Up, Up and Away ...

Whoopee! Looking forward to more feedback reports from Friday then !!

Monday

Extremely late start to the day but sunny, hot, with a cooling wind. First meal of the day was brunch at 2.00 pm,mat Pegasus. Eggs, bacon, mushrooms, toast, orange juice and tea - 7.50€.

Decided to brave town again and by that sunhat! The first time ever, i got on a packed bus! Front door opened, conductor got off and front door shut! Went to the door at the rear, people poured out, conductor shouted to those standing to move to back of bus, we got on followed by the conductor, who proceed to take our fares whilst dangling over the bar at the top of the stairs. At the next stop, he reversed the process and continued in this way while the bus remained full. I was getting off at BS4 and at BS5, the back of the bus emptied and i managed to sit down for two minutes.

Went directly to the shop, tried on a couple of hats, bought the one i had already decided on, then to the terminus for the next bus back.

Thought i would say hello to Christos when i got off at BS16, but as it was too early for him to be in the restaurant, there was nothing for it but to have a red wine and wait for him to arrive :-)

When he did arrive he recognised me immediately and i went over for a quick chat with him. It will take a very long time for him to recover from his injuries but although his movements are slow (as to be expected) his memory is intact and hopefully he will continue to improve on a daily basis. I left with a promise that i would have a meal at the Kohyli whilst i was here. I was walking out the door before i remembered that i had left my new hat on the table! :-):-) Thank goodness i wasn't looking after a baby!

Back to the studios for the Greek night with only 20 minutes to get ready! Fun night, two young female dancers, apparently the male of the troupe has left and is dancing somewhere else, but despite that they did very well.

I had decided on an early night but ended up going to bed at 2.00 pm! Oh well, i am on holiday after all.

In case you haven't noticed, that's the second time she's gone to bed at 2pm. I think she comes from somewhere where they have siestas.

So she's really 2AMY Amy114?

Tuesday

The Wedding

Beautiful day, very hot. The guests travelling together met in the bar at 2.00 pm and we called the minibus taxi to take us into Skiathos. We had been asked to arrive at the Bourtzi by 2.30 pm. The wedding was scheduled for 3.00 pm. We were dropped off near the ferry terminal and proceeded to walk past the bars to the wedding venue. Two or three bars in we were met by a lot of laughter and on turning, there was the bride with one of her witnesses holding a menu up to her face and telling everyone they mustn't look. Of course, when someone tells you not to, this overwhelming desire takes a hold and you do the opposite! Having already seen the dress a couple of days before, it was no surprise, but we were not allowed to catch a glimpse of her face or hair.

We proceeded along like the dutiful guests we were, and after about 15 minutes, Anastasia, the wedding planner arrived. We were shown into the hall and asked to take our seats.

We were informed that the bride had left the harbour by boat and would arrive in a couple of minutes. When she arrived a couple of guests went out to take photographs. One came back in tears and i formed us that she looked stunning.

The music started and in she came with another female guest, who was giving her away, and her female witness. She proceed up the short aisle and went to stand with her soon to be husband.

I should describe their wedding attire! The groom was dressed in a pair of pale blue, casual pants and a white shirt covered in dark blue and pale pink roses. The bride wore a simple, white, sleeveless, round necked day dress belted with a very thin blue belt. However, from the shoulders down to the hem, there was a cascade of dark blue flowers and pink roses. You could still see the background of white around the neck and an inverted U shape to the bottom at the front and back. She was wearing three artificial roses in her hair, two pink and one white, in a small cluster just above her right ear, and her hair was in loose waves. She carried a small posy of pink rosebuds edged with white gypsophilia. She did indeed, look stunning!

Anastasia officiated at the wedding (which was a surprise to us all) and it was all conducted in English. Following the wedding, more photos were taken and we made our way to Sea U on the old harbour, for prosecco and tidbits (nuts and crisps as requested by the bride and groom). However, i dont think the Greeks understand our take on snack food and we were presented with tzatziki, garlic bread and very delicious, homemade chips!

The bride was given a vase of water to hold her posy, which was very thoughtful.

Whilst we were celebrating a cruise ship, anchored in the bay, proceeded to tender passengers to the harbour. This was a ship from Cyprus. Then a very chic, beautiful, black and grey yacht appeared in the harbour and proceeded to dock at the end of the slipway, flying the english flag with a tiny greek ensign just barely visible under, what i can only describe as, one of the two black, satellite hubs! The yacht was registered in London and we were informed it belonged to three Greek ladies and a Greek businessman had hired it for a week! The buzz came down the table that it cost £1m per square metre to build and fit a yacht of that calibre so we were looking at some serious money! :-)

Minutes later a small, sleek, grey yacht appeared and proceeded to moor against the big yacht. It paled in comparison and looked like it was the tender to the bigger yacht. I think grey is the new white! :-)

Around 6.00 pm we strolled along the old port as the bride and groom had arranged a special boat taxi to take us back to AP beach. Once we were all on board we set sail. It was lovely to see the island from the perspective of the sea and not the road. Guessing which beach/BS we were approaching but so lovely to see how green the island really is and the buildings snuggled between the trees. The sea was that deep midnight blue and towards the shore, a pale translucent green.

It was a little tricky getting off the boat without a pier to lay the steps on. The captain had taken the boat right to the shore and once the steps had been dropped, it was a near vertical climb down. I managed to do it without embarrassing myself but would have been better if i had taken a leaf out of the bride's book and come down backwards. Another time perhaps.

We were heading back to the studios for a little spread that had been arranged. What the bride and groom didn't know was that a couple of days earlier, the wedding party had a whip round and purchased pink and white balloons, a lovely display of pink roses, lillies and gypsophilia for the table, a wedding cake (very moist and scrumptious) and a bottle of champagne. It was lovely to see the looks on their faces when they walked in the bar.

It was another lovely evening, good food, chat and music but i must confess that after four consecutive late nights, i bowed out at 10.00 pm as my bed was calling to me.

Wednesday

Up early to face a very, very hot day! Sat on the balcony for a very long time today, enjoying the peace and tranquility of the valley. The cicadas were merrily singing with the occasional caw of the crows (not so peaceful) and my little tabby friend to keep me company. Lots of good mornings as different guests passed my studio going about their holiday.

This weather is so hot it is beginning to sap my energy and my appetite! It was 3.00 pm before i could face food and that was an omelette with literally 6 chips!

Back to the studios to sit in the shade before getting ready to go to Iguana for the weekly quiz night! We dined as usual at the Dream House (where I had a tuna salad and glass of water) and were at the Iguana for around 8.30 pm. We were two teams of six. Now i am one of those people who can recognise a song but if you asked me to name it or the singer/group, I cannot and when it comes to recognising the face of an actor, well yes i can but name him/her, well you are not going to get a sensible answer! In fact one of our team did say to me that he was there to answer the sports questions, two others for the pictograms and the music, the remaining two for the obscure questions so what was my place in the team? LOL. I just informed him that i was there to make up the numbers so we were pitted equally against our rivals!

As it turned out, i was able to supply the correct answers to four of the questions (when my team buddies were nonplussed) and one of them was a sports question! More than fulfilled my place on the team. Unfortunately, we did not win but had a respectable 45 out of 50 so didn't do a bad job. Our rival team did not fare so well. To top it off, i won the third prize of the raffle which was a book on Stanley, a rescue dog, who found a new home, alongwith a doggy menu! I gave the prize back to go in next weeks draw.

Back to the studios for a drink, and my latest night so far in the holiday - 3.15 am (take note D & P). :-):-)