A week in Skiathos
Tuesday 24th September to Tuesday 1st October 2024
Tuesday 24th September 2024
I am writing this however many feet up in the air. Chai and I are on our way to Skiathos, a Greek island.
I am always taken by what each moment can hold. You awake, get ready, go to work or as yesterday awake, get ready go to work and then later take a taxi to a bus stop, take a bus to Bristol Aiport and then take a flight to Skiathos.
Sunday 29th September 2024
I must have gotten distracted by Skiathos as I write 5 days later. Maybe 5 days in I become settled in a place or at least in a place that settles me.
Monday 30th September 2024
It lightly rained around 3 pm yesterday. It was only the remnant that remained on the beach. Fred ‘the charger of the sun loungers’ packed up and headed East for the day.
Did I surprise myself by staying on the beach from morning to afternoon? Of course, as I heated up I only had to walk the distance to plunge into the sea.
At a beach the other day the fish happily swan with us. Chai did alarm me when she exclaimed something bit her. My irrational thoughts conjured up sharks, and then I recalled the desert oasis ‘Ein Gedi’ in the Holy Land where the fish nibbled on the dead skin of feet.
Tuesday 1st October 2024
We are at the airport, soon we will be on the return flight to Bristol. What has stayed with me?
I was impressed by the welcome of the Passport official. My rucksack proved too much for the transportation of the luggage to the accommodation so while Chai’s went in a small van mine came with me. I still prefer a rucksack to a suitcase. A rucksack has been with me since the Boys’ Brigade (BB) days.
Then comes that moment when the transfer bus stops, lets you out and says, “Go that way and turn left at the stairs.”
At that moment you know you are now alone in a place you have never been.
Eleni’s village is a complex of self-catering apartments set on a hill. We are welcomed at the bar and Chai’s luggage is taken to the apartment. The rucksack remains on my back.
The apartment reminds me of Mexico. Don’t ask me to describe it; it is just an impression. Maybe it is the light fitting in the centre of the room.
Open the hatch window and there before you is a picture postcard.
Open the kitchen window and there you have another.
The island is 7 miles long and 4 miles wide. If that be it we walked its length and breath.
On the first day, we lay about the pool absorbing the difference of place. While some sampled the wine I sampled the Greek Coffee.
On the second day, we ventured to Achladies beach and paid Fred ‘the charger of the sunloungers’ 20 euros. We lay there for the afternoon listening to the lapping of the sea.
On the third day, we walked into Skiathos town. On the way, we came upon a small building. On a seat outside sat a workman waiting as he emptied the drains of a nearby hotel with his vehicle. I then noticed a cross on the roof. I tried one door, but it was locked. I tried another and it opened. We walked inside and it was an Orthodox chapel. A table with four chairs seemed to be an ad-hoc canteen for some workmen.
While in Skiathos town we came across the boat trips to Skopelos. I hadn't realised how much the film Mama Mia had put the island on the tourist map.
We got the tickets and day 4 was spent on the boat and the island.
On Day 5 we decided to walk almost the length of the island. Along the way we joined some swans on the beach.
On Sunday which brings us back to the start of this story ( the rain clearing the beach) I did take a walk in the early evening during which I revisited the little church.
I will leave you with the video of it.
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