Andros

Arriving at Tinos

Tinos and Syros are two islands I find it quite difficult to distinguish between when it comes to my photo album. One thing I do remember vividly was the heat on disembarking at Tinos. The prospect of crawling on hands and knees along this seafront and up the steps to Panagia Evangelistria each 15th August was not a happy one. Yet that is precisely what takes place each year. The devoted crawl the 800 metres from the harbour to this pilgrimage church, with its miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary.

It was still Spring in the Cyclades and pleasantly deserted as I ambled past the trinket shops on the harbour, with my partner in crime. The shade of the awnings was a sure temptation to linger.

The ferry landing on Tinos. My favourite way to travel.

My partner in crime! Doesn’t he look young? (and tanned!)

A fine looking pelican waddled past us. I had expected to see the resident pelican on Mykonos, but, like us, he must have been away day tripping that day. Perhaps this was his double.

Pelican crossing

And then, the approach to the church.

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Our base was on Andros and we had made the sailing to Tinos from there. All too rapidly it was time to return to the ferry. Once aboard there would be no regrets. I am never happier than when sailing between these islands. I dreamed that I could island hop for ever.

It wasn’t easy deciding where to allocate most of our time, but, checking the ferry timetables an overnight stay on neighbouring Syros seemed like a good idea. The ferry sailed into the island capital, Ermopouli, amid a cacophony of noise. My research had not revealed that local elections were taking place, with loudhailers and all the accompanying paraphenalia. Threading through the hustling crowd, it was a relief to find a friendly gentleman in the local TI. The rooms he found us were a world away from the Greek mayhem.

Syros harbour

You can see that the harbour has two hills, Ermopouli and Ano Syros, the medieval quarter. Our room was at the top of the hill by the church. Guess which hill we climbed first? Give me a choice of two! Fortunately we were travelling light.

As you can see, it’s a long way up.

Maria Della Grazia church at Poseidonia

This is the end of my sojourn in the Cyclades. In 25 years I have never been back, though I would love to. The Greek odyssey continues, but with the addition of a small person.

A windy balcony at Batsi

Despite its traumatic ending in Athens, that first visit to the Cyclades was the start of a full blown love affair with the islands of Greece. The following Spring found me on Andros, in an apartment with a breezy balcony, in Batsi.

I recall a strong sheet of perspex which, while it distorted the view up the hill, provided wonderful shelter from the constant breeze. The previous Spring there’d been barely a whisper of wind, but here on Andros, the most northerly of the Cyclades, I encountered the famous Meltemi. Yet, basking in sunshine on the veranda, I could look down on the harbour.

Pretty Batsi harbour

It was on Andros that I had my first introduction to guided walking. Normally I’m more than happy to just follow my nose. I usually arrive home again- eventually! But a couple of hours of countryside in the company of a local sounded an agreeable way to spend a morning. A very affable expat, he turned out to be, who’d lived many years on the island and had ‘a tale or two’ to tell himself. And it took the pressure off Mick for a while- he’s gifted with a far better sense of direction than me and inevitably has to take the map from my hands and steer us back. Map? What map? I don’t believe I even had one on Andros.

Up we wound through the back streets. Don’t you love back streets?

Flowers and churches in abundance

Engaging doors that you can just about peek through

An exquisite red roofed church

A delight from every angle

Bougainvilea, of course!

And another church!

Then out into the surrounding countryside

Till we could look back on Batsi town from on high.

As the sun rose higher, hats were pulled on and sunscreen topped up. The landscape was majestic and it was with just a hint of regret that I returned to the harbour at Batsi. But it’s a great place to sit in the shade and chat.

The harbour front at Batsi

Some memories are clearer than others. I remember arriving by ferry at unpreposessing Gavrio, and then a bumpy ride to Batsi, late in the day. I loved the little harbour there, and sometimes dressing up (a frock!) for cocktail hour, after a day’s wandering. The sun seemed always to shine, but there was one blustery day when the wind really whipped those waves.

It was just a little rough

Interesting arch?

A strange place to build a church

Andros was a great base for visiting the islands of Tinos and Syros, and that’s where I’ll be taking you next. But not before sharing my all time favourite Greek Island photograph, taken right here on Andros.

What do you think?

restlessjo

Roaming, at home and abroad

A tale or two : Tinos and Syros

A tale or two : Andros

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