" Naval Museum in the harbour - noteworthy
presumably for its lack of exhibits! But it did have a few early photos
which are always interesting.

Another hot and sticky day (we had feared that it was getting much cooler
now!) and just as we were debating what we might do this evening, Steve and
Maggie from Rassy Lady invited us over for a drink. Had a great evening and
when it was time to leave them to their supper, we all discovered that the
entire town had just suffered a power failure. The upside of this was that
it was lovely and quiet as the bars could not play loud music however normal
service was resumed around 10.00pm.

Photos have been updated at www.rhbell.com