On 19th-century British Admiralty maps, the letters ‘Syros’ appear bigger than ‘Greece’. Today, this off-the-beaten-track isle, overshadowed by neighbouring Mykonos, seems an unlikely maritime superpower, but it once turned out countless ships from its boatyards while captains built grand frescoed homes on its scrubby hillsides. ‘Seen from the sea, it can seem like a fortress,’ says Quirke. ‘Savage jags of copper, spiked cliffs in ochre and beetle-blue basalt. Water a thousand shades of green. As I toil past on a little boat, beaches appear in a striking mercury shimmer – the sand is a metallic grey.’ An unexpected spot to chart a course for.
Music by Giorgos Hatzinasios
This podcast is sponsored by The Greek National Tourism Organisation (visitgreece.gr). From go-slow islands to cutting-edge cities, Greece is an amalgam of beautiful landscapes, powdery beaches, delicious food and wine, and a millennia of culture – an all-time favourite holiday destination steeped in myth and legend. For more information, go to visitgreece.gr.
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