THURSDAY, JUNE 13
“It’s the 13th, what do you expect?” said Chloe, after she realized we had left the bag with her just-purchased shorts somewhere on a street in Ermoupoli. That was after a really good lunch.
AGROTOURISM WOMEN’S COOP
We ate at the Agrotoursim Women Cooperative of Syros, a restaurant run by a cooperative of women who do all the cooking. It’s popular with locals and the food runs out quickly for three reasons. It’s inexpensive, homemade, and delicious. Women prepare the dishes in their homes each morning, bring them to the small, unassuming restaurant/cafeteria and once everything is sold, they close the doors. I had lemony potatoes and meatballs that were in a sweet and savory tomato sauce. The meal was so delicious, I ate too quickly. Chloe had beans in tomato sauce and the same yummy potatoes.
The “restaurant” extends into a narrow cobbled alley outside where there are three, tiny metal tables surrounded by wobbly, small metal chairs. Two tables were occupied, we took the third. Most people just dropped by to pick up meals for takeaway.
While we were eating a giant, and I mean giant, like NYC-sized giant, cockroach sauntered past the table leg. A women at the table near us screamed, the man at the table, gallant knight that he was, stood up, walked over to the fat, slow cockroach and stomped it. The cockroach’s guts squirted an inch from my sandelled foot.
FERRY BACK TO THE MAINLAND
Luckily the “juice” didn’t quite reach our luggage, which were with us because we had to catch the ferry at 4:00. The ferry ride back to Piraeus seemed longer than coming to Syros…maybe because we were sad to leave. A few more days on the island would have been nice. We were just starting to relax.
VASILIS AND PIRAEUS
Vasilis, the owner of the Piraeus Airbnb, said he would pick us up by the ferry. Super nice. But he wasn’t there when we arrived.
We waited on a designated corner until we heard him yelling our names from a moving car. He pulled around, loaded our bags in his tiny car and Chloe miraculously squeezed in, too. He told us all about himself and Piraeus.
Panic attacked once we settled. Not having had wifi in Ano Syros meant that planning the next complicated legs of travel wasn’t even started. Though it was 8:30pm and we were hungry, we worked on our computers, fought because we were both tense, worked a bit more, gave up, and left for a quick dinner down the street. We found a local spot where lots of families were eating on what just happened to be graduation night at the local elementary school. Children were dressed in their finest, running around wildly nonetheless.
Back in the Airbnb more planning and more frustration. Travelling can be quite stressful!
