Tuesday 24^th May 2011

Yassas! 

Our Greek adventure begins!

 We are on a quick cat bound for the Island of Skiathos in the Sporades group of the Aegean.  We arrived here via two eleven hour flights ,a seven hour stopover in Singapore ( meeting up with Hamish on his way back from the IPL in India)an hour bus to the main Athens  bus terminal  and a two hour bus trip to the small mainland port of Agios Konstantinos

We are feeling a little jaded, not having had much sleep on the plane and fighting some hungry mosquitoes last night but the excitement is keeping us going, it’s wonderful to be back!  We celebrated our arrival with Greek salads, pork souvlaki and Mythos beer!  The food is amazing!

Wed 25^th

We were greeted on arrival by very few pension owners offering rooms  to let, as its early in the season, we chose one, and we got an incredible find, a two bedroom room with kitchen, two balconies, bathroom and a rooftop area with views over the harbour.  All for 30 Euros a night ( about NZ $58 )

Skiathos town is very picturesque, with its red-roofed, white washed houses built on two low hills  and with two small ports, an old port where the local fishing boats moor and a new port for the ferries and yachts.  The entire waterfront is lined with cafes, tavernas, bars and hotels, a very cosmopolitan Island as it has an airport and gets saturated with tourists during July/August.  Perfect now though as there is a reasonable amount of people to make it interesting and loads to look at in the narrow,  stepped streets and alley ways.

Meryl Streep used Skiathos Town as her base while filming Mama Mia over on Skopelos Island ( our next stop ) We are trying to find the house she stayed in !

There are some amazing tavernas here , purched on the hills above on the water, with sensational views,  all very romatic and condusive to eating more than you need!  Last night we had a Greek salad , fried calamari, stuffed tomatoes and peppers and the usual Mythos beer. Making you hungry Chas?   After our morning swim ( still a little chilly )  we watched a local fisherman in a small row boat catch 4 octopus , dragging a small lure that looked like a small fish...something to try maybe !!!! All we need is a boat!

There are some 65 beaches here to choose from,  including one touted as the best beach in Greece at Koukounaries. We shall see, as we plan to get a scooter tomorrow and go exploring.