Syros - Return Visit to Ermoupouli - Beautiful Town Centre With No Hills!!! Haircut Success!!!

Next day but, "Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel"! Same bus into Ermoupouli!

We headed straight to the second barber shop we’d seen when we got off the bus yesterday. He seemed like the nicest man from our brief interaction, and he said he had time at 10 a.m. That worked fine for us, as long as we didn’t climb any hills or steps beforehand.

We wandered into the inner town, where the streets were literally paved with marble slabs. Not in an over-the-top fancy way, but in a “this is what we do here” kind of way. The streets were beautiful, and the little side alleys equally so — more authentic and natural than Santorini. We found the main town square, with the massive Town Hall taking up most of the longest side of its rectangular shape. It was an impressive building for what feels like a small town.

Next stop was the Apollo Theater, which of course wasn’t open in the morning. There isn’t much to see from the outside, but I’m assuming it’s beautiful inside. We then headed further away from the barber shop and slightly uphill. Hmmm… we weren’t supposed to be doing that!? But the Church of Saint Nicholas was just around the corner, and we had plenty of time to kill.

It was yet another beautiful church (ABC? 😉). I took a seat outside in the shade to try and stay cool while Sarah went inside. After a while I figured it must be worth seeing — she’d been in there quite a few minutes — so I better check it out too. It was impressive, especially as it’s the first church we’ve seen with large stained-glass windows that let in light, casting wonderful primary colours inside.

As we were leaving the church, we spotted the New Zealand couple from Auckland we’d met at the top of the hill yesterday. They were heading to the bus station and then on to Kini Beach. Since we were going the same way, we offered to show them. I chatted with Jenny while Sarah chatted with Stephen — it was nice to have a bit of social interaction.

After we arrived at the barber shop and parted ways, Sarah told me that Stephen had been diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson’s, which is why they’re travelling while things are still semi-normal. Jenny said she’d be working in London for a week before flying home at the end of September. I’m guessing she’s around 60, and Sarah said Stephen had retired. He also asked whether we’d booked all our accommodation in advance and was amazed that we only had 40-litre backpacks. He seemed to think that if they travelled like that it might end badly.

The barber spoke only basic English, but I showed him a photo of a previous NZ haircut and asked for “number 4 plus flat.” His razor combs were in millimetres, not numbers, so he chose the fourth one from the shortest cut. Wish me luck! 🤞

He was a super nice guy and started asking me simple questions via Google Translate, the first logical one being “Where are you from?” Fortunately, I could also reach my phone for assistance when needed, but he understood “New Zealand” right away. It turns out his brother is living in Christchurch while his niece studies there for a year. Next thing I knew, his brother was chatting to me on WhatsApp from Christchurch! 😂 The barber’s name is John — or Giannis in Greek — and of course his brother is Nikos. That was a very cool and memorable haircut.

He did a great job and only charged €11.50. I was expecting at least €15, so I gave him another €5 in cash on top of my card payment. Sarah took a before-and-after photo for me — you can really see the transformation after waiting 9 weeks instead of my usual 6-week cycle.

Haircut completed — yes! I really needed that. We went back into town to check out what they call “Little Venice” on Syros — or at least what we think they call it. It turned out to be just a walkway down to the water’s edge where people can swim, with a set of steps back up at the other end. It was a pretty spot with nice views back towards town and up to the church, but I’m guessing Little Venice in Mykonos looks quite different. And of course, it was nothing like the real Venice.

After that, we walked back to the bus, keeping an eye out for places we might base ourselves for six hours tomorrow. We caught the 11:30 a.m. bus, which meant it took us along the side of the island we hadn’t yet seen. The beaches on that side are more exposed to the northerly wind and waves. The beaches on the other side are nicer, but there was still plenty of new scenery to enjoy from our air-conditioned bus.

Back at the hotel: pool swim, coffee, and lunch outside. Wonderful!

The afternoon was filled with more swimming and reading — a relaxing last day in Syros.

For dinner we headed down to a local restaurant overlooking the sea. A beer for me, red wine for Sarah, chicken salad (delicious), Greek meatballs (yummy), Greek sausage (okay but not great), Greek potatoes (a.k.a. chips 😂), and a fresh pita bread. We were too full to eat the pita, so we took it home for breakfast. €27.70 — back to rice and beans tomorrow! A lovely way to end our short visit here.

We didn’t have time to visit a couple of the other nice-looking beaches, though we passed them on the bus each day. We could easily spend a week here, no problem — maybe next time?