Tribes of the Aegean:

The on board vendors of Syros island

Every time we travel in the Aegean and the ferry boat reaches the island of Syros, we gaze  the beautiful hills of Ermoupoli from the deck; Then, we hear the characteristic loud voices of the vendors that just spread all over the boat, to sell their fresh merchandise: loukoumia and chalvadopites from Syros.

I have always admired they way they work, so fast and concentrated: The men in white shout, tell jokes, move like crazy, give change; in a few minutes they manage to sell the content of their big white baskets to the passengers that gather around them to buy the traditional famous sweets of Syros and disembark in time!

How retro is that? Not to mention the old style graphics of the packages that I love so much… Tigers, roses, medals and old Syros photographs, they all have a place on the small paper boxes that are filled with the aromatic, soft bites. I buy a box of loukoumia with bergamot flavor; it makes me think of Odysseas Elytis, who wrote that he really eats bergamot to dawn and writing poems to fall in love properly.

I know that tomorrow I will enjoy a traditional Greek coffee, with a delicious loukoumi served on the side of the cup: and if I feel really nostalgic, maybe -I said maybe- I will try to predict my future with a coffee cup reading ; )

words by maria alipranti

photography by christos drazos