Syros, Greece

I haven’t posted for some time because I normally post after we leave a place, but we ended up spending 3 months on the Greek island of Syros! Warning: This post will be a bit longer than usual due to trying to fit 3 months’ worth of stuff into it…

Ermoupoli

We stayed in the main city of Ermoupoli (which is also the capital of the Cyclades islands (pronouced in Greek as ‘Kick-la-des’)). We chose to come here because we were in touch with a woman who told us there is a large Worldschooling community here. In fact, there is a Worldschooling Hub called Boudless Life that runs programs here all year round (each hub is 3 months). Many people who were originally part of Boundless Life decided to stay on and live on the island. We met and hung out with people who were living here and some of those in the Boundless Life program.

Here are some photos of Ermoupoli:

Ano Syros

The oldest part of town is Ano Syros. It is located on a large hill just to the side of Ermoupoli (technically still part of the city). Ano Syros was built by the Venetians in 1200 AD. Unfortunately, we came at the end of September and by the time we made it up to Ano Syros, all the shops and restaurants were closed for the season. Still, it was worth the several hundred steps up the hill just for the views.

Ousyra Winery

Once per week, we (the teens and parents) volunteered at an organic winery called Ousyra (the vineyard, actually). I looked forward to this day each week – it was one of my favourite things to do on the island. It is owned by an English gentleman named Edward (below in the black baseball cap, talking to the kids about seeds). It was very interesting to talk to him and learn more about organic grape farming. His family also owns vineyards in South Africa and Argentina as well as a couple of other places. There were no grapes while we were there, but we spent time moving posts to various parts of the vineyard (he doesn’t use traditional grafting) and planting complementary crops that help the soil with beneficial nutrients for the grapes (peas, oats, etc.) He uses grapes that are local to the island and only makes a few varieties of delicious wine. The vineyard also has a lot of wild sage and thyme which provide a beautiful scent while working.

One of the days we got to pick olives. This was our favourite day. (Even the dogs enjoyed eating the olives!) Apparently the best olive oil comes from a combination of ripe, black olives and green olives.

On another day, the owner and one of the parents arranged for us to have a wine tasting and BBQ. One of the dads is a chef and he manned the BBQ with all the food we brought. We had a delicious feast and plenty of great wines. I think everyone ended up buying a few bottles.

Around the island

We visited most of the car-accessible beaches on the island and also had a picnic one day at a farm. The beaches were pretty empty since it was off-season, but the water was still warm enough to swim into November.

Naxos

We were invited to a birthday party on the island of Naxos which happened to be the same day as C’s 15th birthday. We stayed at a hotel near the villas that the other families rented and spent an evening at their house having a birthday meal. The next day, the kids went go-karting in the morning, we then had lunch and explored the main town in the afternoon. I really liked Naxos and wished we had more time to explore it. I will definitely go back again one day.

In the evening, we took a ferry to the island of Paros.

Paros

We spent one night in Paros and our ferry left back to Syros late at night the next day. We took a bus over to the touristy area of Nousa where we explored for a couple of hours before coming back to the main town in the evening.

Halloween

Some of the families organised a Halloween party. It started with kids trick-or-treating to other families’ homes, and then went to one person’s house, where everyone brought food and drinks for a party. K won an award along with the other girls for best costumes (they were zombie cheerleaders).

Christmas

We celebrated Christmas a couple of days early since we were traveling back to the mainland on the 25th. We celebrated with our friends next door whom we first met in Budapest and who decided to come and join us in Syros. We were lucky that we found 2 apartments right next to each other! K got into crochet while in Syros and she crocheted stockings, a gift for everyone, and outfits for the teddys.

We decided to have a Greek Christmas meal and made Dolmades, Chicken & lemon soup, and a stew with Beef & orzo, a Greek Salad, Greek lemon cake, orange cake and chocolate cake! Some of the items were delicious (the soup, salad and cakes) and some weren’t so great (the dolmades and stew).

On Christmas day, we travelled back to the mainland on a six-hour ferry (unfortunately, C was seasick the whole way!). We stayed a couple of days in the town of Saronida so that we could visit the Temple of Poseidon and also go to Decathlon to shop for some winter clothes. The day we went to the temple it was windy and freezing cold!

On the 28th, we had to drive up to Thessaloniki so that R and C could catch a flight to Istanbul on the 29th for C to see the dentist. Unfortunately, the farmers were on strike and blocked the main highways in several key spots. What should have been a 4-hour drive turned into a 10.5-hour drive!

Next stop: Bansko, Bulgaria for our first full, 6-week Worldschooling Hub – so far we’ve only done the shorter pop-ups!