A visit to the Harani boatyard is a must when we stay on Symi.
The boatyard is more ulitarian and has certainly been much busier in the last couple of years. Perhaps it is a little less impressive than the days when ‘wrecks’ like the Lazy Days were propped up in the yard (Harani Boatyard).
But still plenty of opportunities for any artist.
While having our usual coffee and reading a book at the harbour side at the Nireas Hotel in the morning, a cormorant appeared. Wonderful to watch it swimming back and forward while catching plenty of fish in the harbour.
The boatyard in Harani on Symi is…
Wandering around the back streets of Symi is one of my favourite pastimes.
Exploring the town behind the front and up the hill with it’s little alley ways, staircases, little paths, colourful and derelict houses, numerous ruins, churches, little gardens and pens with livestock simply never tire. Even if you think you’ve covered and seen a section, at the next visit, there is always something new that catches the eye. And after our fifth visit to the island, there are still large parts that we have yet to explore.
We woke up this morning to very dark skies over Turkey heading our way. It was not long before we started to hear the rumble of distant thunder. While having breakfast on the balcony the skies got darker and darker, and the wind started to pick up and swirling.
The world around us scrambled to bring in chairs and tables, and to move and secure the boats. The crew of a gullet panicked and cut the ropes to the quay when the swirling wind nearly became a whirlwind round their ship.
The lightning started to become more prevalent with the time lapse to the heavy rumble of thunder becoming shorter. But the eye of the thunder storm never reached us, as it bypassed Symi to the North.
And not long after, the clouds parted and we were drinking a coffee in the sun.
There is nothing better than watching the sun set with a glass of red wine.
I am sorry that I have been neglecting my own website for several years, favouring the simplicity and reach of my Facebook page to share my photos with family, friends, Facebook groups and anyone interested instead.
However, the recent Facebook issue when all photos published from Lightroom disappeared from Facebook overnight came as a bit of a shock. Yes, you read that correctly, every photo published by anyone in the world from Lightroom to Facebook ever had gone. That meant every photo I had published to Facebook going back some five years, with all it’s social history (comments) had simply vanished.
Of course I have the (original and published) photos with the Facebook comments and likes still in my own Lightroom catalogue, but the thought of republishing five years worth of work online is daunting.
The issue was thankfully resolved within a couple of days following the outcry of those affected, and all photos and associated comments were thankfully back. I must admit that Adobe’s support and keeping the community up to date was superb, and in complete contrast to Facebook’s non-existent acknowledgement and communications.
An event like this makes you take a step back and re-think your online publishing.
Placing your prime reliance on a multi billion company’s social media product is perhaps not a good idea.
So I have made the decision to restart my own photo blog and share any publications to this through social media.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will need to bring my website up to date as well as investigating how to best publish my posts to Facebook and, if possible, import the social history (comments) from Facebook to my own domain.
So please bear with me.
These delightful ruined houses on the harbour side in Harani have been empty for decades.
However, with the progression and increasing tourism on Symi, these ruins have now been renovated to house a thriving little shop, conveniently located on the day trippers route from town to the beech.
I am finally getting round to add some posts to my photo blog from our trip to Symi last July. In this first post, two night shots (taken a few days apart) of the wonderful view to Hinari from our balcony. A wonderful view that we enjoyed with a glass of wine every night before heading out for dinner during our two weeks stay.