Post by alfatime on Jan 20, 2016 12:48:01 GMT
Day1
Thought about sleeping the night before and packed myself off to bed at 9:00 pm double then triple checking I had my passport, tickets, euros, suncream, mirrored shades for banana beach etc. I managed to get off to sleep at midnight as the excitement of going back to the island had well and truly kicked in. Woke up at 2:30am with a jolt of Summertime by Will Smith as my alarm wake up call. Mrs Alfatime was gently persuaded to go and put the brews on. She does look after me. To say I love flying is a lie and I would give BA from the A-Team a run for his money for his dislike of it – “I aint getting on no plane sucka!” Unfortunately for me there is no special cheeseburger or knockout pill to use for the flight. I normally self-medicate at the bar with 2-3 beers that usually does the trick. For most “normal” people the airport is all part of the fun of the holiday – for me I am Mr Grumpy until we are at cruising altitude and then I am fine. If only I could be in charge and fly the plane all my worries would be over. Sadly not it is Captain smooth from Milton Keynes and his equally experienced and suave co-pilot Keith who are in charge today. My life once again is in the hands of Thomas Cook. Me and Mrs Alfatime sat in our seats on the plane hemmed in like sardines. I am sure Thomas Cook has designed their planes specifically for the sole use of umper lumpers. Luckily for us we had a spare seat in our row. Looking behind me I noticed a young lad looking quite uncomfortable on his mother’s lap so suggested we offer to swap seats to allow the youngster his own seat on the plane. A nice gesture from Mr Grumpy – I have my ulterior motives though as the thought of a crying, whinging little soldier for the next 3 hours 45 minutes was not high on my list of wants. As we vacated our seats and were thanked by the couple with the baby I turned and to my horror someone had jumped into the 3 available seats making themselves very comfortable indeed! I now know how that bear felt coming home to his house to find Goldilocks had snaffled all the porridge, sitting watching his telly drinking his beers and smoking his cigars. Not on my watch I thought – I politely pointed out she must have gotten confused and mistakenly vacated her seat and upgraded to ours when all seated passengers around us (roughly 30 who were praising our act of generosity) knew exactly what was going on and what she was upto. Muttering to herself she agreed to allow the couple and the baby to sit down. She slowly got up and off back into her seat without an apology looking rather sheepish. If you arrived in Skiathos on our flight and found an interloper in your room on arrival it was probably this lady after a free upgrade. Anyways enough of planegate – we arrived into Skiathos 10 minutes early and I had survived another landing on the island. We hopped off the plane and waited for our cases – my mood was sky high as the realisation of 2 weeks in paradise was now starting proper! Taxi to Megali Amos swiftly arranged outside the airport and arrived at my hotel to a welcome Alfa (by the bottle) and a dry white wine for Mrs Alfatime. We sat on the balcony above the pool overlooking the beach and out towards the shimmering bluey/green waters. We finished our drinks and were shown to our room by the very courteous hotel staff. A quick freshen up for me and a longer one for Mrs Alfatime – this is an inherent mismatch in our relationship whereby I can choose my outfit, get showered, shaved and looking beautiful in a matter of minutes the other half takes a longer more dedicated approach to getting ready. I have learnt over the years to agree she looks great in all outfits and am on hand to offer the latest fashion advice where needed - (basically saying yes to everything and agreeing with lots of Gok Wan esk enthusiasm). I stifle any signs of impatience quietly thinking our flight home leaves in the next 2 weeks and I might as well re-pack my case and order the taxi back to the airport by the time she manages to leave the hotel room. The life thief sorry lovely wife had finally indicated that she was ready and we could set off for a drink on Bourtzi. Not much beats sitting under the pine trees in one of their director chairs with a cold refreshing beverage. Drinks came with a selection of nuts which was nice and we sat back relaxing to the ambient tunes. I woke up about an hour later to Mrs Alfatime booting me under the table – I had somehow fallen asleep. Looking up from the table my beer was half drunk and Mrs Alfatime’s wine was finished. I wiped the sleep drool off my hand with a napkin and re-arranged my sunglasses as I was doing so I felt the table grooves imprinted upon my face. I apologised to my wife for falling asleep in public for the first time in my life. She laughed and joked she was going to leave me there and get some dinner without me. It was an early flight after all and agreed I was now ready for a feed before bedtime. We strolled back towards our hotel stopping at Amfiliki sharing a prawn saganaki and moussaka. We both finished our dinner and agreed we should get an early night – the tables were not as comfy as the ones on Bourtzi anyway.
Day 2
Woke up earlier than normal after a long sleep with the sun streaming through the gap in the curtains – managed to find a setting on the air con that was suitable for myself and Mrs Alfatime – she is always either too hot or too cold – never just right but after numerous button presses we found a happy medium. Why don’t they make air con remotes with less buttons? I suggest off, on, blow, less blow, up temperature and down temperature – a total of 5 buttons with 1x press for on and 1x press for off – No – our remote had about 50 buttons – why does the air con remote control manufacture person think I need so many options? Perhaps the remote was an all-purpose hotel remote? Could I press buttons and get food and drink delivered to my room on demand – erm no. The man in the hotel laughed me out of the lobby when I asked for an explanation as to what each button does on the remote. He even unveiled a hidden compartment with – you guessed it more buttons underneath – Secret Buttons! Perhaps used when Def Com 5 is declared or something. I have not the remotest idea where I am going with this so onto my day ahead. We hit breakfast in Taverna Thesalloniki and for a change I was hungry so I ordered poached eggs with beans and a coffee. Normally I don’t do breakfast as my appetite on holiday only normally kicks in around lunchtime. The parrot in this restaurant was talking in Greek saying hello every so often – someone must have upset this bird as he/she started swearing in Greek at the couple who next ventured past. There is a small children’s play area next to the parrot so be careful kids. The view from this place is right on the beach and was very relaxing indeed. A German couple were next to us partaking in beer o’clock very early. They explained that they had been up extra early to put their towels out this morning to bag the best spot on the beach so fair play to them for needing some much needed refreshment from their early start and who says you can’t stereotype people? After breakfast we decided we were going to enquire about water sports on Megali Amos. I wanted to try the banana or the rings but as Mrs Alfa was too scared to come out with me on the banana or the rings so we settled on a Kayak instead. We spent the next hour or so paddling along the waters in the bay not venturing too far out to sea in case of attacks by sharks or giant octopi – is this right ? or is it octopuses ? Neither is auto-correcting so I will go with giant octopi. Surprisingly we saw no hint of a shark but dolphins can be spotted in the waters around Skiathos if you are lucky. Really enjoyed the Kayaking and also spotted a man stood up on a board – like a stand up kayak which looked like great fun – I am not sure if you need to be finely balanced to drive one of these but next time I will give one of these a try. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach topping up the tan. I had booked Mrs Alfa into Agnadio for the evening so we headed up to the restaurant in a taxi at 7:15 as the sun was starting to dip in the sky. This was a beautiful setting and it is only open for dinner – it overlooks the airport and has lovely views. I had the lamb in lemon sauce and Mrs A had lamb chops. Both were delicious and we were very impressed with the hosts who made us feel very welcome. They ordered us a taxi after the complementary desert and we left feeling very full and satisfied.
Day 3
We ventured upto the monastery today – the main one up in the mountains – on the way up the views are very impressive and there is a natural water source on the road leading upto it. We re-filled our bottles of water here and Mrs A was pleasantly surprised at the water quality and it did indeed taste just like water – You will have no issues drinking any of the water from the public sources located around skiathos – on par with many other bottled waters available and free – which is a bonus. I never drink bottled water at home due to the fact that the water that comes out of the taps is equally as good as Evian anyway. For the purists out there try a taste test and see what you think – you could save loads on your annual bottled water budget. On the subject of bottled water – why do they put a sell by date on it? Surely it never goes off and has been round for millions of years. You never hear anyone take a sip and say “ohhh I think that’s on the turn” do you? We arrived at the monastery and found it to be a lovely peaceful place. The monastery doubles up as a prison for naughty cats and birds. They have to keep the birds in cages or solitary confinement due to their violent reputations. They keep intimidating the cats demanding their milk and biscuits. Don’t however feel sorry for these cats as they are openly flaunting the monastery rules making moonshine blatantly leaving their ill-gotten wares on show – fermenting their alcohol in the afternoon sunshine. Mr Big – the head monk at the monastery or the Greek Friar Tuck as he is known is very corrupt as he turns a blind eye to the shenanigans of the cats and the birds and openly sells their moonshine to tourists amongst the more legitimate items such as olives, olive oil, jams and other preserves alongside trinkets and books etc. We headed down to Panorama Pizza after visiting the monastery for some much needed refreshment and some lunch. It was fairly quiet as we were there after 2:00 in the afternoon and ordered 2x Amstel beers, a caprese salad and with the ongoing theme of the monastery we ordered a peasant’s pizza. There was nothing peasant about the pizza it was fit for a king and went down quite well considering the afternoon heat. We watched a few planes come in from our vantage point admiring the beautiful view till late afternoon. We paid our dues and headed back into town for a dip in the hotel pool. In the evening we headed to Taverna Sellini only to discover the owners had changed and it did not feel right eating in there as all the staff from previous had all gone including the waiters and chefs. We decided instead to eat at To Palouki the steak house further down into town. The name translates to mean “The Pole” and reminds me of a Swiss chalet in constriction (upstairs anyway). More food consisted of a feta, pine nut and parmesan salad which was massive and for mains we had lamb chops and Mexican chicken. The chicken was sweet and sour (similar to uncle bens) so may not be to everyone’s taste but I enjoyed it and the lamb chops were of a decent size and tasted nice according to Mrs Alfa. We waddled out of the restaurant and had a night cap in main street before bedtime.
Day 4
Today was my day as I had managed to bribe Mrs A with lots of Euros to go shopping with in exchange for a day pass to watch the cricket. Who would have thought watching the cricket would be so expensive? I wandered into Portobello and ordered a coffee and handed over the bundle of Euros to Mrs A – she gleefully totted off with the majority of the contents of my wallet including my credit cards thinking she had left me circa 15 euros. Unlucky for her I had stashed another 50 euros in my back pocket knowing she would clear my wallet thinking “he can’t get plastered on 15 euros”! The coffee was quickly cancelled the moment she left the bar and I ordered a large glass of Hellas Pills – This came from the black pump on the bar and goes against my religion of drinking Alfa or Mythos however this truly was a great pint. The glass came out of the freezer with the usual frosty exterior garnish and I was in heaven after the first sip. Chatting to the bar staff I managed to get my point across that I needed my cricket fix and after some fettling the match was found on the telly via a short internet search - Pints 2 and 3 came and went as did a few of the Australian batsmen. I ordered some food to tide me over as there was no sign of Mrs A retuning anytime soon. I had the mixture of dips with warm pitta bread. At pint 2 I had been joined by some fellow cricket enthused Brits and we managed to out vote the South African at the table with his wife who was insisting he wanted to watch the golf. By now there were 6 people watching the cricket and only 1 person wanting the golf so I think the South African’s wife was pleased she had some one on one time with her husband. Clearly displeased about not being able to watch the golf his muttering and arguing with his wife quickly subsided as they settled and enjoyed their lunch together. I enjoyed the next 2-3 hours chatting to different people who came into the bar looking for an update on the action and was onto pint 6 or 7 when Mrs A wandered into the bar with her bags of shopping. Thanks to my fellow cricketing fan who found it highly amusing to instantly correct me when my wife enquired how many pints I had had so far – my answer of 4 was quickly upgraded to about 8 or 9. Fortunately Mrs A was in good spirits and as I was able to walk in a straight line and remember who she was so we went back to the hotel to drop the shopping off. I was by now starving so a quick shower and change of togs meant we were back out and hunting somewhere to have an early evening meal. I prayed we could easily find somewhere to eat quickly as sometimes we can be walking and checking out menus for ages. A quick decision was indeed made and we ate at the place next to En Plo – it had red and white chequered table cloths right on the water’s edge at the other end of the harbour towards the airport. I enjoyed my beef stifado and Mrs A had a spicy prawn and spaghetti dish – both were lovely with Mrs A enjoying a glass of white wine and myself a large bottle of water as the Hellas Pills had already worked its magic. England ended up in a great position and went onto win the test the next day so I went to sleep a happy man.
Day 5
From town look up into the lush green mountains and above Platanos the taverna there are some communication towers/masts assuming they are for mobile phones we decided to go and investigate what is up there. We got there and found a dead end with 2x very large comms towers and some electrical substations. Unless you are interested in the distribution power network, substations or comms towers then probably not worth the trip up here. We decided to turn around and head back past platenos taverna – we eventually got to a hotel called Kivo – we popped in for a drink and were wowed by the pool and the view from this hotel. Reviews suggest this hotel is run by an English couple called Basil and Cybil formerly of Torquay. Whatever the reviews the pool was lovely and matched by the view this place seems to have potential in my opinion. Refreshed from our stop off we carried on into the mountains turning right just past Hotel Paradise and the dirt tracks here are great for off-roading on the quad bike. I spotted a gentleman in the distance herding his goats and slowed down to a very respectable speed. As we drove past he gestured at us with his stick and in his fluent Greek he managed to convey we were headed into another dead end and to head further up into the mountains. He looks very content in his work herding his goats and for a brief moment I wanted to swap my holiday for his life. I would be happy being a Greek Goat herder and as my wife occasionally refers to me as an old Goat then I would at least be in good company. We carried on up and round a few hairpin bends and reached what looked like a shack on wooden stilts at the north of the island overlooking the rocks. I guess we were somewhere towards the Kastro side of the island with not a single person in sight. The shack looked like something out of the Hills Have Eyes and Mrs A was a little uneasy as I stepped off the quad to investigate. I half expected Cletus the banished Greek Hillbilly to emerge from behind a rock with a face that suggested I looked like Tourist Souvlaki written all over it. I climbed the wooden steps upto the shack and it had a chair, wooden bench/desk and windows out to sea. I am guessing this is some sort of weather station but again I am no expert. With no sign of Cletus we left our names drawn into the dirt a little further down on the track to the shack and a heart in stones. Will they still be there next time we visit we thought? More quading on the way back from the shack we found a right dump of a place overlooking the dog shelter – again don’t bother coming here unless you are really into recycling. The dump was our last port of call for the day as we headed back down the mountains the dogs barked hello on the way past back to our hotel. We ate at Megali Gilos later in the mountains above the airport in the early evening however I can’t remember what we had – but I do remember there were some traditional Greek dishes on the menu that were not readily available in town so worth a looksee.
Day 6
I had not been to Lalaria Beach so today was the day for a round the island boat trip. It was an extremely hot day and I was enjoying the breeze in my face and a bottle of cold water when we arrived at Lalaria the pebble beach with the arch rock. I had a dip in the sea – swam through the arch and then rocked up to the pebble beach for a sunbathe and to dry off – The pebbles on the beach make it uncomfortable sun bathing and for some reason we had chosen to sunbathe in the seagulls favourite pooping spot. I was sure they were using me for target practice and was happy to get back on the boat for the next stop Kastro. The bird dirt that landed on my shoulder merged nicely with the streaks of suncream I had put on earlier so a quick dip in the sea was needed before heading to Kastro. Mrs A was made up for 2 reasons – the first being that it was not her that had just been pooped on and the 2nd as she said it was supposed to be lucky. Lucky for who I thought? Her? me or the seagull ? Kastro came and as we arrived there was another boat already there as we walked the plank onto the beach. The guy said something as I left the boat but as Mrs A was still calling me for getting pooped on so we missed what he said. We asked a couple who got off the boat with us how long we had on Kastro and they said “ages”. Great we can walk upto the top to the greek flag and cannon and then still have time for a snack in the shack on the beach. The climb is pretty intense from the beach to the top of Kastro and back again – we made it in about an hour – both boats still in situ so we ordered a Greek salad from the shack to share. Just as we were tucking into the salad and my first can of beer of the day Mrs A noticed one of the boats had reversed off the beach. We were too engrossed in conversation with another couple off the boat – (not our boat as it transpires) Mrs A’s exact question to me was which boat were we on the white one still moored on the beach or the white one leaving at speed? Looking up our white boat was indeed leaving the beach at speed! Do I leave the salad and run out trying my best Tom Hanks impression – WIIIILLLLLSSSSSOOOOONNNN ! or do I act
and sneak onto the “new boat”. My decision was already made as the boat that was there when we arrived tooted its horn to indicate to all passengers that it was time to leave. We still had a half-eaten Greek salad and 2x half-drunk beers – I looked across and saw a sign that pointed up saying “Skiathos Town” well if it is signposted then it is walkable. Mrs A quickly pointed out that back in rainy, miserable England - London is also signposted on the M6 and reads “200 miles”. Taking on board this snippet of invaluable advice we agreed to hike back into town from Kastro. At this point in the proceedings I feel it necessary to add a disclaimer - Under no circumstances should anyone attempt a hike of this magnitude in midday temperatures without sufficient hydration, nourishment and clothing. Also never listen to the man who owns the taverna on Kastro – his words “is easy is no problem for me” when we asked if he would walk from here to town - clearly a relative of Mr Grills or Mr Mears. We bought 2x bottles of water from Bear Grills and started our hike – we made it to the first stop – the 1st mini taverna by the carpark at the top of the decent into Kastro – We were sweating more than the Greek finance minister on austerity deadline decision day by the time we got to there. Breathing heavily we decided the 500 mls bottles of water would not cut the mustard for the rest of our hike. We purchased 2x 2 litre bottles at this stop and I had a coke for good measure – the sugar would help me. The next hill is the biggest one – one where you feel you are holding on and climbing rather than walking up the stone slope. Who ever made the road did indeed do a fine job and they can come and relay and point my patio whenever they fancy a trip to the UK. I must also point out that Mrs A is terrified of snakes, wasps, mosquitos, bugs – generally anything with wings and a little face that is partial to biting or stinging – Snakes as far as I am aware have none of the aforementioned traits but we can lump them into the list of potential dangerous attackers that could be lurking on this hike. Several false alarms on this hill came and went –“ yes dear it is another stick that looks like a snake” – snakes on Skiathos are usually black, slithery and bitey not brown motionless and dusty. If you are scared of snakes too then you will need to carry the anti-venom with you at all times this involves a high pitched shreek and a quick burst of speed to run away from the offending object. As you can see this hike was making one of us delirious and we had not made it to the top of the hill thus far. Eventually we did reach the top only to turn another corner to realise we were still climbing. We came to a crossroads and tuned left to town and at this point we were ¾ through the water – By the time we had finished the water we had reached the next crossroads and we could finally see the sea on the other side of the island we were on the flat on the Platanos road and knew we still had a bit to go before our next stop – all our water supplies had now been exhausted and we were both getting hungry. I had decided to use some of the water and pour it onto a towel for use as a makeshift bandanna (as seen on Born Survivor) where Bear wee’s on his t-shirt and wraps it round his head to keep him before squeezing camel dung to release any water in the desert. I was not lowering myself to his standards walking past a small gift left on the road by a donkey so it was just the water on the towel for me. It did the trick and did indeed me down. Mrs A was battling bravely through the bugs – they were not interested in me so I am assuming it’s the perfume they are attracted to. We got to Platanos and freshened up a little in the shade before entering. The staff instinctively knew we had not come in a jeep or the quad bike and were impressed that we had made it in one piece. We were ushered onto the balcony away from other guests for an airing. We had an hour on the balcony and enjoyed another salad together and a beer which I think I had earned. We stopped again into Panorama for another beer and then set off down the long hill into town – I found it more difficult to walk downhill than up for some reason and we eventually reached our hotel – quick shower off by the pool and then straight in. In total our short hike lasted 4 and a half hours including pit stops and we were both absolutely shattered.
Day 7
Got up had a day sunbathing – felt sick went to bed for an early night as I normally do at least once per holiday.
Day 8
Overnight was an almighty thunderstorm and heavy rain – looking from my balcony out to sea the air had that freshness and crispness to it following a storm as if all the surrounding fauna had released a plethora of endorphins and scent to show their appreciation of a fresh rainwater drink and a bask in the morning sun – I would be very interested in anyone who could supply me with this fragrance – I would call it “Stormy Morning Glory”. Other fragrances of interest would be “wet dog” “new car” “freshly cut grass” “Saturday Fry Up” “Creosoted Fence” “Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi” or “Beef In Ale” “Baked Bread” these would be man fragrances not the flowery, citrusy, sweet man scents that we are supposed to smell of. Today we decided to head over to Tsougria on the boat for some beach bathing and a dip in the sea. We took the water taxi across from the harbour next to Bourtzi which was only a couple of euros each return – can’t remember the exact price but it was not expensive. We did enquire about a speedboat transfer from Kanapista previously but we decided against it as it was only the two of us. I would love to hire a speedboat to travel around the island but I have zero boating experience and would end up lost out at sea or run aground after hitting rocks somewhere – perhaps it’s a confidence thing but I don’t want to return a boat that I have hired damaged – am sure if someone took time to show me the basics I would be fine out there. Anyways we arrived at Tsougria about 9:45 and this time we listened carefully to when we could get back to Skiathos port – Following our walk from Kastro we did not fancy swimming back to Skiathos Harbour – I was confident I could manage it as I think I am a decent swimmer but Mrs A is not so keen – we agreed we could get the boat back between 3:00 and 6:00 depending on how we felt. Tsougria is a small island with a large beach and to be fair I can’t go into more detail as we did not move further inland than the small tavern on the beach all day. This beach would not look out of place in the Caribbean – beautiful soft sand and a very relaxed vibe. The water is lovely and cools you down nicely in between beers, magazines, songs on the ipod etc. We chilled and sunbathed until lunchtime. I think I managed a snooze for about half an hour – what was I saying previously about not falling asleep in public ? This was the 2nd occasion this holiday and perhaps was because I was so relaxed without a care in the world. Mrs A had now finished reading her magazines that she had brought and it was time for lunch. We sat in the taverna at a freshly laid table and the waiter instantly arrived to take our drinks order. The guy at the back of us looked perplexed and was starting to wave his arms doing his best windmill impression. I said to the waiter that he was probably before us and that he could serve the guy behind but the waiter declined and took our order which I thought was quite funny. We ordered French fries and a greek salad to share along with a couple of cans of Mythos. The chips were routinely drowned with salt and vinegar and were polished off within seconds. I half expected the waiter to deliver another set of chips as they were gone by the time he served us the salad. Both were lovely and we spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach or in the sea. We arrived back safely onto the harbour and back to the hotel. That evening we went for tea at Lo&La a nice Italian up the steps off the harbour – It was busy to the point people sit and wait for a table so its reputation must precede it. We had breads and olive oil to start and for main we had another spicy prawns with spaghetti – delicious and washed down with a carafe of white wine. We had an evening stroll to burn off some of the daily intake of calories finishing at Bourtzi to sit under the stars and one last glass of wine before bedtime.
Day 9 (of 14)
Well I have arrived at day 9 of my holiday experience and am thinking this is turning into more of a book than a holiday review – so I am going to leave things were they are for now and call this Part 1 of 2 and come back to it another time. There is still plenty to share from the holiday so thank you for taking time to read this so far – In the words of Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger – “I’ll be back”
Thought about sleeping the night before and packed myself off to bed at 9:00 pm double then triple checking I had my passport, tickets, euros, suncream, mirrored shades for banana beach etc. I managed to get off to sleep at midnight as the excitement of going back to the island had well and truly kicked in. Woke up at 2:30am with a jolt of Summertime by Will Smith as my alarm wake up call. Mrs Alfatime was gently persuaded to go and put the brews on. She does look after me. To say I love flying is a lie and I would give BA from the A-Team a run for his money for his dislike of it – “I aint getting on no plane sucka!” Unfortunately for me there is no special cheeseburger or knockout pill to use for the flight. I normally self-medicate at the bar with 2-3 beers that usually does the trick. For most “normal” people the airport is all part of the fun of the holiday – for me I am Mr Grumpy until we are at cruising altitude and then I am fine. If only I could be in charge and fly the plane all my worries would be over. Sadly not it is Captain smooth from Milton Keynes and his equally experienced and suave co-pilot Keith who are in charge today. My life once again is in the hands of Thomas Cook. Me and Mrs Alfatime sat in our seats on the plane hemmed in like sardines. I am sure Thomas Cook has designed their planes specifically for the sole use of umper lumpers. Luckily for us we had a spare seat in our row. Looking behind me I noticed a young lad looking quite uncomfortable on his mother’s lap so suggested we offer to swap seats to allow the youngster his own seat on the plane. A nice gesture from Mr Grumpy – I have my ulterior motives though as the thought of a crying, whinging little soldier for the next 3 hours 45 minutes was not high on my list of wants. As we vacated our seats and were thanked by the couple with the baby I turned and to my horror someone had jumped into the 3 available seats making themselves very comfortable indeed! I now know how that bear felt coming home to his house to find Goldilocks had snaffled all the porridge, sitting watching his telly drinking his beers and smoking his cigars. Not on my watch I thought – I politely pointed out she must have gotten confused and mistakenly vacated her seat and upgraded to ours when all seated passengers around us (roughly 30 who were praising our act of generosity) knew exactly what was going on and what she was upto. Muttering to herself she agreed to allow the couple and the baby to sit down. She slowly got up and off back into her seat without an apology looking rather sheepish. If you arrived in Skiathos on our flight and found an interloper in your room on arrival it was probably this lady after a free upgrade. Anyways enough of planegate – we arrived into Skiathos 10 minutes early and I had survived another landing on the island. We hopped off the plane and waited for our cases – my mood was sky high as the realisation of 2 weeks in paradise was now starting proper! Taxi to Megali Amos swiftly arranged outside the airport and arrived at my hotel to a welcome Alfa (by the bottle) and a dry white wine for Mrs Alfatime. We sat on the balcony above the pool overlooking the beach and out towards the shimmering bluey/green waters. We finished our drinks and were shown to our room by the very courteous hotel staff. A quick freshen up for me and a longer one for Mrs Alfatime – this is an inherent mismatch in our relationship whereby I can choose my outfit, get showered, shaved and looking beautiful in a matter of minutes the other half takes a longer more dedicated approach to getting ready. I have learnt over the years to agree she looks great in all outfits and am on hand to offer the latest fashion advice where needed - (basically saying yes to everything and agreeing with lots of Gok Wan esk enthusiasm). I stifle any signs of impatience quietly thinking our flight home leaves in the next 2 weeks and I might as well re-pack my case and order the taxi back to the airport by the time she manages to leave the hotel room. The life thief sorry lovely wife had finally indicated that she was ready and we could set off for a drink on Bourtzi. Not much beats sitting under the pine trees in one of their director chairs with a cold refreshing beverage. Drinks came with a selection of nuts which was nice and we sat back relaxing to the ambient tunes. I woke up about an hour later to Mrs Alfatime booting me under the table – I had somehow fallen asleep. Looking up from the table my beer was half drunk and Mrs Alfatime’s wine was finished. I wiped the sleep drool off my hand with a napkin and re-arranged my sunglasses as I was doing so I felt the table grooves imprinted upon my face. I apologised to my wife for falling asleep in public for the first time in my life. She laughed and joked she was going to leave me there and get some dinner without me. It was an early flight after all and agreed I was now ready for a feed before bedtime. We strolled back towards our hotel stopping at Amfiliki sharing a prawn saganaki and moussaka. We both finished our dinner and agreed we should get an early night – the tables were not as comfy as the ones on Bourtzi anyway.
Day 2
Woke up earlier than normal after a long sleep with the sun streaming through the gap in the curtains – managed to find a setting on the air con that was suitable for myself and Mrs Alfatime – she is always either too hot or too cold – never just right but after numerous button presses we found a happy medium. Why don’t they make air con remotes with less buttons? I suggest off, on, blow, less blow, up temperature and down temperature – a total of 5 buttons with 1x press for on and 1x press for off – No – our remote had about 50 buttons – why does the air con remote control manufacture person think I need so many options? Perhaps the remote was an all-purpose hotel remote? Could I press buttons and get food and drink delivered to my room on demand – erm no. The man in the hotel laughed me out of the lobby when I asked for an explanation as to what each button does on the remote. He even unveiled a hidden compartment with – you guessed it more buttons underneath – Secret Buttons! Perhaps used when Def Com 5 is declared or something. I have not the remotest idea where I am going with this so onto my day ahead. We hit breakfast in Taverna Thesalloniki and for a change I was hungry so I ordered poached eggs with beans and a coffee. Normally I don’t do breakfast as my appetite on holiday only normally kicks in around lunchtime. The parrot in this restaurant was talking in Greek saying hello every so often – someone must have upset this bird as he/she started swearing in Greek at the couple who next ventured past. There is a small children’s play area next to the parrot so be careful kids. The view from this place is right on the beach and was very relaxing indeed. A German couple were next to us partaking in beer o’clock very early. They explained that they had been up extra early to put their towels out this morning to bag the best spot on the beach so fair play to them for needing some much needed refreshment from their early start and who says you can’t stereotype people? After breakfast we decided we were going to enquire about water sports on Megali Amos. I wanted to try the banana or the rings but as Mrs Alfa was too scared to come out with me on the banana or the rings so we settled on a Kayak instead. We spent the next hour or so paddling along the waters in the bay not venturing too far out to sea in case of attacks by sharks or giant octopi – is this right ? or is it octopuses ? Neither is auto-correcting so I will go with giant octopi. Surprisingly we saw no hint of a shark but dolphins can be spotted in the waters around Skiathos if you are lucky. Really enjoyed the Kayaking and also spotted a man stood up on a board – like a stand up kayak which looked like great fun – I am not sure if you need to be finely balanced to drive one of these but next time I will give one of these a try. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach topping up the tan. I had booked Mrs Alfa into Agnadio for the evening so we headed up to the restaurant in a taxi at 7:15 as the sun was starting to dip in the sky. This was a beautiful setting and it is only open for dinner – it overlooks the airport and has lovely views. I had the lamb in lemon sauce and Mrs A had lamb chops. Both were delicious and we were very impressed with the hosts who made us feel very welcome. They ordered us a taxi after the complementary desert and we left feeling very full and satisfied.
Day 3
We ventured upto the monastery today – the main one up in the mountains – on the way up the views are very impressive and there is a natural water source on the road leading upto it. We re-filled our bottles of water here and Mrs A was pleasantly surprised at the water quality and it did indeed taste just like water – You will have no issues drinking any of the water from the public sources located around skiathos – on par with many other bottled waters available and free – which is a bonus. I never drink bottled water at home due to the fact that the water that comes out of the taps is equally as good as Evian anyway. For the purists out there try a taste test and see what you think – you could save loads on your annual bottled water budget. On the subject of bottled water – why do they put a sell by date on it? Surely it never goes off and has been round for millions of years. You never hear anyone take a sip and say “ohhh I think that’s on the turn” do you? We arrived at the monastery and found it to be a lovely peaceful place. The monastery doubles up as a prison for naughty cats and birds. They have to keep the birds in cages or solitary confinement due to their violent reputations. They keep intimidating the cats demanding their milk and biscuits. Don’t however feel sorry for these cats as they are openly flaunting the monastery rules making moonshine blatantly leaving their ill-gotten wares on show – fermenting their alcohol in the afternoon sunshine. Mr Big – the head monk at the monastery or the Greek Friar Tuck as he is known is very corrupt as he turns a blind eye to the shenanigans of the cats and the birds and openly sells their moonshine to tourists amongst the more legitimate items such as olives, olive oil, jams and other preserves alongside trinkets and books etc. We headed down to Panorama Pizza after visiting the monastery for some much needed refreshment and some lunch. It was fairly quiet as we were there after 2:00 in the afternoon and ordered 2x Amstel beers, a caprese salad and with the ongoing theme of the monastery we ordered a peasant’s pizza. There was nothing peasant about the pizza it was fit for a king and went down quite well considering the afternoon heat. We watched a few planes come in from our vantage point admiring the beautiful view till late afternoon. We paid our dues and headed back into town for a dip in the hotel pool. In the evening we headed to Taverna Sellini only to discover the owners had changed and it did not feel right eating in there as all the staff from previous had all gone including the waiters and chefs. We decided instead to eat at To Palouki the steak house further down into town. The name translates to mean “The Pole” and reminds me of a Swiss chalet in constriction (upstairs anyway). More food consisted of a feta, pine nut and parmesan salad which was massive and for mains we had lamb chops and Mexican chicken. The chicken was sweet and sour (similar to uncle bens) so may not be to everyone’s taste but I enjoyed it and the lamb chops were of a decent size and tasted nice according to Mrs Alfa. We waddled out of the restaurant and had a night cap in main street before bedtime.
Day 4
Today was my day as I had managed to bribe Mrs A with lots of Euros to go shopping with in exchange for a day pass to watch the cricket. Who would have thought watching the cricket would be so expensive? I wandered into Portobello and ordered a coffee and handed over the bundle of Euros to Mrs A – she gleefully totted off with the majority of the contents of my wallet including my credit cards thinking she had left me circa 15 euros. Unlucky for her I had stashed another 50 euros in my back pocket knowing she would clear my wallet thinking “he can’t get plastered on 15 euros”! The coffee was quickly cancelled the moment she left the bar and I ordered a large glass of Hellas Pills – This came from the black pump on the bar and goes against my religion of drinking Alfa or Mythos however this truly was a great pint. The glass came out of the freezer with the usual frosty exterior garnish and I was in heaven after the first sip. Chatting to the bar staff I managed to get my point across that I needed my cricket fix and after some fettling the match was found on the telly via a short internet search - Pints 2 and 3 came and went as did a few of the Australian batsmen. I ordered some food to tide me over as there was no sign of Mrs A retuning anytime soon. I had the mixture of dips with warm pitta bread. At pint 2 I had been joined by some fellow cricket enthused Brits and we managed to out vote the South African at the table with his wife who was insisting he wanted to watch the golf. By now there were 6 people watching the cricket and only 1 person wanting the golf so I think the South African’s wife was pleased she had some one on one time with her husband. Clearly displeased about not being able to watch the golf his muttering and arguing with his wife quickly subsided as they settled and enjoyed their lunch together. I enjoyed the next 2-3 hours chatting to different people who came into the bar looking for an update on the action and was onto pint 6 or 7 when Mrs A wandered into the bar with her bags of shopping. Thanks to my fellow cricketing fan who found it highly amusing to instantly correct me when my wife enquired how many pints I had had so far – my answer of 4 was quickly upgraded to about 8 or 9. Fortunately Mrs A was in good spirits and as I was able to walk in a straight line and remember who she was so we went back to the hotel to drop the shopping off. I was by now starving so a quick shower and change of togs meant we were back out and hunting somewhere to have an early evening meal. I prayed we could easily find somewhere to eat quickly as sometimes we can be walking and checking out menus for ages. A quick decision was indeed made and we ate at the place next to En Plo – it had red and white chequered table cloths right on the water’s edge at the other end of the harbour towards the airport. I enjoyed my beef stifado and Mrs A had a spicy prawn and spaghetti dish – both were lovely with Mrs A enjoying a glass of white wine and myself a large bottle of water as the Hellas Pills had already worked its magic. England ended up in a great position and went onto win the test the next day so I went to sleep a happy man.
Day 5
From town look up into the lush green mountains and above Platanos the taverna there are some communication towers/masts assuming they are for mobile phones we decided to go and investigate what is up there. We got there and found a dead end with 2x very large comms towers and some electrical substations. Unless you are interested in the distribution power network, substations or comms towers then probably not worth the trip up here. We decided to turn around and head back past platenos taverna – we eventually got to a hotel called Kivo – we popped in for a drink and were wowed by the pool and the view from this hotel. Reviews suggest this hotel is run by an English couple called Basil and Cybil formerly of Torquay. Whatever the reviews the pool was lovely and matched by the view this place seems to have potential in my opinion. Refreshed from our stop off we carried on into the mountains turning right just past Hotel Paradise and the dirt tracks here are great for off-roading on the quad bike. I spotted a gentleman in the distance herding his goats and slowed down to a very respectable speed. As we drove past he gestured at us with his stick and in his fluent Greek he managed to convey we were headed into another dead end and to head further up into the mountains. He looks very content in his work herding his goats and for a brief moment I wanted to swap my holiday for his life. I would be happy being a Greek Goat herder and as my wife occasionally refers to me as an old Goat then I would at least be in good company. We carried on up and round a few hairpin bends and reached what looked like a shack on wooden stilts at the north of the island overlooking the rocks. I guess we were somewhere towards the Kastro side of the island with not a single person in sight. The shack looked like something out of the Hills Have Eyes and Mrs A was a little uneasy as I stepped off the quad to investigate. I half expected Cletus the banished Greek Hillbilly to emerge from behind a rock with a face that suggested I looked like Tourist Souvlaki written all over it. I climbed the wooden steps upto the shack and it had a chair, wooden bench/desk and windows out to sea. I am guessing this is some sort of weather station but again I am no expert. With no sign of Cletus we left our names drawn into the dirt a little further down on the track to the shack and a heart in stones. Will they still be there next time we visit we thought? More quading on the way back from the shack we found a right dump of a place overlooking the dog shelter – again don’t bother coming here unless you are really into recycling. The dump was our last port of call for the day as we headed back down the mountains the dogs barked hello on the way past back to our hotel. We ate at Megali Gilos later in the mountains above the airport in the early evening however I can’t remember what we had – but I do remember there were some traditional Greek dishes on the menu that were not readily available in town so worth a looksee.
Day 6
I had not been to Lalaria Beach so today was the day for a round the island boat trip. It was an extremely hot day and I was enjoying the breeze in my face and a bottle of cold water when we arrived at Lalaria the pebble beach with the arch rock. I had a dip in the sea – swam through the arch and then rocked up to the pebble beach for a sunbathe and to dry off – The pebbles on the beach make it uncomfortable sun bathing and for some reason we had chosen to sunbathe in the seagulls favourite pooping spot. I was sure they were using me for target practice and was happy to get back on the boat for the next stop Kastro. The bird dirt that landed on my shoulder merged nicely with the streaks of suncream I had put on earlier so a quick dip in the sea was needed before heading to Kastro. Mrs A was made up for 2 reasons – the first being that it was not her that had just been pooped on and the 2nd as she said it was supposed to be lucky. Lucky for who I thought? Her? me or the seagull ? Kastro came and as we arrived there was another boat already there as we walked the plank onto the beach. The guy said something as I left the boat but as Mrs A was still calling me for getting pooped on so we missed what he said. We asked a couple who got off the boat with us how long we had on Kastro and they said “ages”. Great we can walk upto the top to the greek flag and cannon and then still have time for a snack in the shack on the beach. The climb is pretty intense from the beach to the top of Kastro and back again – we made it in about an hour – both boats still in situ so we ordered a Greek salad from the shack to share. Just as we were tucking into the salad and my first can of beer of the day Mrs A noticed one of the boats had reversed off the beach. We were too engrossed in conversation with another couple off the boat – (not our boat as it transpires) Mrs A’s exact question to me was which boat were we on the white one still moored on the beach or the white one leaving at speed? Looking up our white boat was indeed leaving the beach at speed! Do I leave the salad and run out trying my best Tom Hanks impression – WIIIILLLLLSSSSSOOOOONNNN ! or do I act
and sneak onto the “new boat”. My decision was already made as the boat that was there when we arrived tooted its horn to indicate to all passengers that it was time to leave. We still had a half-eaten Greek salad and 2x half-drunk beers – I looked across and saw a sign that pointed up saying “Skiathos Town” well if it is signposted then it is walkable. Mrs A quickly pointed out that back in rainy, miserable England - London is also signposted on the M6 and reads “200 miles”. Taking on board this snippet of invaluable advice we agreed to hike back into town from Kastro. At this point in the proceedings I feel it necessary to add a disclaimer - Under no circumstances should anyone attempt a hike of this magnitude in midday temperatures without sufficient hydration, nourishment and clothing. Also never listen to the man who owns the taverna on Kastro – his words “is easy is no problem for me” when we asked if he would walk from here to town - clearly a relative of Mr Grills or Mr Mears. We bought 2x bottles of water from Bear Grills and started our hike – we made it to the first stop – the 1st mini taverna by the carpark at the top of the decent into Kastro – We were sweating more than the Greek finance minister on austerity deadline decision day by the time we got to there. Breathing heavily we decided the 500 mls bottles of water would not cut the mustard for the rest of our hike. We purchased 2x 2 litre bottles at this stop and I had a coke for good measure – the sugar would help me. The next hill is the biggest one – one where you feel you are holding on and climbing rather than walking up the stone slope. Who ever made the road did indeed do a fine job and they can come and relay and point my patio whenever they fancy a trip to the UK. I must also point out that Mrs A is terrified of snakes, wasps, mosquitos, bugs – generally anything with wings and a little face that is partial to biting or stinging – Snakes as far as I am aware have none of the aforementioned traits but we can lump them into the list of potential dangerous attackers that could be lurking on this hike. Several false alarms on this hill came and went –“ yes dear it is another stick that looks like a snake” – snakes on Skiathos are usually black, slithery and bitey not brown motionless and dusty. If you are scared of snakes too then you will need to carry the anti-venom with you at all times this involves a high pitched shreek and a quick burst of speed to run away from the offending object. As you can see this hike was making one of us delirious and we had not made it to the top of the hill thus far. Eventually we did reach the top only to turn another corner to realise we were still climbing. We came to a crossroads and tuned left to town and at this point we were ¾ through the water – By the time we had finished the water we had reached the next crossroads and we could finally see the sea on the other side of the island we were on the flat on the Platanos road and knew we still had a bit to go before our next stop – all our water supplies had now been exhausted and we were both getting hungry. I had decided to use some of the water and pour it onto a towel for use as a makeshift bandanna (as seen on Born Survivor) where Bear wee’s on his t-shirt and wraps it round his head to keep him before squeezing camel dung to release any water in the desert. I was not lowering myself to his standards walking past a small gift left on the road by a donkey so it was just the water on the towel for me. It did the trick and did indeed me down. Mrs A was battling bravely through the bugs – they were not interested in me so I am assuming it’s the perfume they are attracted to. We got to Platanos and freshened up a little in the shade before entering. The staff instinctively knew we had not come in a jeep or the quad bike and were impressed that we had made it in one piece. We were ushered onto the balcony away from other guests for an airing. We had an hour on the balcony and enjoyed another salad together and a beer which I think I had earned. We stopped again into Panorama for another beer and then set off down the long hill into town – I found it more difficult to walk downhill than up for some reason and we eventually reached our hotel – quick shower off by the pool and then straight in. In total our short hike lasted 4 and a half hours including pit stops and we were both absolutely shattered.Day 7
Got up had a day sunbathing – felt sick went to bed for an early night as I normally do at least once per holiday.
Day 8
Overnight was an almighty thunderstorm and heavy rain – looking from my balcony out to sea the air had that freshness and crispness to it following a storm as if all the surrounding fauna had released a plethora of endorphins and scent to show their appreciation of a fresh rainwater drink and a bask in the morning sun – I would be very interested in anyone who could supply me with this fragrance – I would call it “Stormy Morning Glory”. Other fragrances of interest would be “wet dog” “new car” “freshly cut grass” “Saturday Fry Up” “Creosoted Fence” “Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi” or “Beef In Ale” “Baked Bread” these would be man fragrances not the flowery, citrusy, sweet man scents that we are supposed to smell of. Today we decided to head over to Tsougria on the boat for some beach bathing and a dip in the sea. We took the water taxi across from the harbour next to Bourtzi which was only a couple of euros each return – can’t remember the exact price but it was not expensive. We did enquire about a speedboat transfer from Kanapista previously but we decided against it as it was only the two of us. I would love to hire a speedboat to travel around the island but I have zero boating experience and would end up lost out at sea or run aground after hitting rocks somewhere – perhaps it’s a confidence thing but I don’t want to return a boat that I have hired damaged – am sure if someone took time to show me the basics I would be fine out there. Anyways we arrived at Tsougria about 9:45 and this time we listened carefully to when we could get back to Skiathos port – Following our walk from Kastro we did not fancy swimming back to Skiathos Harbour – I was confident I could manage it as I think I am a decent swimmer but Mrs A is not so keen – we agreed we could get the boat back between 3:00 and 6:00 depending on how we felt. Tsougria is a small island with a large beach and to be fair I can’t go into more detail as we did not move further inland than the small tavern on the beach all day. This beach would not look out of place in the Caribbean – beautiful soft sand and a very relaxed vibe. The water is lovely and cools you down nicely in between beers, magazines, songs on the ipod etc. We chilled and sunbathed until lunchtime. I think I managed a snooze for about half an hour – what was I saying previously about not falling asleep in public ? This was the 2nd occasion this holiday and perhaps was because I was so relaxed without a care in the world. Mrs A had now finished reading her magazines that she had brought and it was time for lunch. We sat in the taverna at a freshly laid table and the waiter instantly arrived to take our drinks order. The guy at the back of us looked perplexed and was starting to wave his arms doing his best windmill impression. I said to the waiter that he was probably before us and that he could serve the guy behind but the waiter declined and took our order which I thought was quite funny. We ordered French fries and a greek salad to share along with a couple of cans of Mythos. The chips were routinely drowned with salt and vinegar and were polished off within seconds. I half expected the waiter to deliver another set of chips as they were gone by the time he served us the salad. Both were lovely and we spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach or in the sea. We arrived back safely onto the harbour and back to the hotel. That evening we went for tea at Lo&La a nice Italian up the steps off the harbour – It was busy to the point people sit and wait for a table so its reputation must precede it. We had breads and olive oil to start and for main we had another spicy prawns with spaghetti – delicious and washed down with a carafe of white wine. We had an evening stroll to burn off some of the daily intake of calories finishing at Bourtzi to sit under the stars and one last glass of wine before bedtime.
Day 9 (of 14)
Well I have arrived at day 9 of my holiday experience and am thinking this is turning into more of a book than a holiday review – so I am going to leave things were they are for now and call this Part 1 of 2 and come back to it another time. There is still plenty to share from the holiday so thank you for taking time to read this so far – In the words of Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger – “I’ll be back”
