Thursday evening, after a wonderful day of sailing with the wind blowing strongly, we docked at Syros. Our captain Vladimir had brought the Sea Cloud alongside as if it was a Zodiac! We were heading for dinner as the first lights started to appear. By the time we finished our dinner the whole town was lit up and it looked so different! Churches with blue domes, bell towers, noisy cafes by the water…many people were approaching to admire the Sea Cloud and take a picture! Some of us took a walk to enjoy a drink or an ice cream and get the first feeling of this town. That night the wind sent us to bed quite early.
The next morning was really a new day! The sun was up, the clouds were gone and everybody was ready to explore Syros. Sophia and myself gave a walking tour of Hermoupolis (the city of Hermes) and our guests had a chance to hear how this 19th century city was born. We visited the church with the El Greco icon, the impressive City Hall, and of course the miniature “Scala di Milano”—theater Apollo. We ended our walking tour at the rich neighborhood of the island’s ship owners dominated by the beautiful Church of St. Nicolas. Before returning to our ship for lunch everyone had a chance to explore the shops, the food market, and buy some local honey or souvenirs.
We sailed from Syros during lunch and the sky was crystal clear, the Aegean had its wonderful blue color, and we started our way towards Naxos. After the interesting talk about the geology of the Aegean given by Jim Kelley, and followed by Sea Cloud baker Bastian’s afternoon tea with delicious sweets, we thought that the activities of the day were over and a calm night under the full moon would be the ideal closing of that day. We were wrong! After enjoying our dinner at the lido bar we sang Happy Birthday to a fellow traveler and Peter—our pianist—accompanied us. That was the sparkle! Everyone started to sing and Peter went on and on and on…the bar was serving drinks and the songs could not end! It turned out to be a great party; quite spontaneous under the full moon!
