The Skiathos Bulletin Board

Elle

Well, Skiathos in winter was absolute magic for us…

We did not miss the throngs, the hoardes of drunken sunburnt tourists, the cacophony on the paralia created by the crazy meld of bad 80s, Zorba bouzoukis, trance and Frank Sinatra musics … all of our local friends were relaxed – with time to sit over coffee and talk and laugh, time to linger over an afternoon tsipouro or two (or three) either in behind the plastic and by the heater, or out in the fresh air and warm winter’s sun, or dinner in the dark of winters light… the only music to be heard was GREEK, ahhh… except for at Gerani, where Marianna (sp?) plays a lovely and eclectic mix of greek and all sorts of other arty genres…

Not a boat in sight in the palio limani – except for a handful of fishing boats – and except for the one day when Capitan Giorgos (of the Thimios) sailed up to the quay where his son was waiting for him with a frappe to go, in his grandfathers teeny, wee caique,… His yellow Labrador boat dog ‘Eva’ was in her spot, on a cushion in front him and they were taking it to Koukounaries, to safe harbor for the winter… His Thimios I found up on her stilts in the boat yard by the airport – she was ‘resting for the winter’, he said, and he was about to do a lot of much needed work on her. (Eva the boat dog collects tourist’s garbage aboard Thimios and puts it in the waste basket… and goes off on her own, when sent by Giorgos, around the corner from the old harbor to a kiosk where she sits, and says ‘woooof’, and the owner of the kiosk says ‘OK, Eva, here are Giorgos’ smokes’ and Eva takes a pack of cigarettes delicately in her soft mouth and trots back to where Giorgos is sitting, and deposits them gingerly in his lap…Ah, things have certainly changed for the dogs, in the last 20 years around the waterfront!)

We met Skiathos Lad!!!! It was a pleasure to meet his family – Eleni his gorgeous wife and their 2 amazing kids - and Mike is a very lovely, very generous and a genuinely nice, kind man, a virtual wealth of information and he has a lovely hotel, the Oasis Hotel/Apartments, that I’m not sure one can book unless you go through Kosmar. Best to ask him, but it is a gorgeous spot and very convenient. Very lovely, on the new marina side of town but set back off of a winding alleyway that is flanked by beautiful gardens and whitewashed walls and bougainvillea (in bloom all over the island, in DECEMBER!!!!) and sheep with tinkling bells… a nice walk into the village. It was a pleasure to meet Mike, our new friend, and we truly look forward to seeing him again, and performing in his bar some night in May or June…

Paul had an interesting day fishing (with whomever it was who shall remain nameless as there were no fishing licenses to be seen… Wink

out behind Tsougrias, for Mousmouri (?) and Nunfish… cold and blustery, with waves that set Paul up and down so hard that he broke the seat on the boat! (no, Paul is not a large man!) I spent that day walking and walking… and walking.. taking tons of beautiful photos.. the Light in Greece is incredibly dramatic in winter – more than I ever had thought it would be. A tsipouro with a friend here, a glass of wine with another friend there…. Jasmine and bougainvillea in bloom – so weird, to me – but beautiful!!

We met up with the lovely Yvonne several times before she had to set off back to London… there was many a late night, at the Palio Limani or the Gerani, talking and talking in the warmth under the magical ambiance of the Christmas lights (that Ian helped to put up!)… we sat with Stamatis the bouzouki playing baker at his shop, what a sweet man… and oh, he makes fudge (that I call brownies) to die for! We performed several songs, 2 nights at Helinikon…. On our one Greek song, ‘Ta Tragoudia ton Gyfton’, or ‘Song of the Gypsies’ we were joined by most of the people eating there… very moving and great fun, and we were invited back by Thodorou some evening in the spring to do it again outdoors….

Rented a car for several days and can say that we drove from Skiathos Town to Kouk., and from the Acropoli on we didn’t see ONE car on the road, the WHOLE way!!! Not one. AMAZING! We took a breathtaking tour of Kalamaki, sat on the bench and watched the diamonds in the waves and the small caiques out fishing… blue blue blue sea AND sky… fed every cat we saw along the way (I am always armed with several bags of cat food…), went to Kouk. to walk the empty beach and have a picnic – we were met there by the Koukounaries ‘greeter’, a stately gentleman of a cat I dubbed ‘Ouranos’, who walked the beach and dined on tiropita with us… Drove to Krifi Ammos, Mandraki, Agistri, etc, etc, etc… not a soul anywhere… the beaches are a mess, covered in flotsom washed up by the few winter’s storms there have been, but still were beautiful, I walked and walked and found tons of lovely shells and it was just such a gift to be there without anyone else around. We explored a lot – and it was always as though we had the island to ourselves….

The town’s Christmas lights (the whites on the great caique, the overheads and the jumping dolphins and the blue lights on the ‘Hronia Polla!’ signs and Blue trees!!) came on each evening at 5:30 at the waterfront… magical…. Shops were all open only until 13:30, and as Ian has already mentioned, several of the harborside ouzeries are open, both old and new side… several kafenions, like Gerani and Meltimi as well as several like Old Port (now owned by Capitan Giorgos’ children, Ioannis and Angela and with THE very best and biggest creamy HOT CHOCOLATE you could ever hope to find) are always open… Helinikon open on weekends, Chicken George is open every night, Bakalico and Medusa and Limanaki on Disco Row most nights, and the list goes on though you won’t find a tourist joint open amongst them….

I did steal a kitten. I must confess. Each day as we walked to and from town, we passed Medusa restaurant – even this time of year that road is deadly with very fast traffic – and there, always calling to us from under a flower box was the TEENIEST, tiniest kitten… how she survived there with cars whizzing by just inches away we’ll never know. She must have only been 5 or 6 weeks old and had ½ a tail and what was left of it was all bent and crooked. Of course, I would feed her, and even took her into Medusa with us one night when we had pizza there with Mike. She just quietly snuggled up next to me and fell asleep, purring so loudly we could hear her over the music.
Well… as the days went by, and this dear thing kept on yelling at me for food, I started to stress from worry over her… it got so bad that I had to refuse to walk home that way, for I’d grown far too attached and wouldn’t have been able to bear it had we found the wee thing mushed on the road by a car. On our last night, we were walking that way into town for dinner with our friend Ioannis and there she was, still... yelling… running to us with the cars flying by just millimeters from her teeny body…. I cried – fed her and moved on. But all I could think abut on our way to town was how to find her someone who would love her and give her safe harbor… I remembered a woman that Yvonne had told me about, who lives in Plakes and rescues cats and so I sat down under a street lamp to write her a rather desperate note, with tears in my eyes, describing the babe and where she could be found and PLEASE please please please go and rescue here but as we walked into Chicken George to eat, who did I see sitting there??
Thannasis, the guy who rescues dogs, and now, cats… Serendipity? I told him about the kitty - I begged him to take her, told him she had such a HUGE personality and had survived thus far and deserved more and he said she would not survive the coming cold storms if she was left out and that I should go and get her.
So off I went, 10 minutes back to where we’d left her, praying she’d still be there… and there she was, yelling at me. I scooped her into the warmth of my coat where she clung to me and with her tiny heads poking out, purred and kitty-talked the whole way back. Thannasis took her gently from me and looked me right in the eye and said that she was so small he would take her into his home (Instead of to the Monastery) and she would survive and FINALLY, I felt that after 20 years of sad stories and tragedies and loving but having to leave behind, I had been able to DO something that really ensured a fighting chance for one of the island’s unwanteds. So, for stealing her, I do not feel badly. She deserved better than scrounging for a living along that far too busy road.

So… some days before our departure we heard of the great Greek strike that was looming, … Mike looked into it for us and said YES, everything will STOP! Get out while you can! Tora! No ferries, no dolphin, certainly no Olympic flight on that day… so, we had to leave Paradise a day early ☹ and took the Flying Cat to Volos where we met the very efficient bus for a 4 and ½ (not bad at all..) hour drive into Athens… took the metro to the Sofitel (what a rip that place is) where we went only because we thought there would be no way to get to the airport the next day for our Easy Jet flight out. Well, what we found when we go there and went to the airport to check the status of everything was that NO flights – at ALL, not one – would be leaving any airport in Greece the next day!
The one plus here was that we have pictures of an essentially EMPTY ATH airport!
We panicked when EJ told us they couldn’t get us on a flight from Athens for 3 days, which would have been too late for us to make our connecting flight home! We eventually and very happily got rescheduled on an Olympic flight to London just a day late… and found a hotel that 2nd night, in Artemis, 10 minutes from the airport, cute as a button and very clean, with an airport shuttle… but, I will always go out of my way to MISS Artemis!! It was loud and unfriendly and there was garbage everywhere and I just hated it… if that was my first vision of Greece I would never return….
All in all the strike (which I will NEVER fault the Greeks for, as I absolutely honor that they actually get off of their arses, unlike most of the rest of us, to speak up and act out when they want a change) not only cut our time on our beloved isle, it cut into our time visiting Yvonne in London, but we most certainly made the most of the short time we had!

A Lebanese feast fit for royalty, a meal we will never forget, and then HOURS and HOURS of walking through magical, lit-up-for-the-holidays London… we walked everywhere, saw almost everything there is to see in the nighttime cold, no matter, we all loved it, breath billowing, feet getting blisters, but we just couldn’t stop. It was breathtaking, magic… and FUN! What a wonder. Alas, we sadly had to say goodbye to Yvonne and hop our flight home the next morning…
And here we are, picking up where we left off.

And – planning our trip to Skiathos in May-June and possibly next Christmas and New Year.
Wintertime Skiathos grabbed us, held us close, enchanted us and there is something about it that we loved even better than the other times of year we travel there. But the ability to enjoy ALL of the elements at once, the sun and balmy air, the warm waters and shining sands really brings the peace and magic to us in the springtime…
I’m thinking that we just need to find a way to live there!
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Alikitrypiti · Guest

Hi Elle

I really enjoyed reading your winter experience.
Like you I really enjoy visiting Greece out of season mainly because my Greek friends have got time to spend with you having a leisurely meal or a tsipouro or 2!!
I am visiting Greece for the carnival weekend starting the 7th March and I can't wait, once Greece gets a hold of you its in your blood for life.

suejet · Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject:

Elle, Hi, what a gorgeous write up.

I kept thinking that I was about to read the poor kitty hadn't survived, thank goodness there was a happy ending!

It's time you moved there!!!!
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you heard it here first - BOJAN!

Val & Kev · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 137

Lovely post Elle. We go on the 26th and can't wait, like you we love having all that space to ourselves and being with the locals in such a relaxed mode. Mike is indeed a gentleman and as you say the font of all knowledge!

bee · Joined: 25 Sep 2007 Posts: 82 Location: Leicestershire

Elle - that was pure magic. After all those posts about how bad it might be to live on the island and have to cope with winters - you've reassured me that we are doing the right thing! Pure bliss - thanks.
Bee.

Wisabeth · Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 73 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Loved the report, thanks for taking the time to write it.
Glad to hear Mike and his family are fine, we were at the Oasis May/June for our Wedding and had a fantastic time. Mike was the perfect host in every way.

Julie · Joined: 31 Dec 2005 Posts: 39 Location: Stoke on Trent UK

Fabulous thank you

"you cant save every animal in the world
but for the one you do save,it IS the world

Foxy · Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject:

Good news about the kitten.

How do you fancy rehoming an 8 year old psychopathic silver tabby?

She's getting on my bloody nerves, asking for food all the time. A few weeks in Skiathos would do her good.........let her know what 'hungry' really means. Mad

Think Roger's had enough of her as well. If I ignore her, she goes & harasses him by meowing right in his face Laughing

Darrell · Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:18 pm Post subject:

Our 2 cats (Kevin and Henry) are off to the cat sanctuary at the weekend.I shouldn't really say this but I will miss them (a little).I know Sophia will.
After reading Elles post we have decided to take in a little kitten if we see one that looks like it needs a good home.I think it will be good for Sophia to learn and have a little bit of responsibility re feeding etc etc.
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suejet · Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:45 am Post subject:

Ian · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:58 pm Post subject:

Elle

You have captured Skiathos in winter with a wonderful report, Stamatis and Theo mentioned too. Hope we are there when you play your next set at the HELLENKION.
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