Ruins and Respectability

Tuesday October 18th - Syros Ermoupoli and about 

Last night I had a wander around Ermoupoli before having a nice dinner of Linguine with Mussels washed down with some Peroni beer, not very Greek but never mind. I was sitting outside gazing at the port and the ferry Artemis. A text arrived. Oh no. They have cancelled the ferry sailing. A check of the weather, tonight and tomorrow morning, it’s going to be very windy. Another night in Syros. Oh well. Here is a nice shot of a part of the town at night.

In the morning, after a very good nights sleep, I had a lazy start to the day. I contacted the ferry ticket folks, to ask them to change my ticket. I don’t know why I have to do something, they cancelled me! I walked to the big square in town and bought myself one of the big round ham, tomato and cheese pastries with a coffee. The people here are very friendly. They know you are English just by looking at you. But they do appreciate your efforts to speak the language. I decided to walk North out of the town and along the Eastern side of the island. There are some churches and hopefully views of the coastline. There is a classic photo everyone who has been to Syros knows, looking from the coastline up to St Nicolas church. 

The church was open as it happens, it is a bit over the top for me, I prefer the simple church interiors. Meanwhile here was this nice cafe, I asked the girl in the photo, if I could take the photo first.

I then headed up towards the police station where I was yesterday. Meanwhile several fire engines wizzed past me, some kind of emergency, as we will see. When I sent a message to my hotel last night to extend my stay, I remembered he called me Mr Paul, they do this in the Far East too. The other thing about Syros, there are a lot of cats. A lot of them have not been neutered. After the police station, things opened up a lot, less buildings, more views of the sea, which was frisky and smashing itself against the coast. There was a lady chatting  to another, who was inside her house, but with the window open. This sort of communication was common I am sure in the UK years ago. There were now a lot of fir trees, despite the bracing winds they were standing upright, despite being exposed on the coast. 

It was soon clear to me what the fuss was about. There were some electrical engineers working in the road. The top of an electric pole had broken off and was in the road. I imagine the fire guys were called out in case the cables had shorted and caused a fire, it’s still dry here. The guys were not bothered by me, they let me walk past the top of the pole, maybe it had been made safe, the power removed.  

The road was really exposed and I was walking heading into the wind. Every so often a lorry or dustcart passed me, I think I know where the local tip is! The next thing to look at is a church called Agios Dimitrios. When I got there, the gate was locked, but I got a decent photo.

There wasn’t anything particular on the map to look at further on, but I wanted to carry on a bit further, there is a little beach and an island which has a name that doesn’t translate, according to google translate! On the way was a horse, in the road it wasn’t tethered, it was free to roam, as the ground testified! It was in good condition, no ribs showing, it’s coat looked ok. Not sure where it got it’s water from. There was a nice viewpoint, but this area has been used as a tip, maybe for those people who go to the tip and it’s closed, or can’t be bothered to go all the way there, big shame, it’s called fly tipping in the UK. 🥲

On the way back, of course you get another view, because you can’t keep looking backwards. I feel like I am getting a cold, which is a shame. But the wind was blowing me home. Looking down on the electrical guys, they are getting on with things already, the road is now closed now. I bought myself a sandwich and went back to the room for a rest. Hopefully the ferry will run tomorrow! If you look at the photo below, there is another lady chatting through the window.

Footnote. Last night I walked past this old fashioned shop, with musical instruments and toasters and other electrical items, a real funny mix of things for sale! I have tried to learn musical instruments before, when I was much younger. But with the idea I need to keep myself busy, my mind active, I went in and had a long chat with the two guys, one was a friend of the chap who runs the shop. I explained my idea. They said the guitar was best. The friend said, he would be happy to help me as much as he could over the internet, which is very kind of him. The shop is now closed until six, but I plan to go back and buy an instrument. There may well be someone on Serifos who could help me, another good way to find someone else to interact with. Speaking of which it’s time for a Greek lesson!