Thursday 27 June 2013

Back from Syros

What a trip? I’m not even sure where to begin. It was simply wonderful…

The view from my wonderful hotel room

As I mentioned in the past, my brother’s wedding took place last weekend in the Greek island called Syros. Guests, including us, started to arrive a couple of days earlier. I think there were around 120 to 150 of them in total. We didn't know all of them, but it was really nice walking around the main town of the island and running into familiar faces here and there. My brother organised gatherings the nights before the wedding, where alcohol was running freely and guests got to know one another.

walking around Ermoupoli's center 

A restaurant by the 'Kini' beach 

 During the day, I stayed mostly with my parents and the closest relatives. I didn't have any guests to call my own, but I knew my brother’s friends quite well. JJ was invited to the wedding as I mentioned earlier, but we decided it would be better if he didn't turn up. It would create quite a stir and we didn't want to steal my brother’s thunder. However, I talked, mostly, to my mother about him and the plans we have for the near future.  She seems fine listening to my stories.

a common site in Ermoupoli, lot's of stairs everywhere

a local shop

So, in general, I spent my days with my parents. We would explore the island, go to the sea, have lunch next to the waves and just relax. During the evenings, I would join my brother and wife-to-be in a local bar. The discussion there was mostly about the wedding preparations. Choosing the island for their wedding was a wonderful idea. Making the preparations however, proved a little bit challenging. As in every event of that scale, making sure that everything is ready is not easy and especially in an unfamiliar small island. For example, the best man was supposed to sail to the island. However, the strong winds delayed him considerably. He almost didn't make it. There were relatives with problems in their hotel bookings and the groom was rushing the night before the wedding to sort them out. This list of issues, some trivial and some more serious, is almost endless.


Everything turned up exactly as planned though. The wedding was in a small picturesque church on a hill, overlooking the town and the bay of the island. The bride was so beautiful in her wedding dress.  The ceremony was planned for 12:30pm. Everybody was informed however, that afterwards, the reception would take place in a restaurant and a bar by the sea. So the guests changed to their bathing suits and met in the designated taverna. After a lovely lunch, we moved to the beach bar for the party.

the lovely couple exciting the church

the wedding beach bar

Alcohol was running freely and people were really enjoying themselves. They were going in and out of the sea, enjoying their drinks and dancing till late. I was of course thrown into the sea a couple of times and enjoyed lots of tequila shots with the groom, the bride and the best man. Apparently, the coldness of the sea helps you stay sober. I managed to maintain my decency and have a great time. Even my parents were dancing to the latest r&b and mainstream sounds.

4 comments:

  1. Looks like a beautiful place to say "I do". Lovely picture of your brother and sister-in-law.

    Glad to also hear that your Mom is at least listening to you talk about JJ.

    BosGuy

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    1. Thanks. Yes, it was all very nicely organised.

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  2. All my life I have wanted to go to Greece for so many reasons; you egg me on. How about being hired as tour guide?

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    Replies
    1. Definitely... Name the time and we could organise something! What would you like to see?

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