Syros cat (it looks like Wally's)
David's book on Greek Islands described Syros with words like "scruffy, little of interest, it is worth the look if only to capture the contrast with the cute Cycladic village look that dominatees elsewhere" Ben's book was equally unflattering.
We thought it would be a long and tedious wait for the next ferry in 4 hours. We left the ferry carrying our luggage and went across the street. Our next ferry would be a different one for the final trip to Santorini. We checked into the ferry office and they offered to put our luggage on the large shelves in their office. David, Ben and I put our luggage close together and secured them with a cable lock I carry.
down town...
With the three handles roped togther we hoped it would either discourage a thief or make them take other easier cases...
We started out walking not expecting to find very much but we were very pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the buildings and the nice town.. We could see a church spire quite a ways up a hill and decided to walk to it. On our way we passed war memorials and lovely little parks where families seemed to be congragating... We were really very pleasantly surprised at how clean and nice the town was. It was obviously a town that was a working town. It wasn't a "tourist" town. It was really refreshing to see it.
We walked and found the church at the top of the hill.
wonderful detail
The hill area was the back of the church. We climbed onto the porch and looked up at the ceiling. Stars! We walked around the side of the church to the front door. A gentleman was sitting inside and almost as soon as we walked in announced it was fine to take pictures and flash was allowed. We couldn't believe how ornate and beautiful the church was. It had beautiful paintings and an amazing ceiling. There were painted alcoves and stained glass windows...
David, Ben and I took a million pictures...... Then it happened. . . . I kneeled to get an angle on the ceiling and the inside seam on my pants ripped from the crotch to my knee.... OMG ...... I just about fainted.
chandeliers... with blue alcove in background
.... I let Ben and David know and we left to find a seamstress. It became obvious right away that it was the time period when Greek stores were closed. Oh boy.... I tied my coat around my waist and tried to hide my pants.... Luckily not too many people seemed to be out.... Ben was so funny... he ran behind us a few feet and reported that from behind it was impossible to see the pants gapping.... We needed to kill a little time so we stopped and split a carafe of red wine.... It was a nice break and it gave me a break from feeling like an idiot.... We continued to ask and ask people if they knew of a tailor shop... We went down to the wharf but it was all restaurants. .... we continued asking people for a tailor.
Pleasing colors and great details on the top
... We found a bank with a lady just opening it with her keys. Ben asked her to staple my pants ... She was such a nice lady..... She took me into the bank and patiently stapled the seam.... It was embarassing but she was so sweet and she laughed and chatted while she did it... The three of us thanked her.... we found a cute little restaurant and went in for a meal.... It was absolutely wonderful! We had red wine again and the waiter was so funny! I made sure he knew in some cultures his humor would have been considered harassment... We laughed through the dinner and then hit the street to try to find a tailor (still).....
I think the boys thought the problem was solved because I was stapled but .
restaurant we ate at
... NO it wasn't...I pack really light and I had the pair of pants I was wearing and a light weight white pair... I HAD to get them fixed... We asked a few more placed and headed up another street.... We were looking for a sign that said Jackies.. but luckily I stopped looking up at the signs and looked in the windows..... It was easy to tell the seamstress from the dress and fabrics in the window... I called to the boys and went in. The wonderful lady in the shop did not speak english at all. I showed her the seam and mimed sewing it...... didn't understand at first (it was stapled....) She leaned over and pulled the seam then she understood and laughed... she put me into the back room and indicated she would sew it on the machine there.
syros building
... She left the room then ran back with a piece of fabric for me to tie around my waist. She tied it for me but I saw a price tag on one edge and realized it was for sale so I undid the knot and used a straight pin to hold it together... The lady got customers and helped them.... then rushed back saying seekknomee (excuse me).... she was too sweet.... I had removed the staples ....she changed the thread on the machine and quickly sewed the seam. She was so nice. She checked it then removed part of the seam that hadn't ripped and sewed it too.... She refused to take any money at all for doing the sewing. Luckily I had forseen her kindness and left 2 euro on the machine. I forced her to take another 4 Euro in the front area after I got dressed again.... ( Greeks.... They are the kindest people I think.)
It was actually a great time in Syros and we went back to the Ferry office and retrieved our luggage and headed out to the new ferry that would take us to Santorini.
