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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 7:27:20 GMT
Still day 2
The name of the apartments is the Melrose set in beautifully manicured gardens with mature trees. I have a corner room with two balconies, one facing the hills and the other facing the port town - no sea view. However,the best equipped greek establishment I have stayed in. Kitchen has fridge, microwave, kettle, coffee maker, toasted sandwich maker,usual crockery & cutlery for three. Bathroom - soap & toilet rolls and there is even a hairdryer & iron.
The owners are Georgiou? (pronounced Yorgosh) & Maria. Very friendly & helpful although he doesn't speak much English.
Settled into the apartment and unpacked my case, spent some time on the balcony before getting ready for dinner. Showering was a challenge as the stall is small and although the showerhead can be attached to the wall it is set too low for me (being tall) so it was either a case of washing hair in a crouched position or holding the showerhead in the usual way. Opted for the latter!
Finally,ready but by this time it was late in the evening so left th apartment to search out a taverna. Having turned onto the road, I realised May first mistake was leaving my torch behind as street lighting was poor/nonexistent leading down to the main road & my second mistake was turning left at the junction! It was only after walking about 400 yards that I realised the road was inclining so retraced my steps & continued downhill.
It wasn't long before I came upon the fire station and hospital on the left and a chemist on the right and although no signposting, decided to take the second left which appeared to be in the general direction of the port. By this time I had not eaten for 12 hours & was close to losing my appetite so made a mental note that I would stop at the first eatery I came to. Total dismay, a take-out pizza parlour! No way was my first meal on Skopelos going to be a takeaway!
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Post by kelso on May 18, 2015 7:52:12 GMT
Amy, for your next trip, Google "suction shower head holder" for a great little device that will overcome your shower frustration. Mine only cost about £2 and I never go anywhere without it now. Bob
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 8:02:59 GMT
Must have been a cosmic joke as there was a restaurant at the side of the takeaway so I took a seat at one of the empty tables (4 were already occupied). was handed the menu & wine list by a very serious looking young waiter (who as it turned out was helpful, informative & attentive) & ordered the Zoupa for my starter & the Moussaka for my main, with a glass of red and a litre of water. The starter arrived, 4 thin slices of lightly toasted bread soaked in olive oil, with garlic & herbs accompanied by a small bowl of thick, cream cheese sprinkled with more herbs & ground chilli powder. (Oh,heaven). It was delicious. The waiter explained that they only use the freshest of olive oil made in the ancient factory next door (& sure enough, their was an old stone building to my left) and fresh herbs. The Moussaka was one of the best I have tasted & present with lettuce in a delicious dressing with a tiny, quartered tomato. Cost was 16.20 with a 2 euro tip. Went to bed a happy bunny!
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 8:05:42 GMT
Thanks Bob great tip,will get myself one for future travels. Actually brought a travel kettle with me but so far have had no reason to use it!
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Post by dennisn on May 18, 2015 10:10:14 GMT
Gee, thanks, Amy. I've struggled to catch up this morning, sitting in a draughty doorway in a service station on the M6 at Birmingham, it's raining and the only table I could get to is about 4 feet from the door, with all the coaches disgorging loads of people struggling with walking sticks to get through the door, so it's open more than it's closed. Awful cold gusts.
Your posts are a gleam of gold and I just had a quick look at the webcam overlooking Skopelos harbour to get my jealous streak really wound up!
I can but join everybody else in hoping you can continue reporting - be assured there are lots of us gasping for the next edition. I take some consolation from knowing we have less than five weeks to our arrival there.
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 13:17:18 GMT
Hi Dennis sorry you are experiencing the cold & rain at the moment but you have probably been in your nice, warm van for at least an hour so I hope you are feeling better. I feel for you all that are on countdown to your holidays in Skiathos having to deal with our wonderful British weather whilst I am here basking in the sunshine, completely chilling & the only question I have to ask myself is "what shall I do today?"
Not gloating by any means as I know that in a few weeks time, when I am back enjoying the Manchester summer, like you I will be voraciously reading eveybodies feedback wishing I could be there reliving my trip.
Ready for day 3?
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 13:53:55 GMT
Day 3 - 17 May
When I arrived yesterday Maria explained that breakfast was served in my room at time specified by me - opted for 9.00 am and asked if there was anything I didn't eat. Being type 2 diabetic I explained that I try to avoid sweet items but did like fresh fruit & yoghurt.
Today my breakfast arrived just after 9.00 am and I was rendered speechless! When I was a child I could eat for England and my mother used to swear that I must have hollow legs as she couldn't see where the food was going! (Must be why I grew so tall! :-) Not by the food but the sheer quantity of it. No longer having hollow legs, I could see this sitting around my waistline for months to come! There were two dinner plates, one was heaped with thick, plain Greek yogurt with a full banana cut in two, a kiwi fruit artfully sliced into fingers covering half the yoghurt & on the other side was a grouping of quartered strawberries. The other plate boasted a Moussaka sized portion of cheese pie (no pastry) with a full rim of halved cherry tomatoes sprinkled with herbs. There was also a glass of fruit juice, mug of hot war and a basket containing 2 tea bags, a slice of toast, a small bread bun, 2 pats of butter, 2 of jam & two little containers of milk! Oh yes, and sugar for the tea.
Now the sensible thing to do was to eat what I could of the fruit & yoghurt & put the pie in the fridge for later. Beggar being sensible, I know what the former tastes like & this was a Skopelos cheese pie, so I tucked in not without a little gusto. If you have eaten a cheese quiche I can only say this is 10 times better, holding its consistency right to the last mouthful. The cherry tomatoes were firm & sweet. Wonderful!
Put the yoghurt in the fridge, eat it for lunch, got myself ready & left apartment to explore the town.
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 15:05:09 GMT
I took the route travelled last night passing the Zoupa restaurant and continued down until I came out at the port. I was amazed to see the 2 musicians from yesterday (not entertaining tourists) as I thought they might live on Skiathos, so put their appearance down to a travelling duo, in all senses of the word. Must be more popular then I gave them credit for! :-)
I decided I would approach my sight seeing of the town & harbour in a methodical way so made my way to the far end of the harbour (where the ferries enter) and had a peek over the harbour wall. I looked down on a small pebble beach with interesting pieces of driftwood in different shapes and sizes and not so interesting rubbish consisting of plastic bags and bottles both floating near the shore and also on the beach - there was even a discarded shoe! The view looking up was so much better.
Close by was a set of steps leading up to a tiny white church so half way up I took my first photos of Skopelos, a series of the view around the harbour then continued to the top to take a picture of the church. It really was tiny completely white with a domed roof and cross. I carried on up more steps and inclines until my legs refused to take any more abuse and stopped for a short while to get my breath back. At this point I decided I would climb no further and walk the lanes and alleyways on that level. Some of them took me slightly upwards and some slightly downwards.
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 15:36:02 GMT
The only living creatures I came across were the feral cats. I passed houses whose wood work was brightly painted, houses that had a faded air about them with peeling paintwork and the odd derelict building, along with one of two beautiful stone buildings. Some houses sported Brown wooden shutters & doors, most were painted blue and a saw one with pale grey paint and even one with deep pink painted shutters & door, the latter up for sale. All the while I was hoping to come across one of those little gems, a hidden taverna tucked away down an alley but as I carried on walking all I found was houses. I had just about determined that Skopelos was all seafront tavernas what I turned a corner and there was Anna's taverna. Great , I thought I will call in for a coffee & check it out for dinner. Alas saw a sign that said it didn't own till 7.00pm! Off I set again. I hadn't gone very far before I came across another alley and quite close to the entrance was another called the Hidden Door it again that didn't open until 7.30 pm so decided not to check out the taverna at the top of the alley as I did not want the disappointment!
All I could do was continue my walk and hope from the best! Then up a lane I noticed a few shops and as I was checking them out came across a little cocktail bar called the Screwdriver. Decided to sit and have a coffee, which came with a small bottle of water. Spent a pleasant 30 minutes enjoying my coffee, people watching & choking on scooter fumes before paying 3 euros & a 50 cent tip.
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 15:46:33 GMT
I decided it was time to read back t the apartment and I went gone far before I found what I was looking for! There were two buildings in this alley, a bar with dark blue shutters and matching metal tables & chairs aptly named the Blue Bar, and just passed it a tiny taverna with only five tables outside, it's kitchen chairs painted more of a turquoise then overrated with white painted giving that shabby chic appearance. This was called the Gorgones. Unfortunately I could not go further down tea steps as a chap painting the wall beyond the taverna had laid a row of potted plants to stop people passing, so I had to continue on my chosen route and hope that I could find the taverna tonight for dinner.
I soon came upon a road I recognised and made my way back to the apartment to get ready for dinner.
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 15:49:38 GMT
Predictive text is now a problem so hope you can understand my last post!:-) read should be head, t should be to & went should be hadn't!
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Post by Woody (Admin) on May 18, 2015 16:50:13 GMT
Probably the best reporting of how you are enjoying and getting on, on your holiday on this forum. Sorry Dennis.
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 17:42:42 GMT
Sorry folks but I have just lost my last three posts so will have to resume tomorrow. Don't have the heart to retype a 4th time & the predictive text is changing most of everything I type.
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Post by dennisn on May 18, 2015 19:35:44 GMT
No problem Woody, aren't these absolutely great. It sounds like a wonderful adventure/expedition/experience.
I'm afraid my legs and feet surrendered after only a few paces uphill in Skopelos. I do so envy you.
And just to be clear, I'm enjoying your writing immensely. As I have predictive text on my iPhone, I've had no difficulty undestanding yours.
Please don't stop.
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Post by amy114 on May 18, 2015 21:21:57 GMT
Thanks Woody & Dennis. The frustration part of posting is that I am used to a normal keyboard and typing 60-80 words per minute. If I try using the keyboard that automatically pops up on my 10" tablet I end up with gibberish so reduced to using my pointer and tapping out 30 letters a minute. I sometimes wonder if what is happening is that I am getting timed out due to the length of time it is taking to write a post!
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