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