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Post by *Di* on Jul 4, 2017 13:38:26 GMT
Yorkshiremouth we are quite familiar with Kirkburton area, our daughter and family live in Clayton West but we have been all over the area watching her hubby and now grandson play cricket... He is from Shepley, grandson just about to move to Scisset Middle school and Grandaughter is at Shelley College.. Kevb they follow Huddersfield Town too and were lucky to go to Wembley for that exciting final! 😀
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Post by kevb on Jul 4, 2017 14:21:04 GMT
I was at the Wembley final with mum, my brother and brother's wife. It was for dad as much as anything as he passed away on the 2nd week of the season and had been following Town all his life. The spooky thing was that no one ended up taking up the seat next to mum despite our section being pretty full so it was like he was there with us. I've renewed my season ticket and so has mum so hopefully I will get up to see some Prem League football. By chance the first home game of next season is on the day after we fly back from Skiathos so we will be driving back up from my place in Nottm for that.
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Post by *Di* on Jul 4, 2017 17:03:50 GMT
They couldnt get season tkts sadly but will go to some games hopefully..
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Post by katet on Jul 10, 2017 11:57:14 GMT
Day 9: Saturday: Stayed local ~ a pool day until it clouded over, eating at Myrtia taverna in the evening. Day 10: a rainy morning, so we stayed in our studio and finished the bacon off. Late morning, we caught the bus into town and had a coffee at Portobello whilst trying to locate the Atlas hotel ~ our base for September's holiday. Eventually we found it almost opposite Portobello!!! (Actually, it's directly opposite Ergon so we'll be spoiled for breakfast choice!) After that, we wandered down to the new port and across to Limanaki, where our friends were having lunch. We were still full from breakfast, so just had a cold Fix Dark with them and then caught the bus back. We bought a couple of spanakopita in case we were hungry later and, as it was still threatening rain, mooched about till it was time to meet up with our friends for dinner. We had booked Cookoonari Plus in Kouk and asked to sit inside, as it was very windy. Lucky that we did, as soon after we sat down all of the other diners had to move under cover as the heavens opened. This is a lovely restaurant, set in a lush garden and the owner/hostess is really friendly (and very elegant). Paul and I had eaten there last September and she remembered us and also what we had ordered!!! Amazing. Unfortunately, this was not a happy meal ~ Paul's lamb chops were missed off completely and Tony and Karen felt that their food was too salty. I loved mine ~ pork tenderloin wrapped in lamb caul with creamy mashed potatoes and a delicious sauce. (Sounds weird, but the pork was so tender and the lamb covering it was crispy.) The portion was huge, though, and I shared with Paul - so it was probably a good job his food didn't arrive. The hostess was so apologetic ~ it happens, from time to time, so not a big deal. I would still recommend Cookoonari Plus, as the food is a bit different, but it is more expensive than most other places in Koukounaries. After that, we squashed in the car and headed back to the Myrtia for a nightcap - or two! Day 11: Monday ~ only four whole days left :-( Ag Eleni beach for five of us (Paul said he was was 'beached out!!'). We arrived at about 10.30am and it was sunny but quite windy until 2pm, so we abandoned our beds and had a very long lunch at the first taverna. It was lovely - and good value - and there was free entertainment provided by way of the taverna family having an extremely heated exchange in front of everyone with one of the waitresses (who may have also been family). It ended with her marching off, looking daggers at them and a replacement waiter being summoned. Ooops! At 2pm (as we had been told by the tavern owner) the wind dropped and the temperatures soared once again. We spent a lazy afternoon alternating between the sunbeds and the sea, which was even warmer. That evening, Paul and I had been invited for a BBQ at Aidonofolies with our lovely hosts and their children. Other guests were Jill and John (long-time visitors to Aidonofolies, and Skiathos) and Gary, a single guy also staying in one of the studios. Food was plentiful and it was a lovely opportunity to get to know Dora and George better. They work so hard - their main work is as firefighters (so they will have been very busy on fire-watch lately), plus running the studios and all that it entails ..... plus being the parents of two lovely and very active young children. George takes great pride in the garden there - they have a huge vegetable plot, plus lots of fruit and olive trees. He is (usually) to be found with his shirt off and muscles rippling engaged in some arduous work or other! .....Not that I'm complaining!! Paul and John spent some time gently teasing George for his chain-smoking, which doesn't really seem all that appropriate for a fire-fighter!! George just flashed his amazing grin - I think he'd heard it all before!! My feedback has dragged on for a bit (!!) - please ignore if it's boring you - I really won't mind . I'll make a supreme effort & get it finished over the next couple of days, or I'll run the risk of still banging on about it when it's time for us to go again
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trebor
Junior Member
Going to Villa Maria, Troulos in July
Posts: 48
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Post by trebor on Jul 10, 2017 16:00:23 GMT
Is the weather that variable on Skiathos or is this a post about a previous holiday? Didn't see any rain in Troulos nor experience any winds worth mentioning.
Please keep any weather like that at your end of the island else Dennis' predictions of rain when he hires his jimney may come true!
Edit
Just spotted the title of the post - probably explains all.
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Post by katet on Jul 10, 2017 17:57:04 GMT
Yes, Bob - am a little late doing this!! (Had technical issues whilst there)
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trebor
Junior Member
Going to Villa Maria, Troulos in July
Posts: 48
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Post by trebor on Jul 10, 2017 19:57:18 GMT
Better late than never- as the saying goes.
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Post by katet on Jul 10, 2017 22:18:47 GMT
Okay ~ to wrap this up with the highlights of our last three and a half days: Day 12: a hot and still pool day, with lunch at the Agustera. As it was so lovely we all decided to go to Aghia Eleni beach for the sunset (not realising that it was 20th June & if we'd waited a day it would be the Solstice!). We had delicious cocktails at the Ag Eleni Summer Beach bar - strawberry daiquiris and mojitos, with the men having macho Mythos, and we all took some stunning photos which looked photo-shopped - even though they weren't! For dinner we selected Strofilia - our first visit there this trip. The portions were HUGE! Paul had carbonara, I had spaghetti bolognese and the other four shared a Margarita pizza and rocket salad, with carafe of red & we were all full to the brim. What is it with these Greek portions? Or is it us? Can't remember how much it came to, but it was very reasonable. Day 13: Wednesday began with an 8am Summer Solstice yoga session on Koukounaries beach - fabulous. It was organised by Mirela, the lady who does BodyFix Yoga in Skiathos, and was something I saw by chance. What an amazing experience! Karen, Jill and I drove down to the far end of Kouk beach and joined about eight other ladies for the hour of yoga, followed by a quick down in the sea and then Mirela had brought along water, fruit, yoghurt and pastries for everyone. Loved it! That evening, Paul and I joined friends Nigel and Pru and Andrew for dinner at the Crazy Cow as it was Nigel's birthday. What a lovely setting ~ our first time there. I had a chicken pasta dish, Paul had pork chops, Pru and Nigel both chose beef stroganoff and Andrew had a pork fillet dish. We washed it down with a bottle of Greek Shiraz and water, followed by chocolate puds - yummy. The service was great and we all enjoyed the experience, but it isn't somewhere I would rush back to. I think it is trying very hard to be stylish and the food suffered a little. There was live music throughout - very pleasant and at a level not to intrude. It turned out to be Derek who worked at the Agustera for the first few years we visited. It seems that he's now quite a local celeb, musically. When we got back to the Myrtia, Jill, Karen & the boys told us they had been for a late lunch/afternoon session to Mystique (Ambelakia beach) and were sitting just in front of Goldie & Kurt. They had managed a sneaky photo (of course), but then Kurt and Goldie had to leave in a rush as they had illegally parked their smart little speedboat too near the beach and the coastguard came to tell them off!! Day 14: last full day spent on Koukounaries beach in and out of the water as it was so hot. The sea was like a warm bath. We all decide to spend the final evening at the Myrtia, so Paul and I nipped down to say goodbye (till September) to Efi and Dino and then enjoyed the Myrtia Greek music night (with plate smashing) again. We said our goodbyes to Vlatco, Stefanos and Dushan (what a lovely guy ~ well, man-mountain!) and got to bed at a reasonable hour. Day 15: up early to finish the packing (while Paul slept) and on to the luggage truck with the cases for 9am. We then said our goodbyes and thanks to George, as Dora was at the fire station, and caught the bus into town. We had decided on Limanaki for a leisurely lunch - our flight had a two hour delay leaving Manchester. Delicious kleftico for Paul and I, prawn 'Nagasaki' for Jill and moussaka for the others, with rose wine - great last meal. We had been planning to walk up to the airport, however, the temperature had soared to 32 degrees so the lovely (older) Limanaki guy offered to get us a taxi up to the airport, which we gratefully accepted - 2 journeys of 8 euros each for the six of us. We were happy, and so was the taxi driver, as he was returning to the airport empty anyway! We retrieved the cases from the taverna luggage guard gentleman and queued in the boiling hot airport for ages!!!!! Usual mayhem, but had a beer in Desires before deciding it would actually be cooler to wait in the airport lounge -which it was. The flight left Skiathos at 5.45 pm instead of 3.45 pm, plus a refuelling stop at Kavala, so we were home for 11 pm (1am Skiathos time) ... quite a long day. The very next day, I booked flights for our next trip and confirmed the hotel booking. Olga at the Atlas sounds very nice ~ looking forwards to meeting her. We didn't feel as sad to leave, knowing we would be back in just a few weeks ~ just over 7 weeks from now Ag Eleni sunset:
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Post by amy114 on Jul 11, 2017 6:08:58 GMT
Better late than never Kate. Really enjoyed your reporting - boring NEVER! Looking forward to your September holiday! :-):-):-)
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trebor
Junior Member
Going to Villa Maria, Troulos in July
Posts: 48
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Post by trebor on Jul 11, 2017 6:12:01 GMT
Excellent sunset photo
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Post by Tre on Jul 11, 2017 7:03:51 GMT
Great sunset pic kate. Its always better leaving when you know you're booked to return
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Post by kelso on Jul 11, 2017 7:53:37 GMT
Thanks for all your lovely reports Kate. Bob
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 11, 2017 11:40:16 GMT
Love that pic.
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Post by katet on Jul 11, 2017 15:22:57 GMT
Thanks for the nice comments - I should find it easier to do on the spot in September!
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Post by kevb on Jul 11, 2017 19:55:47 GMT
Great stuff Kate, am enjoyable read. You mentioned Derek performing somewhere, is this the Derek that has played with others as The Vagabonds? If it is I'd like to catch him next time I'm on the island, not seen him since 2013. I saw him and Rose play the first time I went in 2012 and they were so welcoming, they knew I was on my own and insisted I sit with their friends, really nice bloke. If he has a regular venue this season I would like to catch him one night.
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