Villages and beaches of Syros

But first things first. It’s Good Friday back home, although the Greeks observe Orthodox Easter according to the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar that the rest of the West uses. This means Easter falls next weekend in Greece, but we were very aware that our brothers and sisters in Christ back in Australia would all be attending Good Friday services this morning, and it felt right to observe with them in spirit, and remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all of us. So over breakfast we read Matthew 27 and Psalm 22 and recalled our time in Israel at significant places like the Garden of Gethsemane, Caiphas’ house, Golgotha, and the Garden Tomb.

The main plan for today was to hop on the local bus and take a ride around the south of the island. It was a cool, mainly sunny but much windier day, with whitecaps even on the harbour, so it seemed good to be bussing it rather than out in the cold breeze. The local buses have different timetables for winter and summer, which we checked out online yesterday, and we figured it would still be the winter one, which meant buses travel in one direction on the hour, and the other direction on the half-hour. More or less (this is Greece, after all).

By the time we finished with breakfast and got some washing done and hung out on the breezy balcony, our next bus option was 11.30am. Lucky for us, the bus depot is just next door to our hotel, and tickets are available from the driver, so it couldn’t have been easier. This particular driver was very helpful, and we were soon seated amongst the chattering schoolchildren (why weren’t they in school at 11.30am??) and heading out of town. The children did what all of their tech-savvy generation seems to do so well..........

Our bus took us in a clockwise direction, heading south-east from Hermoupolis, firstly to Azolimnos beach, then to Vari, Megas Gialos, Poseidonia, Foinikas, Galissas, and back to Hermoupolis. Most of them beachside villages. The entire journey took just over an hour, and along the way we saw glimpses of village life, and the very quiet beaches of Syros in the early spring. Here are some photos we managed to snap out the window of the bus as it wound its way around the south of the island - the ones that weren’t all blurry, anyway.

Just outside Hermoupolis

Azolimnos beach, looking not-quite-ready for the summer season 

Vari beach

Megas Gialos 

Poseidonia 

Foinakis 

Galissas

All up the journey took just over an hour, with lots of stops and starts to let the locals off and on, so plenty of opportunities to have a good look at the southern coastal areas. The final stretch took us back across the island, and included a close encounter with another bus, but we’ve learned that Greek bus drivers take it all in their stride. Slowly, slowly, squeeze by, wave and smile, on you go.

Back in Hermoupolis, we wandered along to the market street to get supplies for lunch - ham, cheese, olives, bread, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, strawberries, mandarin, yoghurt. Delicious!

A lazy relaxed afternoon, watching the harbour where there’s always something happening. Today there were whitecaps even inside the breakwater, and plenty of bow waves as the ferries headed out of the port. Call us weird, but we get excited every time we hear a ferry horn blowing, and we are so enjoying watching these massive boats come in to the wharf, which is literally just a stone’s throw from our hotel. The view from our balcony is unobstructed and it’s cheap entertainment several times a day!! Aside from the ferries, it’s just lovely to look out over the harbour, which has been blue and sunshine-y the whole time we’ve been here, even today with the wind and whitecaps.

But a post wouldn’t be complete without a church, so later in the afternoon we headed out to see the church that we happened upon when shopping for our lunch groceries. Right next door to the casino, the Holy Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God, also known as the Assumption of the Virgin, is the second oldest church on the island, built in 1828 (the oldest being St George Cathedral, in Ano Syros, to which we walked yesterday). Another three-aisled Greek Orthodox basilica, the Church of the Dormition is beautifully ornate inside, with chandeliers, gold, and many other decorative features. And let’s face it, you can never have too much bling.

Imagine preaching from this pulpit!! 

The stand-out feature though, is the original “Dormition of the Virgin” painted in 1562 by Dominikos Theotokopoulos, otherwise known as El Greco. He was somewhere around 19 - 22 years old when he painted this, and signed it with his name, followed by the moniker “the painter”. So bold at such a young age!!

For the uninitiated (as I was, until Wikipedia saved the day) the “dormition” refers to the Orthodox belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, died without suffering, in a state of spiritual peace, however this belief does not rest on any scriptural basis.

The story goes that the painting was in the temple from around 1850, but was only discovered as being by the artist around 1983. That means it was somehow unidentified for over 130 years. Unfortunately, when we visited the afternoon sun was filtering through the closed Venetian blinds, casting blocks of striped light over the glass in the frame, but hopefully you can get the idea. Obviously, as Christians, we don’t venerate Mary, but we can still appreciate the artwork and the story of the painting.

Friday night, date night! So we wandered along the harbour in search of the perfect date night restaurant, and chose mainly for the menu, but also for the lovely outlook over the waterfront, and the early evening sunshine. Dinner was the most delicious, soft meatballs in tomato sauce, with the usual amazing Greek fried potatoes (there’s just something about Greek potatoes), and what’s becoming standard accompaniment, Greek salad - shared, of course.

Chatting with our waiter, he mentioned how quiet it was on the island at the moment, but said it would start to get busy soon, especially with Easter coming up next weekend. We told him that in Australia it was Easter this weekend. He understood, and said “Ah, yes, today Big Friday”. 

Big Friday. Yes. The biggest.