Warmly welcomed on a wondrous wander

by lauren loudon (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Greece

Infamous for their white hilltop houses and cobbled streets, the Greek islands were sure not to disappoint after finally managing to tick them off my travel bucket list. After a couple of days cruising the islands by boat, the feelings of amazement were immense as no two places were the same and even the high expectations I had were exceeded. Arriving by sea to a new island in the Agean Sea, Syros immediately took me by surprise. Certainly one of the lesser known islands and one I’d never even heard of, but the surprise was more than a pleasant one. The houses on the hills that Greece is so renowned for changed from the classic white to different shades of the rainbow, the density of buildings was far sparser and the scale of tourism was lessened. Roaming the streets to get a lay of the land, the beauty of this place immediately blew me away. It wasn’t the picture-perfect scenery you’d see on a typical Greek postcard, but more rustic, slightly quirky with obvious signs of life and a local spirit. Wandering the narrow lanes on a Sunday morning, the first thing to catch my eye was a boldly coloured doorway faultlessly contrasting a peachy tone of orange framing one of my favourite shades of yellow. It didn’t take long for my eyes to be drawn from this to the large smash in the window beside these bold colours, but I deemed it Instagram worthy nonetheless, in it’s own beautiful way. Focusing on this, I began pondering, staring and smiling. Then, as if a strike of lightening hit me, I was shaken back to reality and turned to continue my stroll to see an elderly man sitting just a few doorways down on his doorstep. He had a rugged beard, his buttoned shirt only half done up, a whitish tinge of greyed hair and a ukulele in his hand, gently strumming and humming to himself. Drawn by the sound, we made an intense eye contact and all of a sudden, it seemed his music was all for me. In that moment, on this quiet back street of Syros, I fell in love: for travel, for the juxtaposed jungle of colours, for humanity, music and the penetrating feelings that came hand in hand with those few moments. Standing listening to the tune of the ukulele and looking back to the smashed window surrounded by perfectly painted panes, I smiled at the man and continued on my way. I quickly decided it was an island I wanted to explore more, so when I turned the corner and ran into a lady dressed in a patterned dress parking up her scooter, I asked if she spoke English. “Little” she said with the warmest, most sincere smile I’ve ever seen. I pointed to her scooter and asked if there was somewhere I could rent one for the day. She responded with a fragile shake of the head, a slight look of sadness and the words: “Sunday. Closed. Church. My island worships for Sunday”. In slow and basic speech, I tried to express that it was a shame, since I was only there for the day and I’d already fallen in love with the little of her island I’d seen. Still holding onto her handles, she put her helmet back on, removed another from the little cubby at the back and handed it to me, gesturing to get on the scooter. I told her to carry on with her day, not to worry about me, but she insisted on giving me a tour: showing true passion for her land. Two hours later, we parked back up where we’d met and the roar of the scooter engine quickly faded into music. The man on the ukulele now had a crowd playing with him, drinking soda in the street and eating traditional Loukoumi. The moments, the memories, the connections will never leave me. The authenticity of this experience reminded me of the good in the world, it fed the travel bug inside of me and filled me with pride, passion and purpose. The sights may be beautiful, but the local spirit is truly what made this unforgettable.