The Skiathos Bulletin Board

Graham & Caroline

Hi everybody, yes I know it's 6 months late but am running on GMT, that's not Greek Maybe Time, it's Graham's Mythos Time! anyway, here we go, it's going to be a long one! (I actually wrote notes every day in a small book, sad I know when on holiday, but I wanted to record all the nice memories & feelings we had so I could post this, so now I have to try to decipher my scribblings & make sense of what I wrote!)

Friday 29th June 2007
We left Beverley, East Yorkshire at 3:30am heading for Manchester Airport driving in extremely heavy rain all the way there, at least we were leaving that behind for a while. There were no queues at check in & we breezed through & boarded only to find we had a 3 hour delay because there were too many planes going to be on the ground on Skiathos at the same time. Never heard that one before! Not the most enjoyable start to a holiday, sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours without food or drink (they couldn't bring stuff out in case we suddenly got a slot) but we knew we were on our way to our favourite place so we had something nice to think about. Finally arrived on Skiathos, good flight & landing & got on the bus to take us to Platanias (Aghia Paraskevi) (met Lady Lush at airport, Hi) We noticed a few new buildings on the way but not much had changed since last year. Getting off at bus stop 16 we walked up to Vasso studios where we have stayed every year. Noticed new bar area at Pegasus, looked nice. Everthing else was just the same. On arriving at Vasso we had a really nice greeting from Gregory, the owner, who has become a friend over the years. Going into our room we found a really nice welcome letter & some flowers from Nana, a good friend who lives further up the valley, & some more flowers, a bottle of wine & some extremely tasty home made rice pudding in the fridge from Gregory. Just right in the heat. The time was about 6pm by now & our plan was to go down to Tassos's little shop just down the road to say hello & get some supplies in then later just a little further to eat at Avli & see Kostas. Wrong! We got a text from Nana saying she was going to Pegasus for a drink after her work along with Stuart & Marianne, a very nice couple we met a few years ago, & various other people, some we knew & some we met for the first time this year. (Hi Linda & Terry, or Lindylou as you are known on here) We drank & talked & ate & talked & drank even more. We were very happy to say the least when we finally staggered back up the road to Vasso. It had been a very long busy day but it felt like it was only yesterday that we were here, not 6 months ago, must be that strange Skiathos boomerang magic! Really happy to be back.
Saturday 30th June
Woke up confused.Where am I? Slight(!) hangover from last night. We went down to see Tassos & get the supplies we meant to get yesterday then back to our room for breakfast which usually consists of cheese, ham, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes ,cucumber, onion, fresh bread, orange juice & coffee which is a bit like a continental breakfast but when you are eating it sitting out on your balcony in the sun, enjoying the peace & tranquility of the Platanias valley it becomes something a lot more special. Later, we went for a walk up to the tree with the hole in & turned right on the red road as it is known & up to what we have always called the Yellow Church. The Yellow Church is now white!! We the carried on & took a right, a road we have never been on (& we have walked most of the roads & tracks on Skiathos, yeah, mad, I know!) hoping to end up above Sklithri to have a look at a couple of properties we had seen for sale (just looking at the moment but you never know) but we came out at the top of the old Belvedere, what a dump & it hasn't been closed that long. Work was going on down at the bottom of it so maybe it will get a new lease of life. Walked back along main road to Ag P & went for a snooze (still catching up on ZZZs) In the evening we had a few drinks with Gregory at his little pool bar & went down to eat at The Avli. Had very nice kleftico & stuffed aubergine. After our meal, Kostas brought us a drink & came & sat with us for a natter & asked about our friends, Frank & Anne who we met at Vasso years ago & who we meet every year on holdiay (we have only ever met them once in UK but have spent weeks with them on Skiathos!) They stay up the steep hill from Avli at Zorbas & who were coming out a few days later. Then back to Vasso where the bar was still open so we had a nightcap or two with Gregory & Roger & Janet who have a place up the road & Sue & Tony from Birmingham who were at Vasso the same time as us last year.
Sunday 1st July
Woke up late about 9:30am, well, on holiday so it doesnt matter. Had usual relaxed breakfast then got a bus into town. Most peculiar, there was only one other person on the bus, made a change! It was very quiet in town & we had a wander round to see what was new & what had changed, not a lot thankfully then had a nice lunch at a place we always visit when in town ( Folia I think it is called) down a street that runs parallel nearly to Papadiamanti St. Back to Ag P for a bit of time around the pool & a nap! In the evening we had a couple of drinks with Gregory as we always do before going out. Some people we have noticed over the years never bother with the bar & some hardly even manage to speak to Gregory & seem to treat the owners of small studio accommodations as if they are of a lower class than them. Brits Abroad I guess! Still, people like that are the losers as they do not realise what they are missing by not integrating at all with their hosts & the locals! (Gregory has travelled all over the world, is a fantastic cook, a very helpful person who loves & looks after his dog & cats, has wonderful tales to tell & has become a good friend of ours) We ate at Mesostrato on the main road in Aghia Paraskevi, excellent as usual, good food, (very good house wine) although I always think I can manage a starter as well as a main course, NOT HERE! Mesostrato is a very pleasant place to eat, clean, well presented, lovely setting under the tree, nice background music, good friendly service etc etc. Full up now, time for bed!
Monday 2nd July
Had our normal breakfast then decided we would have a bit of a beach day & catch some rays. We went down to a little bit of beach we use that is normally quiet. If you go onto Ag P beach then turn right & go along past all the sunbeds there are a cuple of small patches of sand away from it all. It was very hot so it was sunbathe, swim, sunbathe ,swim. The sea was lovely & warm. Then we saw a strange man in orange speedos with earphones in, running & dancing along the beach. He danced past where we were laying then ankle deep in the water, did some weightlifting exercises with some rocks. He then danced back but stopped right in front of us (bearing in mind that we were the only people laying on that bit of beach & nobody was within about 30yds either side of us)facing the sea with his hands on his hips, jigging about to whatever music he was listening to!! He stopped there for about 3 minutes then danced off back towards the main bit of beach. Sort of reminded us of an eccentric Greek type Peter Stringfellow lookalike!! Ut got too hot for us on the beach, we were frying! We went back to Vasso calling in at the new supermarket at the bottom. What a blot on the landscape & the owner still has a happy friendly face on . . . NOT!!! Had a nice cooling swim at Vasso, this was about 5:30pm & the temperature seemed to rise even more! Very very hot. Had our usual pre dinner drinks with Gregory. We were going to go into town to eat but Nana came by so after a lot of chatting & a lot more pre dinner drinks we deciced not to venture too far & went down the road to eat at Pegasus. It was nice to see Voula & her family again. The place was a lot busier than last year & the addition of the new bar can only be good for their trade. It is nice to be able to sit there & have a drink before & after eating although sitting at the bar afterwards chatting with them we ended up having too many 'one for the roads!' "Time for bed" said Zebedee!!
Tuesday 3rd July
Woke up with hangovers!! Seemed like a good idea to stay up late & drink loads last night. Not now!! We went for a head clearing walk before breakfast up the Platanias valley road to the junction with a tree in the middle just before the old donkey track that carries on along the bottom of the valley. (This track goes all the way to Kechria & is a nice walk if you ever get chance to do it) Then just hung around the pool out of the sun, caught a bit too much yesterday. Gregory made us some lunch before he went for his daily siesta, 2pm til 6pm. Mid afternoon we went down to Zorbas to meet Frank & Anne who were arriving today. Had a couple of drinks with them then let them get unpacked & sorted out. Met them later at Pegasus for drinks then into Avli to eat. Big greetings again & plenty of free drink. Then back to Pegasus bar for nightcaps. Frank was very very happy & said he was just intoxicated with the pleasure of being back in Skiathos & amongst friends. I think it had more to do with vast quantities of alcohol!!
I have a note at the bottom of this page in my diary about Marley. This is the donkey who is in a different place up & down the road every year & who we give apples & carrots to every day (along with most of the other holidaymakers along there!!) We call him Marley because when we first saw him (think he's a him) a few years ago, he was in the garden in front of Maistrali Taverna down the bottom, & that year, we used to sit & watch the sun go down, with a few drinks of course, at the old Mambo beach bar (long gone)on Ag P beach & they played a lot of reggae music & 'Don't worry 'bout a ting' became a well used phrase over the holiday. So that's why we call the donkey Marley, after Bob.
Wednesday 4th july
Early start, usual breakfast, then went for a slow walk down to Troulos then along to Asselinos. Had a couple of hours on the beach, a nice swim, some lunch & then walked extremely slowly back! Very hot again .Think it is the hottest we have ever known it on Skiathos. Ate at Mesostato again this evening. No complaints whatsoever about this place. Then into Platanias bar to catch up with Monica. Had a good laugh as she knows a work friend of Caroline's called Vicky who also holidays there a lot & stays at The Magic Hotel & is quite amusing after a drink or three!! Home to bed.

Right, that's the end of part one. I said it was going to be a long one but it gives you something to read when you are trawling this site & hopefully it will make you feel at home especially if you know the area that we stay in.

TO BE CONTINUED . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
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I'd rather have a full bottle in front
of me than a full frontal lobotomy.

Ian · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject:

Wow ...

Anyone thinking of travelling here for the first time will feel they know everyone on first name terms.
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Counting down the months to the next visit - Click here to see why ...

markyt · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:25 pm Post subject:

Good read, we stayed in that area last year, in fact we had our Wedding Reception at MESOSTRATU-it was absolutely fantastic. Smile

Tezza · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 237 Location: Skiathos

Hi this is terry, just to say hope we get to meet u again, nana still as batty i say that in a nice way case she ever reads this she would kill me yep u know nana. just been to trikala on mainland about 1.5 hrs from volos to stay with voula and wow what a time we had, went to meteora and i can say hand on heart that having been and seen the grand canyon this was even more spectacula. all companies offer trip from here long day but wow. cant wait to read more tel.. ps please xcussi speeling not strong point,oh and yes before someone points out i know about spell check, if u cant spell you cant spell . what u see is what you get.

suejet · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:35 pm Post subject:

Fantastic feedbacks, wish June would hurry up!

roll on part 2!
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you heard it here first - BOJAN!

shepre · Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 53

Looking forward to Part 3..............also glad to find that I am not the only one who writes a book on holiday!!!! Lovely to look back on - I have mine going back about 10 years now and they do make us laugh when we re-read them. Also very useful to look up things you might forget over time.

Tezza · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 237 Location: Skiathos

come on can we please have part 3...