Part 4, Syros on Blue Star Paros, afternoon
We were sailing to Syros on Blue Star Paros, from Mykonos via Tinos, and sailed into the calm waters at the port of Ermoupoli at 3.45 p.m. The Neorion shipyards were just on our port side, and I noticed a large vessel in the drydock. She was named ARCTIC FLOUNDER; I like the word flounder as it is so useful, both as a noun and as a verb.
copyright Michalis Toubis SA Editions
We had announced our arrival with a toot of the ship's whistle as we passed the breakwater. This is a lovely old town with numerous churches and public buildings, all built into the hillside in front of us.
My friend went and collected our tickets for tomorrow afternoon's sailing from here in Syros, and then we were free to climb the street up numerous marble steps to our hotel rooms for tonight. The gradient was memorable, and we finally arrived and could check in - having had a few stops on the way up "to admire the views" - otherwise known as "getting our breath back".
After checking in and each being allocated spacious rooms we decided to unpack etc. and then meet to walk up to the Apollon Theatre, built in 1864. The welcoming lady in reception said we were free to walk around wherever we liked, and we certainly saw a lot from various levels. It was a beautiful little gem of a theatre, in regular use we were told. Helena was interesting to talk to afterwards. (https://www.syrosisland.gr/en/apollon-theatre-syros/ for a good picture of the interior) I found a couple of postcards of the island, both with ships on them.
We went down into another part of town and found an outside restaurant with freshly cooked moussaka and local wine, which we followed up by a walk around the breakwater and the buildings on it, so the day ended well.
Ships seen: Fast Ferries Andros, Paros Jet, Superferry, Nissos Mykonos, Aqua Blue, High Speed Super Express, Le Bougainville, Speedrunner, Champion Jet 2, Margherita Ch. the Sea Bus in Mykonos, Blue Star Paros
In Ermoupoli we could see Arctic Flounder and Olympos at the shipyard on one side of the bay; my friend also saw Nissos Chios and Nissos Mykonos arrive and depart together when I was back at the hotel after dinner.