Greece: Flashback 4 – Skiathos

I am going on a mini Provencal road trip today, so I’m posting another Greece entry.

From Thessaloniki, I travelled to Skiathos. The journey was not without incident. I got asked out by the taxi driver who took me to the bus station in Thessaloniki (flattering? dodgy? can’t decide) and enjoyed the bus journey that passes Mount Olympus on the way to Volos. I thought of making an offering to the gods, but clearly I displeased them because when I got to Volos there were no tickets left for the flying dolphin to Skiathos (here’s a hint to any Skiathos-bound lady travellers – flying dolphins are liking floating dentists’ waiting rooms, and not very big – book in advance!). So I had to spend a night in Volos, but enjoyed the AC in the hotel (it’s the little things) and my walk along the seafront and the Chinese noodles I had for dinner (ssh, don’t tell any Greeks, but I was craving some non-Greek food).

I was beside the boat the next morning about an hour before I needed to be, but loved the journey across to Skiathos as the sun was rising. Skiathos is picture perfect – cliffs, pine trees, white houses rising up out of a dark blue sea. Georgie, Stu and Sunday came to meet me which was also very lovely and we drove back to Villa Zorbathes for breakfast under the grape arbour.

I had a little room up in the eaves of the house with a patchwork quilt (not that I needed it) and a visiting cat.

We had a very peaceful week – joined by Derek and Maya and David, with lots of eating and swimming and cold beers and cuddles with Sunday in the backseat of the little car.

We visited some beautiful beaches with silken water where you could see everything so clearly that it looked deceptively shallow, even where it was metres deep. The Friday evening, the seven of us plus Jenny who was staying down the road had dinner at Sklithri taverna, right on the beach. The full moon rose as we were sitting there – I tried, not very lucidly, to remember the myth of the moonspinners.