Tuesday 5th September 2017 

After our breakfast of softly boiled eggs, ham, and bread and butter, we set off walking towards the monastery.  We headed upwards, through the Chora, winding our way through the steep narrow alleyways.

Occasionally, we caught a glimpse through an opened door or window of one of the Skyrian homes, with the traditional shiny copper pans hanging proudly on a wall.

The majority of these white painted homes are a total of just 30 square metres.  They are cube like houses clinging to the hillside.

 

Some have tiny courtyards filled with pot plants in a variety of intense colours.

 

Most have a concrete step or two covered with a colourful cushion or rug. The residents sit on these steps in the evenings watching the world going by and trying to catch the breeze for a little relief from the hot weather.

We were pleased to find a door to a small church open and we wandered inside and admired its old wooden iconostasis.

 

 

We continued to St. George’s monastery and we were about to enter when a voice from behind enquired if we were English. The man was from Sheffield and apparently had arrived yesterday on the same flight as us.

We entered the monastery’s pretty courtyard; a monk sat silently contemplating, accompanied by the obligatory courtyard cat.  On hearing our arrival, the monk looked up and immediately pointed to a rectangular piece of material.  I quickly took it and wrapped it over my shorts and secured it with a hair clasp.  I usually have a sarong in my bag for such occasions but not this time.

The man from Sheffield asked the monk where the ‘Lion Gate’ was situated. He did this by making a roaring noise along with a clawing action, in addition to the English language! The monk appeared completely nonplussed. Luckily, I managed to translate the man’s question for the monk.  The lion was apparently above the door that we had entered the courtyard by!

Unfortunately, the remains of the Castle of Lycomedes, which is usually accessible through a tunnel in the monastery, is currently closed.

We admired the frescos in the monastery’s church; a volunteer told us that they were from the 16th century. He then permitted us to take just one photograph each, without the use of a flash.  Dave chose to take the photo of the iconostasis as did the fellow Yorkshireman. With his reliable manual Canon camera from the 1980’s, he spent a little time to ensure he had the settings correct before he finally clicked the button.

We started our descent slowly down the opposite side of the hill through more narrow streets. A few properties were padlocked; one or two others were for sale.  There were also quite a few properties that had been tastefully renovated.

We came across the ‘Eternal Poetry Square’ otherwise known as the ‘Rupert Brooke Square’.

The famous poet is buried here on the island. The confusing issue at the time was that the statue in the poet’s square is of a naked man!  One or two other tourists were also asking the question ‘why is he naked?’

Later, while doing a little research, we read that the statue is intended to be a symbolic statue of a typical poet rather than a true resemblance of Rupert Brooke.                                                           We think this is rather confusing!

 

We stopped for a drink, the bar overlooked the coast and the small resorts of Magazia and Molos.  We stayed for around an hour enjoying the views.  We also spent some time studying the map and loosely planning our day with a hired car.  We stopped this when Dave insisted he could not find either of the two monasteries I had mentioned.  We then realised that I was reading about the island of Skopelos and not Skyros!

 

On the cover of our map was an interesting photo of a windmill and a huge rock. A small chapel had been cut into the rock and painted white. A white stone cross was on top of the rock.

We spotted the rock with the chapel and also a windmill in the distance on the coast and decided to walk to them.  We headed down to sea level and the small resorts of Molos and Magazia. There were a few pensions and signs advertising rooms for rent, but no big hotels or mass tourism.

We passed some pretty seafront holiday homes or perhaps they were homes belonging to locals.  A few folk were swimming or sunbathing, there were a few sun loungers dotted here and there but the majority of the beach was empty for people to sit wherever they chose.

We spotted a young couple; the man had been snorkelling and had now indicated for his partner to join him.  She paddled out with a huge inflatable ring which had a container fastened inside the ring.  When she returned she showed us the cuttle fish inside her bucket; she also pointed to her arms and legs where the sea creature had squirted ink in a failed escape attempt.

 

It was a lovely walk even though the windmill and rock appeared to be always around the next bend.

We saw a couple of small islets which were situated very close to the coast.  One of these islets in the 17th century was used to house people who suffered from a terminal illness.

Today, we can see a small group of people having a picnic on the islet, using the small Chapel entrance for shade.

Eventually, of course, we did reach the huge rock with the tiny Greek Orthodox chapel of  Άγιος Νικόλαος – Saint Nicholas carved into it.

Dave had to bend to enter the tiny wooden door.  We could only stay a few minutes as there were many candles burning and it was very hot!  It was actually a relief to go outside again into the hot sun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We photographed the unusual shaped rock with its ‘cut out’ chapel.

The windmill on a tiny peninsula had been tastefully renovated and was now an eaterie. It was fabulous!  A couple of pallets were placed in the sea with a small table and two chairs; these could easily be reached by stepping on a couple of rocks and then onto the pallet.

‘Shirley Valentine!’ Dave said and laughed.  A few years ago, a friend nicknamed me Shirley Valentine due to my love of sitting by the sea.

After posing for a quick photograph, we moved into the shade as the sun was high in the sky and very hot. We ordered a couple of omelettes and a couple of beers and thoroughly enjoyed our time sat relaxing, absorbing the beautiful view.

We set off walking again, we agreed that if by any chance we spotted a bus or even a taxi, we would have a ride back to our rooms.

We wanted to avoid walking upwards to the top of the Chora and back down the other side, so we took a road which we hoped would skirt around the bottom of the huge hill.

However, we weren’t at all sure that we were walking in the right direction.

Dave stopped to look at a small road heading downhill but a lady in a nearby house banged on her window to attract our attention and indicated to us not to go down the road.  I had a word with her but wasn’t at all confident about her directions.  As I thanked her and left, a car came slowly around the corner; this was the first vehicle we had seen for over an hour!

I flagged the car down and started to ask directions in Greek, the driver quickly interrupted me and enquired if I spoke English.  While he didn’t know any of the landmarks that we mentioned, he said we could get in his car and we could look for them together! How kind!  After only about 400 meters, Dave recognised our surroundings.  He gave the Bulgarian man directions to where he could find places to buy takeaway food, which he was searching for and we thanked him for his help and said our goodbyes.

Just ten minutes later we were back at our rooms, phew! We have walked miles and thoroughly enjoyed it!

We had an hour or so relaxation before getting ready and heading back into the Chora to collect the car which we had arranged to hire for 24 hours.  Our original plan was to drive into Molos or Magazia for our evening meal but as we hadn’t come across many tavernas earlier, we decided to eat in Skyros’s Chora again.  First, however, we drove our rental car to a parking area close to our rooms and returned to the Chora on foot.  We must have been mad! Ηowever, more walking = good exercise!

We sat and had a drink in the square, στην πλατεία, with a view of the monastery we had visited earlier in the day.  We watched the local kids larking around, chasing each other and riding their bikes.

We chose a taverna for dinner and Dave chose another local speciality, this time, goat in lemon sauce.

 

After our meal, we wandered slowly back to our rooms.

As we went to bed, there were still a few lights burning in St. George’s monastery high up above the island’s Chora.

 

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