Day 16 – Athens – Syros

Thanks for all the messages asking if we are safe. Thankfully the fires were a bit outside Athens and didn’t affect us, although we did see some of the smoke in the sky. Regardless of that, we were leaving for Syros on the 8am boat and would be way down south for the remainder of the trip.

Checking out of the hotel at 6.30am proved more difficult than we would have liked. The receptionist was a bit cranky and then the card machine didn’t work, so Louis had to walk a couple of blocks to reach an ATM. This delay impacted the rest of our travels as their was a queue for the metro tickets when we reached the station.

By the time the train came, I still hadn’t a ticket although Anna had one spare left from the day she forgot hers. We decided to risk it again and if we got stuck, Anna would just go and buy another one when we got there. Luckily, I slipped right through the gates and got the trip for free!

We had an idea of where our boat was this morning but no idea how to get there. When we asked for directions, the reaction of the man scared us even more. We needed to be at Gate 1 and we were currently at Gate 8. Not to worry, a bus would take us there.

The bus took its time. Having got the bus at 7.30am, it didn’t leave for another 20 minutes and we just about made the ferry with a few minutes to spare. We paid the price of this as there were no empty seats left on the boat, and we ended up lying at the top of the stairs to the staff quarters. It took 35 minutes for the safety announcements to stop, any longer and Anna would have lost it as she was trying to sleep.

We were swiftly escorted to Hotel Emily by our driver, driving down the road as people were still getting off the boat. Our driver didn’t speak much but the owner of the hotel made up for that. A welcome glass of homemade cinnamon that tasted like Christmas was followed by a full tour of the hotel and our room – including operational guides to open windows, doors and how to use lights. If he feels he had to do this to everyone, what does it say about his previous guests?

Louis was somehow struggling with a small hangover after his few drinks last night and was dying for some food. Right beside the beach hotel was a restaurant with tables and chairs in the water – meaning your feet dangle in the sea whilst you eat! A proper seafood restaurant, we both ordered spaghetti much to the dismay of our waiter.

As our trip was coming to an end, we chilled out all day after a long and hot adventure. We did pop out to the local village to visit the shop and restaurants for dinner. Unfortunately, the garlic sauce they used in the gyros has still not left our mouths this morning.

Hotel Emily is a beach hotel right on it’s own private beach with our room only 2m from the sand. We were advised to sleep with the window open so we could hear the waves. It was pretty magical to be fair. Watching the moon shine across the water inspired Louis to write some poetry for me. Only joking, we both just fell asleep.