Friday 15th September 2017

This is our last day, on this, our fifth island hopping holiday.  Today, unlike yesterday (or indeed tomorrow), our alarm was not set and we enjoyed our early morning cuppa (not too early!) leisurely on the balcony.

Later, we walked into town and roamed around but it was very busy and we were constantly dodging scooters and bikes which were whizzing quite quickly through the small narrow streets.

 

Dave spotted a female cat and her young litter curled up. Greek cats are often pictured on postcards and calendars.

 

 

We enjoyed a pancake each at a corner creperie, a savoury one for Dave and a sweet one for me. Then we continued wandering and went to the tiny islet that separates the old port from the new.

Later, we returned to our room and gathered our beach gear and headed down to a tiny cove just five minutes away.  Neither of us were at all interested in joining the masses of sun worshippers on the long narrow beach. After swimming, due to the lack of shade on the beach, we put our towels on a patch of rather coarse grass and relaxed there.

There were only a handful of tourists in this quiet cove.  However, we watched quite a few locals arrive for their daily swim.  Middle aged women arrived with their bags; wearing hats to protect them from the hot sun.  Men of various ages arrived, a few on battered old scooters.  Some were wearing only their swimwear with a towel slung over their shoulder.

One of the locals emerged from the sea holding an octopus. He allowed a curious tourist to pose with it on his shoulder while his eager girlfriend photographed him.  The local then spent a few minutes bashing the mollusc hard against a rock, and then he threw it at the rock, picked it up and repeated this action several times.

On every island that we have visited, we have seen men fishing early in the morning and again late afternoon. No doubt, they were hoping to catch their supper.

We had a meze lunch sitting in the taverna below our room. It is called ‘Το Λυκόφος’, and this translates to ‘The Twilight.’  The room that we are staying in is one of eight rooms – Kleopatra Rooms.  Patra is the helpful lady that initially showed us the room and her granddaughter is Kleo.

For the final evening of our holiday, we again headed into Skiathos Town.  We sat on a large comfortable sofa facing the old port, enjoying a cocktail in one of the many cocktail bars. It was ‘Happy Hour’ and the bars were competing.  We were surprised how busy it was for the middle of September.

It was around 9pm when we searched the alleyways for the restaurant named ‘1901’ where we had decided to eat. It was full and we were told there was a twenty minute wait or so.  Therefore, it was past 10pm when we were served.  I am pleased to say that the wait was worthwhile.  Dave enjoyed a crab risotto and my pork fillet with mozzarella and a light lemon sauce served with spinach and rice was absolutely delicious.

It was late when we returned to the room and we set the alarm for 5.15am ready for our early morning flight to Athens and then onward to our home in Crete.

We have had a fabulous time. We both loved all the islands.  Dave thinks that he would perhaps choose Alonissos as his favourite.  I think mine was Skopelos. Probably due to the wonderful place we found directly on the beach – interesting really, as we weren’t over keen on the room on the first floor, thankfully they showed us room 14!

Of course, each island had its highlights. This island, Skiathos, although exceedingly busy had some of the best beaches we have ever seen, pine fringed bays and golden sands – beautiful!  Also, here in Skiathos, the kastro was an extremely interesting place to explore.

 

 

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