24th
September 2017
Dear
All,
We
have just returned from a week in Greece arriving home just before midnight
last night. More specifically we visited Athens and four of the Cyclades
Islands: Paros, Antiparos, Syros and Mekonos. It was our first time in Greece
and it was very interesting. We had delayed going until September to avoid the
hottest weather but as it happened there was an unusual late heatwave so the
temperatures were in the 30s each day with a peak of 34°C which was quite hot
enough!
We
had a couple of tours round the old part of Athens one at night when we first
arrived then a longer one taking in the Acropolis, Parthenon, Royal Palace, a
few dozen churches and the Acropolis museum.
Parthenon
Euzones
outside Parliament
Lykabettos
Hill, Athens
We
boarded the ferry at Piraeus for Paros and it was absolute chaos. There was a
huge crowd because the Archbishop was in town blessing an icon. The ferry was
late and when it arrived they allowed passengers to board while lorries, cars
and foot passengers were still disembarking. Apart from being rather dangerous,
two of our party had their wallets stolen and an old chap with a stick and
walking difficulties was nearly trampled to death!
Paros
is fairly quiet and rural and we had a very nice hotel on the edge of Aliki
within walking distance of the beach. We had leisurely morning swimming in the
clear blue sea as well as the hotel pool then in the evening visited the Folk
Art museum where a local fisherman had made fantastic models of local boats
through the ages as well as Cycladean buildings. We then boarded the ferry for
a 10 minute journey to Antiparos a small island where Tom Hanks is currently
having a house built.
Next
day we had a tour of Lefkes a village with narrow pirate proof streets on the
highest point of Paros then to Parikia the main port and capital. In the
evening we travelled to Naoussa a picturesque fishing village at the north of
Paros.
Kate
on Aliki Beach
Paros
Folklore Art Museum
Naoussa
On
Wednesday we took the ferry to Ermoupolis the capital of Syros where we stayed
in a hotel right on the sea front. Syros is more industrial and less touristy
but much better for that. We had a tour of Ermoupolis with a local guide who
seemed keen to show us most of the orthodox and catholic churches in the town
but also a vast Town Hall and a grand theatre. The town does not have sandy
beaches and there are places where the locals swim from the rocks. I went in
but Kate is not a strong swimmer and thought better of it. Everywhere the sea
is very clear and packed with small fish.
Friday
morning was free and Kate and I took a bus round the southern part of the
island and stopped at Megas Gialos which has a magnificent sandy beach which
was almost deserted. Syros is very hilly and in the evening we had a tour to St
Michaels in the north of the island along some interesting hairpin bends. All
the islands we visited were scorched brown and parched. It only rains in winter
so there had not been any since March. How they manage to grow anything is a
minor miracle. We ended this tour by visiting Ano Syros which was the first settlement
on the island built on top of a hill overlooking Ermoupolis with narrow streets
to try and defend against marauding pirates which seems to have been a major
theme of olden days. The streets were very steep and all provisions have to be
taken in by donkeys.
Megas
Gialos, Syros
North
Syros
Ano
Syros
Yesterday
we left Syros for Mykonos which is extremely busy with tourists and the least
enjoyable of the islands. We had a small coach tour and a longer walking tour
including the famous sight of the windmills of Mykonos before flying out from
Mykonos airport to Heathrow.
The
Windmills of Syros
We
arrived in London about 9pm and were home just before midnight.
Love
Mike & Kate
