Thursday 14th September 2017

By 8.30am we were on the quad bike heading inland in a north westerly direction.

 

We picked up two pies for our breakfast and ate them in the quiet garden of the Profitis Ilias Church.

The church had an interesting wooden vaulted ceiling and the biblical scenes on the iconostasis were made of silver plate.

We then continued towards the tip of the northern coast to the ‘Kastro’.

 

On the way we stopped to stretch our legs and followed a pathway through a wooded area to a pretty blue and white church.  There were many stone tables and benches outside. Painted in matching colours they looked effective, and offered plenty of seating for the name day celebrations and other festivities.

Kastro was reached by a narrow rocky path high above the sea below.  It was built on a rocky peninsula to protect its’ inhabitants.  The people previously lived in Skiathos Town but after numerous pirate attacks in the 14th century they decided that they must make a safer place to live.

Wow!  What a wonderful place to explore. The Kastro had a wooden drawbridge that in days gone by was raised every night or whenever it was deemed necessary. There was a cauldron (which would have held hot oil) perched precariously above the entrance, ready to tip onto any unwanted visitors.

 

A cannon stood on a 360 degree rotating base so it could fire in any direction necessary to defend the fortress from invaders.

 

 

It is difficult to comprehend that once upon a time, this area had over four hundred homes. Each of them was small and they were packed tightly together.

 

There were also a few churches and a mosque was built during the time of the Ottoman occupation.

Quite a few of the churches have been renovated. One or two of them have circular porcelain plates inlaid in the exterior walls.

 

 

The Church of the Nativity was by far our favourite. ‘Wow’ I exclaimed as we stepped down the two steep stone steps and entered the dark religious building through its small wooden door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were fabulous frescoes and a double row of biblical paintings on the iconostasis. These  were created by the well known Cretan painter known simply as Anthony of Crete.

In the church’s grounds, there was a natural spring with fresh cold drinking water, where we gratefully quenched our thirst.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have spent a couple of hours exploring this rocky peninsula and thoroughly enjoyed it.  There is a lot of information in both Greek and English about the history of each renovated building.

We slowly made our way back along the narrow path to where we had parked the quad; enjoying the views of the sea as we went. We had a drink  at the makeshift kantina and practised our Greek with the friendly lady who owned it.

Thank goodness we had done some research about the island and not taken the advice of the guy that hired us the quad.  His advice was to simply head south east along the coast and to explore all the beaches.

We managed to bypass the town and joined the main coastal road at ‘bus stop no.9’ on the south-east of the island.  The island numbers it’s’ bus stops and clearly shows the number of each stop on the maps.  So, frequently, directions are given using the number, for example we were advised to turn right after bus stop no.22 to locate the track for Mandraki.

We continued to the island’s most popular beach. Koukounaries is on the south-west corner of the island. We could immediately see why it is so popular; it is a long sandy bay with sand that sparkles in the sun’s rays.  Pine trees are the backdrop for this beautiful paradise beach.

There was some free space for folk who want to simply put a towel down to sit on but the majority of the beach was taken up by sunbeds.  Oh, so many sunbeds and so many people – big ones, little ones, fat ones, thin ones and absolutely gorgeous ones.  We had a drink and a sandwich at a busy kantina on the beach.  Afterwards, we laid in the shade for a while beneath a few tall pine trees.  It was wonderful, laid there relaxing, gazing up at the branches of the tall trees and the beautiful blue sky.

Our final stop of the day was Mandraki. The dirt track we drove down to reach the lovely cove was very bumpy in places. It led us through the protected Mandraki Forest, through pine trees with thick pine needle carpets bordering the track.  We saw a stationary fire engine as we have in some of the heavily wooded areas on other islands. Further down the track we saw barrels filled with water, a bucket stood next to each of them. These emergency measures were placed every fifty metres or so.  Unfortunately, a few of the Greek Islands have suffered from serious fires devastating much of their forest areas, so it is a real fear.

A few signposts pointed to smaller trails, leading, no doubt, to other small or secluded bays. There were only quad bikes and 4WD vehicles parked near the remote Mandraki Beach.  We enjoyed swimming in the lovely bay.

We drove back to the main coast road along the bumpy tracks; stopping periodically to gaze at a vista or to take a photograph or two.

We returned the hired quad bike at around 5pm after a fun filled day exploring the picturesque island of Skiathos.  There has been quite a lot more traffic than we have experienced on the other islands including hundreds of fellow quad bikers.

 

By the time we were ready to walk into town for our main meal of the day, the taverna below us was already filling up.  Not surprisingly with the wonderful view!

 

 

We chose a traditional οβελιστήριο (a kind of grill house) overlooking the main pedestrian thoroughfare in the town. Hundreds of tourists below mingled and shopped.

We attempted a short cut on the way back but got lost in the old town. Each time we heard loud voices chatting or laughing, we turned into another alley to where we believed the voices to be coming from.  But, each time the noise turned out to be from  μια αυλή, a courtyard where most Greek families congregate on summer evenings. Eventually, we made our way back down to sea level and set off again on the route we knew!

 

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