In chronological order earliest to latest or most recent to earliest.
March 1999:
Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Skiathos Newsletter.
You are receiving this because you have at one time or another sailed with us, walked with
us, stayed at our houses in Zorbathes or requested information about accommodation,
property or something else from our web site: http://www.skiathosinfo.com
If you wish to be removed from this list, please follow the instructions at the end of
this newsletter.
I am sending this out today as it is the 27th anniversary of my arrival in Skiathos.
Little did I know then that I would still be here and how much Skiathos would alter my
life.
I have seen many, many changes in this time, some for the better some for the worse, but
what has not changed is the magic and the beauty of Skiathos which still amazes me daily.
At least a winter will have passed since most of you have been here and a very wet, rainy
winter it has been. Not a lot of tennis time for us but the island needed the rain badly
and we will see the benefit in April and May when the wild flowers will be fabulous. Did
you know that Greece has more different types of wild flowers than the rest of Europe put
together? Of course we don't have them all here but nevertheless, we have more than enough
to delight us.
Christmas has been and gone and the following celebration was on "Clean Monday"
at the beginning of Lent. This is traditionally the day for seafood picnics (no meat,
remember) and for flying kites. We went to Koukounaries Beach (reputed to be the finest in
the Aegean, if not all the Mediterranean) and it was just wonderful. The weather was
sunny, the food delicious, the wine flowing, the sea sparkling and the sand soft and warm.
The kites only flew for a few minutes as there was really no wind, but nobody seemed to
mind too much.
Easter will be with us soon, our daughters will be back from school and university, both
The Barn and The Farmhouse will have guests, so it promises to be a busy and social time.
We will undoubtedly roast a kid and hopefully our clients and some other friends will join
us in this traditional celebration.
Shortly after the real summer season will begin and we can look forward to some good
sailing, walking, bridge at a beach taverna and a few other relaxing moments between the
hustle and bustle of tourist island life.
We have added several new pages to our site which seems to expand and grow by itself these
days (I sometimes wonder who is in charge!!!).
New are pages for shopping online, where you can purchase your holiday book at a good
discount, and to which we will be adding many other places for shopping at prices better
than can be found normally.
We have added a listing of tour operators who fly to Skiathos and offer package or
speciality holidays here.
New to Skiathos itself, is an Internet Cafe where you can check your email, browse the web
and check the webcam you set up in your house (well I'm sure someone out there has!).
Check the Business pages: http://www.skiathosinfo.com/business/
There are many new accommodation possibilities listed at: http://www.skiathosinfo.com/accomm/
including, of course, our own houses in Zorbathes: http://www.skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm
We ourselves took a small holiday to neighbouring Pelion and stayed with friends there at
Zagora. We had a wonderful time and were treated like royalty. They have built a beautiful
house with accommodation and organise activity holidays, workshops and seminars to cater
for all tastes. I can thoroughly recommend it. See: http://www.villa-horizonte.com
I also made their web pages and am quite pleased with the result.
Well, that's it for now. I will try and publish this newsletter every month but can't
promise anything.
If you have comments to make or feedback, please email me at: news@skiathosinfo.com
I hope that wherever you decide to spend this year's holiday, that it will be a truly
relaxing and worthwhile one.
Regards,
Geof.
April 1999
Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who have subscribed to the newsletter since I
added the subscribe page plus all of you who sent me encouraging emails. I sent it out to
everyone who had ever emailed me with requests for information, accommodation, etc. and
was very pleasantly surprised at how few of you asked to be removed from the mailing list.
I hope that you will not be disappointed.
Well, what has been happening recently?
We have been busy getting our houses ready for our Easter guests. We renovated the Barn's
fireplace, replacing it with a cast-iron wood stove to keep it cosy and warm on those cool
spring evenings or if it should rain.
We welcomed guests and friends for Easter and we hope that they enjoyed our company as
much as we enjoyed theirs.
On Good Friday we took everybody on a walk to Kechria Beach and Monastery, one of our
favourite outings. We followed the Alagaries stream-bed down from the back of Platanias
Valley to Kechria Beach and managed to spot a terrapin (small turtle) on the way, which
delighted the kids with us.
A picnic lunch was enjoyed by all followed by a dip in the sea for the hardy ones. Then we
followed the Kechria stream, which was gushing along thanks to all this winters rain, up
to Kechria Monastery.
We returned home a tired but happy crew late that evening and none of us had enough energy
to make it to church for the Epitafio (the symbolic burial of Christ).
Saturday night at 12 o' clock, Christ's resurrection was celebrated in the main church
square. The beauty of the singing and the spreading of candlelight though the square as we
lit our candles from the church's candles, one after the other, was rather marred by the
explosions of fireworks in the background. A pity, but still an experience that everyone
should partake of once in their lives.
Easter Sunday was spent roasting a kid (baby goat, that is!?!) over a charcoal fire and
took most of the morning. The afternoon was spent consuming it with copious amounts of
wine, beer and banter and a good time was had by all.
Monday was spent recovering from Sunday !!!
Web page news is that I have now added most of my "Pelion" site to the
Skiathosinfo site. I hope to have it completely finished soon (but is anything on the web
ever completely finished?). Go to http://skiathosinfo.com/pelion/ for a tour of Pelion
with lots of photos and quite a bit of info. If anybody out there has feedback or more
information that could be added, please email me at pelion@skiathosinfo.com
There are new accommodation pages at: http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/ and you will shortly
be able to book holidays at the Skiathos Palace Hotel and Skiathos Princess Hotel directly
through our pages.
New property for sale is being added steadily to the property pages at:
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/ and I shall be adding lots more business listings at:
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/ as people return and start to open up for the season.
We still have quite a bit of availability in our houses in Zorbathes:
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm so if you are looking for a truly peaceful and
relaxing holiday, why don't you get in touch.
As ever, I hope that this has brought a bit of sunshine into your life and that you will
consider visiting and experiencing Skiathos sometime in the near future.
Happy holidays,
Geof.
May 1999
Hello again. We are well into May and the season has well and truly started. After May
Day, suddenly all the supermarkets and most of the tavernas were open and the beaches
started to be dotted by bodies soaking up sun. It always comes as a surprise because,
although everybody is waiting for, and gearing up to, the season, everything is still
sleepy until people actually arrive. Then, almost overnight, the island switches from
winter to summer mode and is bright eyed and bushy tailed. It happens every year, but
somehow, we never get used to it.
May Day was celebrated by most locals roasting a lamb over charcoal, consuming copious (to
vast) amounts of wine, making flower wreathes which they wore all day and generally having
fun in a celebration of nature's bounty. There is no shortage of flowers to make wreathes
as the wild flowers are now in full bloom and the uncut hay fields are a riot of colour.
We did not go for another roasting session, Easter was enough for this year. Instead we
went down to the Nostos Beach (Tzaneria Beach), worked on the Merlin, our catamaran, and
then shared some wine with friends at the beach taverna there. The weather was glorious
and a slight sea breeze made me anxious to finish preparing Merlin and get out on the
water as soon as possible. The next day, we heaved Merlin into the sea and took her to her
mooring in Sklithri Bay.
The following week end we had our first day trip to Kadi Giorgi on Pelion and took our
guests to the local fish taverna there and introduced them to the type of real traditional
Greek food that it is, unfortunately, getting harder to find in Skiathos. They ate and (I
believe) enjoyed several different starters that they would never have ordered by
themselves, followed by 3 different types of fish which were, as always, superb. The wind
was against us on the return trip so we motored back. Nevertheless, a fine time was had by
all.
Lida is now very busy. For the next 2 weeks she will be taking a large party of walkers on
3 different walks each week, on Saturdays guiding a group around the two main monasteries
and then through the less visited parts of the town, so she will not start her own weekly
guided walk until the end of the month. If there is enough demand, I will fill in for her
instead as I love this particular walk as well.
Read more about her weekly walk at: http://skiathosinfo.com/walks99brochure.htm
New on Skiathos this year is the first petrol station OUTSIDE the town (long overdue).
This can be found at Troulos as part of the Victoria leisure complex, so now it is
possible to tank up without the long journey to town. Wonderful!
New to the website are these accommodation pages:
http://skiathosinfo.com/messini.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/kapounis.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/syraina.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/kvouli.htm
This business page:
http://skiathosinfo.com/rooftop.htm
And a new section with boats for sale:
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/frida.htm
As we now now into summer mode and things are starting to get really busy, I don't know if
I will manage to get this newsletter out every month but, as I am enjoying writing it as
much as (I hope) you are enjoying reading it, I shall try to persevere.
As ever, I hope this has brought a little taste of Skiathos life into your world, and I
hope it reminds you that there is more to life than the material things we are constantly
being pressured to buy.
Until next month,
Geof.
June 1999
Well, we are well into June and I haven't had time until now to sit for a free half
hour to write to you all. The pace of the island has definitely picked up and everything
will get busier from now until the end of August. We are always ambivalent about the
"season". Whilst it's wonderful to have supermarkets open so close to us and a
vast choice of tavernas to eat out at, we miss the sleepiness and quiet roads of autumn,
winter and spring. Still, where we live in Zorbathes Valley, nobody comes by (unless they
know us and know how to find us) and our peace is only disturbed by goat bells and the
nightingales singing.
A big thank you to all the people who have signed up since the last newsletter, I hope you
find it worthwhile.
I thought for this edition, I would describe in a bit more detail one of our catamaran
trips.
On the catamaran we leave Sklithri Beach at around 10.30 and motor out to get clear of the
land and see which way the wind is blowing. The options are: north wind, Kati Giorgi on
the Pelion Peninsular, south wind, Loutraki on Skopelos Island, and west or north-east
winds, Panormos on Skopelos Island.
All these destinations have "old style" Greek tavernas where you can find REAL
Greek food (usually made by "Mum") which has not yet been "watered
down" to suit the taste of mass tourism.
Hoisting the sails, we set off in whatever direction is suitable. As a general rule the
breeze gets strongest from about 11.30 until 13.00 or 14.00, so this is the time to get
cracking towards our final destination.
Merlin (the Catamaran) is a very stable craft and there is none of the uncomfortable
heeling over normally associated with sailing. You can put your beer or soft drink (served
around 12.00) down on the deck or seat, without fear of it tipping over (losing the
precious liquid and causing epithets to be uttered!)
She scuds across the water at anything up to 12 knots (at which time we might reef the
sails a bit) and we can usually reach our intended destination within 2 to 2.5 hours.
Whichever way we go, there is always a beach, and we allow plenty of time for swimming
before and/or after lunch. We also head for interesting snorkelling beaches if that is
what our guests like.
After lunch, when the wind has usually dropped off a bit, we start back using the motor if
necessary (but I hate to put it on, I just like to sail). This is the time when we are
often asked how we came to Skiathos and how long we have been here, etc. We also learn
about our guests who are inevitably interesting people. Anyone who likes to try the sort
of excursions we offer are bound to be out of the run of the normal tourist.
If we are lucky (but we DO have to be lucky) we will see some dolphins during the trip. We
will certainly get to see quite a lot of different water birds.
We get back to Sklithri Beach anytime from 16.30 onwards depending on the wind and how far
we went. Incidentally, this small beach has an excellent little taverna with one of the
nicest situations in Skiathos. If there is time we will often take an ouzo there to finish
off the day.
There is nothing quite like a day out on the water for blowing the cobwebs out of your
head and getting that totally relaxed feeling. Come and give it a try sometime.
General news about Skiathos is that the town is being looked after better than previous
years. The rubbish is being collected early and properly and I think the message is slowly
sinking in about keeping the island as clean as possible. Also in the town most of the
overhead electric cables were buried underground which has cut down on the amount of
unsightly wires looping here and there.
I am still waiting for the local council to give me this year's cultural program but it
certainly is not going to be as ambitious as previous years.
My apologies for last months bad links to the new web pages, here are better links:
New to the website are these accommodation pages:
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/messini.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/kapounis.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/syraina.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/kvouli.htm
These business pages:
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/rooftop.htm A very nice bar on the waterfront
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/paradiso.htm THE outdoor cinema showing all the latest
films.
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/faros.htm A taverna and bar right on the sand of
Achladies Beach.
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/dolphin.htm The best scuba diving school on the island.
These property pages:
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/old-stone-house.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/stamatis-house.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/commercial-property.hm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/villa&land.htm
OK That's it for now. It actually took me a bit longer than half an hour to get all this
down but I think it was worth it.
I hope to run into some of you somewhere on one of our beautiful beaches this summer.
Regards,
Geof.
July-August 1999
Hello Everybody,
A quick thank you to all who have signed up to this newsletter since the last one and also
to all of you who have sent me encouraging emails.
I am amazed by this Internet thing and how well it is working. When I started the web
site, I really wanted to let people know about all the wonderful sides of Skiathos that
were not really being described anywhere else. All the brochures and tourist information
show and talk about Koukounaries and all the other beaches on the south side, but
virtually nothing was said about the quieter beaches on the north side and all the
beautiful places, churches, monasteries and nature spots that need a little extra effort
to get to and to appreciate. Not that I want everybody to go to these places, but I wanted
to make the information available to those who would like to do something more than just
lie on a beach and get a tan.
Well, judging by your feedback, it has been very successful and I find that most
rewarding.
The other reason for starting the web pages was to advertise our houses for rent in
Zorbathes, where we live. That has also gone very well but now I am becoming a victim of
my own success. When our accommodation was the only listing on the site I was getting many
requests. Now that there are over 40 different accommodations from simple rooms, studios
and apartments to deluxe hotels listed, I find that I am but one of many. However, again I
find it very satisfying that so many people are booking their holidays directly through
the Net and are very happy with the results. As the site grows and the amount of visitors
grow, I feel that a real contribution towards communication has been made.
We still have availability in July if anyone is thinking of a last minute holiday.
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm
One problem with direct booking via the Net is that often potential guests cannot find
flight only tickets and are told by travel agents that none are available even though
flights often arrive with many empty seats.
I assume this is because they are only interested in selling package holidays and the
Tourist Companies are keen to retain their virtual monopoly of the tourist industry here.
Olympic Airways offer a pretty good deal to Skiathos via Athens but it does take a while
with a 1 or 2 hour stop-over.
I was thinking of contacting Easy Jet ( http:easyjet.com ) and suggesting that they put on
1 flight a week to Skiathos (and perhaps another island) which I am sure could be filled.
Perhaps we could all email Stelios at: mailto:stelios@easyjet.co.uk to suggest it? He will
read any email that is not more than 10 lines long (or at least that is what he says on
his website). I have made a page for him to read at: http://skiathosinfo.com/easyjet.htm
and maybe you could read this and if you think the idea proposed is a good one, email him
and point him to that page.
Does anybody have any other suggestions or has found a good way to come here directly? I
have been looking around for a good contact to recommend but, so far, no luck. All
feedback would be welcomed. (This is known as "Interactivity" :)
Skiathos is now humming. It is now the Greek and Italian holiday time and so you can hear
every European language on the beaches. I have always liked the fact that Skiathos is not
dominated by any one countries' tourists and it has helped its cosmopolitan appeal that
you can meet people from just about every European country plus many non Europeans as
well.
The busiest day of the year, the 15th of August, is approaching fast and once that has
passed, the island will slowly start to wind down.
I must say, I do look forward to September when the tourism has calmed down a bit, the
weather is still fantastic, the sea still warm and everybody is a bit more relaxed.
Some of our accommodation owners are offering special prices for September:
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm (I am offering a 10% discount to all who quote
this newsletter.)
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/messini.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/syraina.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/angeliki.htm
I have finally gotten hold of the cultural events program. The local council had been
promising to let me have it for some months, but eventually I had to copy it from their
web site! So it goes!
http://skiathosinfo.com/events.htm
New pages this month:
Accommodation:
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/angeliki.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/akti.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/lynn.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/skiathos-club.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/skiathos-holidays.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/skopelos/ortivo.html
Property:
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/marias.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/land-at-agios-andonis.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/tatsios.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/rigas-house.htm
Tavernas:
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/anatoli.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/elias.htm
Shops:
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/pounentes.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/business/jivaeri.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/skopelos/pragmata.htm
As always, I would like to end by hoping that wherever you go for your holiday, it will be
a truly relaxing one and leave you recharged to cope with this ever busier world of ours.
I have attached some good Greek sunshine to this email for those of you who won't make it
this year or who would just like a reminder but, unfortunately, it doesn't travel well in
cyberspace :)
Until next month,
Geof.
Autumn 1999
Many thanks to all the new subscribers since September, there seems to be a lot of
Scandanavians this time ..... Welcome!
Well, the autumn rains are here with thunderstorms and hail. It is actually a very welcome
sight as the island did not receive any real rain since last April. A lot of the olives
have dropped from the trees as there has not been enough ground water to support a full
crop. What olives are left will now swell to a good size and we have to decide the optimum
moment to pick them before they drop off.
All the land underneath the trees has to be cleaned of grass, thistles, brambles and
whatever else has grown since the last cultivation. The olives are then knocked from the
trees with long sticks or bamboo, onto large sheets of material, and then gathered in
sacks and hauled to the olive press.
The press takes a percentage of the oil that results and so no money changes
hands...rather nice.
We estimate that we will get around 40 literes of oil which will last us for the 2 years
until the next crop comes along. The average Greek family will use 200 to 300 litres a
year and this is one reason that they are so healthy compared to the rest of Europe.
Another reason is that they will gather wild greens from pastures and woodland which
contain many vitamins and minerals that we no longer find in our vegetables, especialy
since looks and price have become more important than quality and content.
We have pulled "Merlin", our catamaran, out of the water and laid her up for the
winter. She looks like a beached whale, miserable and totally out of place. It is always a
sad ocassion as it means, for us, that the summer season is definitely over and we must
wait for 6 more months before we can feel and utilise the power of the wind and waves for
our own pleasure. Now they become an obstruction if we wish to make trips off the island
as sometimes a storm can cut travel communications for a day or two.
We have had some wonderful trips with "Merlin" and those of you who have been
out with us will know why we love to share the expereince of sailing in these beautiful
waters with as many people as possible.
We have plans to extend our sailing pages to include bare-boat chartering and dinghy and
off the beach sailing.
As Skiathos settles into winter mode nearly all the supermarkets and tavernas outside town
have closed and the road is mostly deserted. Only Stathi's Taverna and the Victoria
supermarket and petrol station have remained open. The bus runs only 5 times a day and the
whole pace of life has relaxed into normal Greek style ("it will happen when it
happens").
We start to see people who we have only had time to say "Yasou" to all summer,
new faces appear of people who have bought a house or decided to stay for the winter and
the tennis club becomes busy with locals instead of holidaymakers. The International
Women's Group and the Garden Club restart their monthly and weekly meetings and us bridge
players shuffle our cards and arrange evenings at different houses.
The web site is going to expand it's property section vastly and a lot more accommodation
pages are being added. I will be making some changes over the winter, rationalising the
structure a bit and adding lots more information. Via your emails, I have discovered many
things that are missing or need updating and am looking forward to working on all of this.
New property pages:
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/mousas.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/marias.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/tatsios-villas.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/land-at-agios-andonis.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/pounta-property.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/alagaries.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/sklithri-house-and-land.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/sklithri.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/giselas-house.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/profitis-ilias.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/akrivos.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/paliogortza.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/vourlidia.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/villa-manolis.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/eleni-villas.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/property/villa-samaki.htm
New accommodation pages:
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/aquarius.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/tatsios-villas.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/angela.htm
http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/villa-helidonia.htm
OK That's it for now. I would send you some sunshine if I could but we won't see it today.
We will, however, get lots and lots of it throughout the winter. The tennis player in me
wants the sun whilst the farmer in me is hoping for a lot more rain. Oh, its a hard life
being a schizophrenic on a Greek island.
Regards,
Geof.
Christmas 1999.
Hello and welcome to the Christmas Skiathos Newletter.
Firstly I would like to wish you a very happy Christmas and a healthy, prosperous and "bug free" year 2000.
A quick welcome to those of you that have signed up since the last newsletter.
At the risk of upsetting you, I must tell you that the weather this autumn has been glorious. Just enough rain to freshen the island up and make it vividly green again, followed by long periods of weather from the south and west with warm breezes, spectacular views and wonderful sunsets to finish the day.
In fact, if you are someone who enjoys the outdoors life, walking, sailing, fishing, tennis and other sports, autumn in Skiathos is something not to be missed.
One of those "frequently asked questions" about Skiathos is, "What do you do in the winter?"
Well, the quick answer is, "Recover from the summer!" Strange as it may seem, the winter is something many of us look forward to as we get to see all our local friends again and have time to enjoy the beauty we are surrounded by. Too often, in the summer, we are so busy making a living that we do not see the wood for the trees.
One of the things we have been doing recently is tussling with the local council, trying to introduce the idea of recycling the island's rubbish.
Skiathos produces an enormous amount of rubbish every summer, way out of proportion to the size of the island. This has become a bad problem which will only grow as time passes unless we take steps to recycle this waste and turn a drain on our recourses into a positive income.
A traditional yearly event has been the Christmas Bazaar organised by the International Women's Group of Skiathos. The Group is made up of many ladies from all over the world (but mostly Europe) who live here all year round, have their children in school here or have become so enamoured of Skiathos that they just couldn't leave. They are a talented lot and are a definite asset to the island.
The Christmas Bazaar is held early in December and offered for sale are home baked cakes and cookies, and many handcrafted Christmas items. There is a Lucky Dip, a lottery and the kiddies can have their photo taken with "Santa Claus". Many people come every year to this event and the money gathered by the ladies is shared out to various local charities or where a little extra can make a big difference to someone's life.
I always look forward to getting a nice glow on from the Gluhwein (mulled wine) that they serve at the door.
There will be many gatherings over the holiday period but I don't think anyone is planning much special for New Year's Eve. A nice glass of home-made wine by a roaring fire with my family around me is what am looking forward to.
I recently heard this story about why we traditionally put a fairy at the top of the Christmas tree and thought I would pass it on to you.
Apparently, some years ago at the North Pole on Christmas Eve, Santa was having a hard time of it.
The gnomes were on strike demanding more pay for overtime, the reindeers had found his brandy and having gotten totally drunk had wrapped the sleigh around a lamp post, and Mrs Santa had left the Christmas cookies in the oven too long a had burned them beyond hope of redemption.
Santa stormed into the kitchen shouting, "Striking gnomes, pissed reindeer, bent sleigh, burnt cookies, I've just about had enough! And where's that damned little fairy that I sent out to find a Christmas tree?"
At that moment the fairy walked through the door with a tree over his shoulder and said,
"Yo, Fatman, where do you want me to stick the tree?"
Thus was the tradition born!
Once again, I hope you have a very enjoyable holiday season and that soon you will be starting to think about possibly returning to enjoy the delights of this little Greek island.
Regards,
Geof.
Winter 2000:
Hello Skiathos friends,
Well this is the "winter" newsletter but, so far, we haven't really had much of a winter at all.
The weather turned stormy and rainy over Christmas (our daughter had to wait 2 days to get back from Athens and only just made it late on Christmas Eve) but since then it has been really quite nice.
We have had some very cold days and several frosts one of which was cold enough to severely set back the lemon trees and the bougainvillea and turn our lawns brown. They will all recover though, with a bit of tender care.
Actually having too much good weather in the winter is a problem. For the island to stay as green and fertile as it is, we need lots of rain. As it usually doesn't rain for 6 months of the summer, the ground water has to be topped up during the other 6 months. Ah well, we still have a couple of months to go and we have had snow in March one year (and it was a LOT!) so we will have to see what happens.
We had our annual holiday to Amsterdam to see friends and relatives and also spent a week in Germany visiting friends we have made on Skiathos. We were treated like royalty there and had a real holiday as we were not obliged to visit this relative or that, we just relaxed and were indulged!! Very nice.
Since arriving back, I have been very busy setting up a sister site to the skiathosinfo site. It is http://skiathos-direct.com and is designed to make reservations at Skiathos Hotels a simple and easy process. It seems to be working very well. Check it out if you would like to make a booking at a hotel rather than villas, apartments, studios or rooms, all of which are available at: http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/
Another site that uses my web hosting facilities is: http://skopelos.net
================================================
A NEW SITE ABOUT SKOPELOS ISLAND
Skopelos Net: all about Skopelos, is a new Greek web site
that would be of particular interest to someone traveling there.
It is based locally and it features information on self-catering
accommodations, hotels, real estate, travel details, the island, the
countryside, the beaches, Skopelos off the tourist beaten track,
books, traditional recipes and more.
http://www.skopelos.net/
==================================================
If you are thinking of visiting Skopelos, you must see this site.
Talking of Skopelos, there is an old story (myth?) about the ancient rivalry between Skopelitees and Skiathitees.
This is the bones of it:
Skopelos was jealous of Skiathos because of its natural harbour and the offshore islands that protected it. One day the Skopelitees decided to go out with grappling irons to drag off the largest of these islands, Tsougria, and place it in front of their own harbour to protect it. They plaited ropes out of goat gut (there used to be many large herds of goats on Skopelos) and set out to drag the island off.
The Skiathitees got word off this and discussed it at length and finally decided to swim out heroically and defend their property. Then someone realised the danger "Oh! Oh! We might sink, having holes in our bottoms!"
Somebody came up with the brilliant idea of stuffing up the hole with cotton. So they did, and swam out and saved Tsougria.
Since that time, The Skopelitees refer to the Skiathitees as "Bambamkokoli" (cotton arses) and the Skiathitees call the Skopelitees, "Katsikathes" (goatees).
Well, that's about it for now.
Greetings to all the people that have signed up for this newsletter since the last one.
You can read all the previous ones at: http://skiathosinfo.com/newsletters.htm
If you wish to be removed from this list, just go to: http://skiathosinfo.com/newsletter.htm and follow the instructions there.
Regards,
Geof.
Spring 2000
Hello and welcome to the Spring Skiathos newsletter.
Yes, I woke up this morning to the sound of the first nightingale carolling away in the trees next to our house and realised that Spring is definitely with us (and I hadn't managed to start this newsletter yet!)
Of course this time of the year, the whole island picks itself up from its winter somnolence, shakes itself, and comes to the awful realisation that, yet again, all the preparations for the summer had been put off until the last minute. The same procedure as every year.
We have been busy preparing our houses (http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm) and attacking the weeds in the flower borders (why do they always grow faster and stronger than everything else?). New border plants have gone in and the lawns (which always suffer from frost in the winter) are being gentled back to life.
Speaking of frost, we also had snow in the middle of March just to remind us that Greece does get a winter and it can be very cold here. Sometimes we have temperatures well below northern Europe but, mostly, we are warmer than this.
Our one special day in this time of the year is "Kathero Theftera" which is at the beginning of Lent and is the day when families traditionally picnic on seafood down by the water and fly kites as high as possible. For some reason, although this day is linked to Greek Easter and therefore is never the same day each year, the weather is always
marvelous. It is our foretaste of the summer to come and lets us know that winter, although it may bite a couple more times, is definitely on the way out!
In Skiathos Town, everything is a bustle with shop and taverna owners whitewashing, painting chairs, getting in each others way and greeting old acquaintances. This is the time when those who do not live on the island start to return, like the swallows, and catch up with what has happened in the winter.
We are starting to prepare "Merlin", our catamaran, for the season. Renewing rigging, scraping her bottom and repairing all the nicks & scratches that accrue during a year on the water.
We were supposed to have a new marina but this spring but, despite the appearance of a large dredger for a few days, again we are without this addition to the harbour.
We will be having new ferries and the "Haroula Express", a large & fast freight-carrying catamaran, has already appeared. We have been promised another car and passenger catamaran which will come from Thessalonica and go to Volos via Skiathos and is reputed to be faster than the Flying Dolphin hydrofoils. That must be something to see.
I just hope that we do not have too many problems from the wash of these large ferries that tends to eat away the sand on some beaches.
The town council finally started paving Papadiamantis, the main street of Skiathos, which will now become a pedestrian only boulevard. It is long past time that this happened and, with a bit of luck, they might even finish before the season starts!
The web site is growing daily. There are now more accommodation possibilities than ever. There is of course our new site for direct booking of Skiathos Hotels at: http://skiathos-direct.com plus much more private accommodation available.
I have added a lot more plots of land and houses and villas for sale and have a new section in the property pages which describes the many aspects of acquiring real estate here, what to look out for and what you must do beforehand. There are also pages taken from the European Union web site, which advises you on your rights (and obligations) in Greece.
A discussion site has been added at http://skiathosinfo.com/discuss/ where you can leave messages for friends, ask questions (which MAY get answered), follow a discussion thread and leave comments for others to see.
Well, I think that is it for now. For those of you who wonder why you have received this, I send it out to the many people who have requested it, to my guest book signers, to anyone who has contacted me for information about Skiathos and anyone else who I think may be interested.
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter in the future, just go to: http://skiathosinfo.com/newsletter.htm and follow the removal instructions. :O(
If you would like to read the previous newsletters :o) then go to: http://skiathosinfo.com/newsletters.htm
Ok, as ever, I would like to leave you with some feel of Greece, for example the rustle of Spring in your veins and the feel of warm sunlight on your body. I hope that this newsletter has gone some way towards that.
Regards,
Geof.
The May - June 2000 Newsletter
So, we are well into the tourist season although May is always fairly quiet and we have had time to adjust from being a sleepy Greek island to becoming a humming tourist resort.
We had a late Easter which really started the season and as Easter Monday was also the first of May, there was no real May Day celebrations. Everybody had had their fill of roast lamb and kid (goat) on the Sunday and was not about to repeat the whole exercise 1 day later.
Instead everyone went to the horse races which are normally held on the 23rd of April (St. Georges day) but are put off 'till Easter Monday if Easter falls after the 23rd. We cannot have people enjoying themselves and gambling (!) during the time of fasting and mourning that leads up to the celebrations of the resurrection.
I may be being a bit flippant here, but all this is still taken very seriously in Greece.
The races used to be ridden on working horses (and even mules) and were more for fun & honour than anything else. Nowadays however, horses are bought and kept solely for this one day per year. It has become quite serious and a lot of behind the scenes betting goes on (I am told!). Anyway, it is a fun morning and one of the few times that you see more or less all the families in Skiathos, dressed up to the nines, having a day out. Everybody is milling around, shaking hands and wishing each other
"Chronia Polla" (many years) and have to be herded onto the sidelines when each heat is about to start.
After all this, everyone gets down to the business of accommodating, catering for & serving the visitors who will be coming to the island for the following six months. The slow ones, who had put off getting ready before Easter, now panic and run around trying to do 20 things at once and consequently getting nothing done properly.
By mid-May everything is usually sorted out.
We have had our first catamaran trip and very nice it was to be back out on the water!
Lida, my wife, is taking groups of around 20 people walking through all the lovely interior parts of the island 3 times a week and is thoroughly enjoying that.
Otherwise, our time seems to be filled to overflowing with looking after the 2 houses that we let, the 4 acres of land that we live on, servicing the web site, arranging accommodation, selling property (2 new bars sold recently, see below) & spending time with relatives and friends when we can.
There will be two new bars opening this year:
The Skala Wine Bar on Ploutarchou Street (the "Bar" street) where one can sample some fine wines and good champagne whilst listening to relaxing music that you can still converse over.
The Aphrodite Sports Bar which will be showing all the best European football and other sports and videos of classic games whilst you chill out with a selection of beers & cocktails. You can find it just off the main street of Papdiamanti opposite Dino's snack bar.
The web site is flourishing. More and more people are booking their accommodation through the Internet and the Hotel Direct booking service at:
http://skiathos-direct.com seems to be working particularly well.
You can now order your hire car or motor boat directly through our pages and we hope to expand this kind of facility more and more. See the business directory at: http://skiathosinfo.com/business/
Thanks to all of you who took part in the discussion pages http://skiathosinfo.com/discuss/, there has been lots of good feedback and interesting opinions there.
Well, I am about "typed out" so I will stop.
I hope that all of you will get to enjoy Skiathos again this year and if you cannot manage to make it, I hope this helps remind you of good times here.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the July Skiathos Newsletter.
We are now experiencing really nice "July weather" and have been for some days. By this I mean the temperatures are not crazy hot as they can get in June, the humidity is low and there is always a bit of breeze to make everything just right. We also get the odd cloud which is something special after weeks of non-stop blue sky.
In June, we always get some form of heat wave which lasts until a thunderstorm or strong north breeze blows it away. The humidity and temperature are often high and it is not pleasant if you have to work in it. Of course, if you are on holiday, its usually fine! I have greeted guests at the airport saying, "I'm sorry it's so hot" and they have said, "Yes, wonderful isn't it?" …… It all depends on your point of view.
We expect more or less the same sort of weather from now until the end of September when it will start to cool off a touch as we turn the corner towards autumn. Through October and November (and even into December) it will be sunny most days, the sea is still warm and it is perfect weather for walking over this beautiful island and experiencing it without the large amount of people that come in the height of summer.
There is plenty of accommodation with heating available and I think it is a shame that more people do not see Skiathos in her other aspects.
I have added a page of average air and sea temperatures (and rainy days) at: http://skiathosinfo.com/tour/temp.htm and you can see the "live" temperatures in Athens & Thessaloniki on the same page and on my home page.
Since the main street of Skiathos (Papadiamantis Street) has become a pedestrian area only, it has changed the nature of it for the better. The cafes, snack bars and bars have been able to put out chairs and tables and have given it an almost Parisian boulevard atmosphere. It is now a real pleasure to stroll down to the post office to check mail, or wander from one end to the other just "people watching" (a favourite hobby of mine).
There are plans to have a "Plateia" (square) at the top end of the street which will complete the change to a motor free environment for the whole length of it.
Of course, many people say it could have been done better, with a nicer style or with a more traditional look, but we must be grateful that it has happened at all. Like most local plans, it took many years more than was expected and was rapidly becoming another "Greek Myth".
Turning to Zorbathes, where we live, we still have some availability in our houses and can accept last minute bookings quite happily.
The Farmhouse is free from now until 21st July, from 31st July until 8th August and from 1st September onwards.
In the Barn we have availability from now until 12th July and from 1st September onwards.
For more information see: http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm
For those of you who are interested in acquiring property here, I have added a page of information and things to watch out for at: http://skiathosinfo.com/property/choosing_property.htm
Don't forget that you can book your Skiathos Hotel accommodation directly on the Internet at: htpp://skiathos-direct.com
Last but not least, I would like to thank all the people who have posted messages, questions and answers on the discussion pages: http://skiathosinfo.com/discuss/
It is nice to see a healthy feedback from people who have enjoyed Skiathos and/or have had recommendations to make.
Well, that's it for now. As I look out of my "office" window, I can see orange, lemon and olive trees, all with young fruit on them, the grapes swelling on the vines and the plums already falling off the plum trees.
I wish you could all be here to share it with me.
Regards,
Geof.
August 2000
Well, better late than never!
August, as always, is a hectic time and in between sharing good times with friends and relatives, meeting and greeting our clients for the houses, taking people out sailing and showing potential clients plots of land or houses for sale, I haven't had much time to think about the newsletter.
I didn't even mention the time spent answering all the emails I receive but, apart from the odd really silly one, that is a pleasure.
I shall never mention weather again!! After confidently predicting that the worst of the heat was over in July's newsletter, we were hit with the hottest few days we have had in a long while. Still, if you are by the water and are sensible, everything is tolerable. We got our work done very early in the morning and late in the evening, watched the Wimbledon tennis and took lots of showers.
I thought that this month I would describe one of our favourite walks which we call "the full moon walk".
Starting at around 18:00 from the monastery of Evangelistra on the day after full moon, we take the old mule track up to the monastery of
Haralambos. All along this path are wonderful views of Skopelos and Alonnissos. After resting at Haralambos for 20 or so minutes, we follow the dirt road towards Agios
Apostolos. This passes through the plateau that is just below the highest point of Skiathos,
Karafiltzinaka, and is where several goat herders still live and tend their herds. As the road dips down towards Agios
Apostolos, views of the north side of Skiathos, Pelion and the mainland towards Parnassos open up and are really just fabulous. Following on, we arrive at Profitis Ilias and the taverna of Platanos around 20:30 to sit on their terrace with it's stunning views over Skiathos Town, the offshore islands and Skopelos. As we enjoy an ouzo, beer or wine and a snack or two, the moon appears over Skopelos. It is massive and red and quite overwhelming. As it rises in the sky, the moonlight is reflected off the sea over Arkos and Repi Islands and blends with the lights of Skiathos Town to make a light show that is unequalled. After watching this for quite a while, we say goodbye to our hosts and walk the last couple of kilometres back to Evangelstra Monastery and drive, weary but happy, back home.
We may offer this next year as one of Lida's walks as it is one that can be done even throughout the summer.
Web site news:
The Skiathos Direct hotel booking service: http://skiathos-direct.com has proved so successful that we have started a similar service for the Halkidiki area in northern Greece. At the moment we only have one hotel:
http://skiathosinfo.com/alexandros-village-hotel/ listed but many more are showing interest and by next year we will have a good selection of fine hotels in that area.
The property site: http://skiathosinfo.com/property/ is ever expanding and many more villas and pieces of land are available.
We still have some availability in our houses for September and October so, if you are thinking of taking a relaxing holiday in the autumn, drop me an email.
That's it for now. I hope you have enjoyed your time in Skiathos or will be enjoying it shortly.
For those of you looking at cloudy or rainy skies, remember this, "The sun is always shining behind the clouds."
Regards,
Geof.
Autumn 2000
It's autumn already and I don't know where the time went!
I have been meaning to get this newsletter out for the last couple of weeks but we have been as busy as we were in the middle of summer.
Lida is off doing her walks with "Solos", groups of single people that come every spring and autumn to walk and see the parts of Skiathos that most people don't get to.
Unfortunately part of our favourite walk, from Platanias Beach through to Kechria Beach has been badly burnt in a forest fire and is lost to us for several years. However, there are many other places of beauty and interest and she manges to easily fill 3 walks a week.
The weather was so hot and dry this summer that Skiathos became a tinderbox and we were lucky not to have had more fires than we did.
Happily for the island (but not for the visitors in the same period) we have had a few really good rains [ :o) ] since and all the fire danger is over. There have also been some very untypical cloudy days during September and October but fortunately, most afternoons the sun came out, and made it beach weather again…at least for a couple of hours.
Perfect walking weather though!
We pressed our grapes again this year and the harvest looks good. Of course you should never count your bottles until they have been tasted (although, the more we taste them, the harder it becomes to count them ;o)
Last year we had around 140 litres happily fermenting away and we were licking our chops and rubbing our hands in anticipation……but that was before our neighbours 2 pigs decided that they would have a "wine tasting".
What happened was that the pigs escaped and were obviously very thirsty.
They arrived on our lawn and were grubbing in the wettest part (where the sprinkler overlaps) when one of them discovered the wine fermenting on the patio and managed to put a neat hole in one of our 25 litre demi-johns with its snout.
Lida arrived home some time later to find 2 completely sozzled pigs lying on the doorstep!
She managed to drive them up the hill to one of our neighbours (with the greatest of difficulty, they were stumbling around all over the place) and shut them in his courtyard.
I arrived shortly after and asked what had happened as it was obvious via our "pig aerated" lawn that something was out of the ordinary.
Lida explained and I then realised that the pigs belonged not to the neighbour above, but to another neighbour further down the valley.
Up we trudged and tried to move the pigs out of the courtyard and down the hill before he came home and discovered them. They were, by this time, suffering severely from the effects of some 20 odd litres of very young wine and were most reluctant to move anywhere. After chasing them round in circles for half a hour, we finally managed to get them going in the rough direction of our lower neighbour and then sat back exhausted from our efforts.
We informed him what had happened and he found the them next day still crashed out under some bushes (presumably with the porker equivalent of a huge hangover!).
We will be keeping our demi-johns in a safer place this year. In fact, I was thinking of drinking it all now to prevent any pig-napping but, remembering the state those pigs were in, I have refrained!
We are definitely coming to the end of the season and the cloudy weather has accelerated the effect. Many of the outside tavernas are shutting down and the beach umbrellas are being slowly gathered in.
I must say that I a looking forward to the peace of winter and getting on with updating the web site and starting a few new projects.
On one of the new web sites we will be offering select, exclusive accommodation in Skiathos, Skopelos, Pelion and Switzerland with possibilities for yacht chartering, diving, sailing, walking, skiing or, of course, just relaxing in a wonderful place.
The site is not fully completed yet except for our ski chalet page: http://hidden-valleys.com/switzerland/ovronnaz.htm where you can stay in a small, private, catered chalet with ski guiding. This holiday is specifically tailored for those who are "over 40 and want to improve their skiing".
We will also be adding a new "wing" to our Barn: http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm which will add a master bedroom, a small bedroom and a proper bathroom with a bath. Outside we will extend the patio area and add terraces with rock walls and Pelion stone to bring the whole building up to the same standard as the Farmhouse.
It's going to be a busy winter but an interesting one.
Well I hope that some of you (if not all of you) will be able to come and share this wonderful island with us again next year.
Keep checking the website and if any of you has some advice or feedback, you can email me or, if it would benefit all & sundry, post a message on the discussion board at: http://skiathosinfo.com/discuss/
Please find enclosed a ray of sunshine bouncing off a blue Aegean sea.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Christmas 2000 Skiathos newsletter,
I have made it a web page this time because I wished to include some images.
Please click here http://skiathosinfo.com/christmas2000.htm to go to the web page.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Spring Skiathos newsletter.
As usual, it is later than intended but, believe it or not, I plead pressure of work!
In fact it was hearing the first nightingale singing in our valley and sighting the first hare on the road at night 2 days ago that reminded me that I must get this together.
I had just returned from a trip to Thessaloniki (half business, all pleasure) and the mainland was stunning. Everything was green with newly sown crops and in between were swathes of white and pink from the blossoms of the almond trees. In the hedgerows, wild flowers were adding other dashes of colour and I was reminded of pictures I had seen in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam this winter.
I was in Thessaloniki to help promote 2 new websites which I am starting with a friend: http://thessaloniki-info.com and http://halkidiki-info.com. They will give lots of information about the areas (rather like http://skiathosinfo.com) and will offer accommodation at some of the better hotels in these regions. These hotels are open all year round as there are many things to do and see in the area.
On my way back, I stopped at Neos Panteleimonas under Mount Olympos to see Stelios and Claudia who run the Olympic Wings adventure holiday centre. http://hidden-valleys.com/olympos/olympicwings.htm
Unfortunately I had only 2 hours to talk with them before I had to continue my journey to Volos. However, it was well worth while and we may be trying to offer some combined holidays with a week at their centre and a week in Skiathos sometime in the future.
Upon arrival in Volos, I found that the hydrofoil for Skiathos was full to brimming so I took the opportunity to spend a night at Villa Horizonte on Pelion (http://hidden-valleys.com/pelion/villa-horizonte.htm) with my good friends Ingrid and Wolf. Their hospitality was, as usual, wonderful and they brought me back to Volos the following day to catch the next hydrofoil.
Well, back in Skiathos at last.
Were you beginning to wonder if I was going to mention Skiathos at all? ;o)
The village is perking up and if you move too slowly you will be painted white by old men & women wielding white-wash brushes as the town prepares itself for Easter and the beginning of the season.
The new paving stones of Papadiamantis Street have been extended to the side streets and the town is staring to look really nice. Having no traffic on Papadiamantis Street has been wonderful but you have to watch out for the cars and mopeds crossing it (sometimes at great speed) as they go from one side of town to the other.
Property sales are going well and look to get better as the Greek government is threatening to raise the tax rating on all property in the next couple of years. This means that prices will inevitably rise but not for a while, so now is a good time to invest. There are 2 villas on the market with both owners keen to sell, so, if you are looking for a nice place on Skiathos, email me at property@skiathosinfo.com
As previous readers of this newsletter will know, I am keen to promote a decent flight only service to Skiathos at reasonable prices so that people can choose their own accommodation (e.g. our houses in Zorbathes: http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm) and not be tied to what the Tour Operators are offering.
I have recently been contacted by someone who wishes to set up this kind of service, if not this year then next, and I hope to work together with him to promote what I think will be a very good step for Skiathos. A web page has been set up with a feedback form to get people's opinions on such a service and I hope that many of you will go to it and give us the benefit of your thoughts on the subject. You can access the form at: http://www.wardington.com
Well, I think that's it for now. We are looking forward to Easter and the return of many friends who have villas here and also our youngest daughter will be here for the holiday :o)
The weather has been warm and sunny (we could have used more rain but, what can you do?) and we are busy trying to get the gardens in shape.
This time I would like to leave you with the sound of the bees humming in the almond, plum and peach trees, as they gather their harvest and produce ours at the same time.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the June Skiathos Newsletter.
As I look out of my "office" window I see clear blue skies, the lushness of our lawns and flowering shrubs and the pine trees being ruffled by a delicious cooling breeze.
We had a funny old May with quite cool to almost cold temperatures (especially at night) and a lot of visitors didn't get as much sun tan as they would have liked. Even now, in June, the evening temperatures are a little lower than average. Of course, I love this and would be quite happy if we didn't have the (now annual) heat wave.
If the winds continue to blow and keep everything to a perfect 25 to 30 degrees and around 45% humidity, you will not find me complaining.
When I refer to my "office", it is just a small room in our house where I keep the computers, telephones, etc. and stay connected to the parts of the "real" world "out there". The Internet has allowed me to live in (what I consider) the most beautiful place in the world and be able to access all that I find good outside Skiathos and (virtually) ignore everything that I don't like. It has also allowed me to build my web site and communicate with many other people who share my love for Skiathos.
And what's going on in Skiathos at the moment?
Well, the council have put new tarmac and a pavement (!) on the road to the airport. Not before time as most peoples first impression of Skiathos was potholes and mad taxi drivers. At least we have gotten rid of some of the potholes ;o)
Of course we all drove around for a few days with tar dripping off the bottom of our cars but, "Hey! That's progress for you".
Papadiamantis Street now has flower beds on each side of the central access road area, narrowing down what was, last year, a nice broad boulevard. I suppose they will look better in a few years time when the trees that have been planted in them reach a decent height but, for now, I see them as things to trip over when the street is busy at night. I hope I am wrong.
The local council has promised me the cultural events program but it is still not quite ready they tell me and I am getting fed up with asking. I will put it up on the site as soon as I have it.
An alternative event planned for sometime in September is a live stage performance of "Shirley Valentine" behind the Achladies Beach.
I hope to have more details for the next newsletter. Meanwhile, if you are interested, contact Audrey and Brian Hall at OldPinfold@aol.com who are organising this.
We have been out sailing a few times (not as many as I would like) but still haven't made it over to Panormos on Skopelos yet. This is one of my favourite sails ending up in a stunningly beautiful bay for lunch.
An excellent read is Michael Carroll's "Gates of the Wind" which describes Panormos Bay and Skopelos before the real advent of tourism and gives a wonderful feel for the island people.
I read it about once a year to remind myself of what things were like when I first came and why I stayed.
It was my privilege to run into the author at the Skiathos airport last year and to exchange a few words with him.
We are planning another "moonlight walk" on July 6th (one day after full moon) when we go from Evangelistra Monastery to Haralambos Monastery, across the plateau of Karafiltzanaka, around the high point of Skiathos called Mount Mitikas and down to the Platanos Taverna at Profitis Ilias. Here we sit for a meal while the moon rises over Skopelos. Finally we stroll back downhill to Evangelistra Monastery and drive home.
This walk encompasses some of the best views of the island as well as some of the nicest spots and we look forward to it with great anticipation.
We have good friends arriving from the US at the beginning of July who will be staying at our houses.
Our bookings are slowly picking up but we still have many gaps so if you are looking for a truly relaxing holiday with real peace and quiet, check out our houses at http//skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm
There are new photos of the Barn with its extension and vastly improved patio area.
That's it for now, I leave you with the sound of the cicadas buzzing in the trees and the gentle lap of the water on the soft sand's edge.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the August Skiathos Newsletter.
You are receiving this because you either subscribed to it, came sailing or walking with us, stayed in one of our houses, signed our guest book or simply sent me an email enquiry. There are now well over 3,000 of you and the list is growing…
"Today Skiathos, tomorrow the world" ;o)
Well, August has just been unbelievably busy. What with meeting our clients and settling them in to our houses, quite a lot of sailing trips in our catamaran, relatives and friends staying, showing potential purchasers plots of land and villas, and a couple of hours every morning answering emails, Lida and I are happy when we get an hour or two together somewhere to just sit and relax.
Given the chance, towards the evening, we sneak off to some beach taverna on a relatively peaceful beach (like Elias Beach, Hidden Beach or even Tsoungria Island) and watch the sun go down with an ouzo and a nice fish meze. We even attempted to stay overnight on the catamaran at Tsoungria but got little sleep as we were nervous about the anchor holding, the wind getting up or all the disasters that the human imagination can conjure. As it was, the boat was rock solid and we could have slept in total relaxation. Next time perhaps ;o)
The weather has been generally pretty bloody hot (even the cicadas are mopping their brows!) but we did have a wonderful thunderstorm (all night long!) a couple of weeks ago with a really good downpour that freshened the island up and minimized (for a few days at least) the danger of fires.
The lightening was spectacular and the thunder kept receding and then returning as the storm seemed to like Skiathos as much as most people do!
Some travel news Minoan Flying Dolphins have finally got a reasonably efficient web site at http//www.dolphins.gr/english/index.stm You can check the schedules and are given a telephone number to phone where, in theory, can reserve tickets using your credit card. It would be interesting to know if this actually works so, if anyone has any experience with this, let me know.
A good friend of mine had an interesting experience trying to reserve tickets with Minoan before this web site was set up and I quote his email to me
"I tried to book my trip by fax. It is impossible to reach them by
phone. I had no reaction on my first fax so I sent a reminder a week later.
I wrote on the reminder that it was a repeat of an earlier fax. Today I had
two bookings confirmed by fax with two different booking numbers referring
to each of my faxes by two different people in the same office using the
same fax machine.... If I now ask them to cancel one, two new people will
cancel one each and I will have to swim to Skiathos having hitchhiked to
Agios Konstantinos. I am prepared to do anything to get there!"
Such are the trials of traveling in Greece, always moderated by the fact that it is so worthwhile when you (finally) get here.
For a listing of car ferry and hydrofoil services throughout Greece, go to
http//www.gtpnet.com/topeng.asp
You will have to sign up for this service but it is free.
Cultural events
It has been almost impossible to get any correct information about the events at the Bourtzi this year and I have been reduced to telling people to go to the booth in between the harbour and the Bourtzi where Vasilis will at least tell you what is on that particular evening.
What is definitely happening elsewhere in Skiathos is several performances of "Shirley Valentine" throughout September. Here is some information from the people who are organizing and performing this
'Shirley Valentine' will be performed on each Sunday evening at 8.30.pm from
9th September to 30th September 2001. The venue is Maniatis Garden, next to
the Esperides Hotel on Achladies Bay. No 10 Bus stop or the local ferry boat
from Skiathos old harbour is the cheapest way to get there, but a taxi is not
expensive.
We have been to Skiathos numerous times and wanted to 'give something back'
as it were, so the performances are free, but collections for local Skiathos
charities are going to be taken during the interval and after each
performance. You would pay at least £5 each in the UK so we are hoping that
people will be generous.
Audrey is 'Shirley' and we have already done the play in England (raising
£4000 for the local hospice). Brian is doing everything else and we mean
EVERYTHING so any help from anyone on Front of House or something else would
be gratefully received. We should be around the venue most days throughout
As already proven giving out our e-mail address is really helpful to all
concerned, so please feel free.
Audrey and Brian (Hall) OldPinfold@aol.com
Well, I am certainly looking forward to that.
They have managed to find quite a lot of sponsorship from tour operators and others and I am proud to have been given a mention (or at least the web site has) although all I have offered has been encouragement.
This weekend is the start of the great exodus and at the harbour can be heard the honking of horns and raised voices as the Greeks and Italians all try to get on the same ferry at once. There is definitely a Jacques Tati movie to be made there every year ;o)
We will be glad to see the amount of people diminish to more normal amounts in September and look forward to the "golden month" when the sea is still warm, the beaches are less busy, the sun less strong and the locals more relaxed as they have at least earned some money in August and everything from here in is gravy.
Why not come and enjoy it with us……..we still have some availability in our houses in Zorbathes http//skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm
OK. That's it for this month. I hope all of you who made it so far this year had a great holiday and those of you who are coming will have a good one too.
I am looking forward to mine in rainy London and Amsterdam in January!
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Skiathos Autumn Newsletter.
It has finally started raining after almost 7 months of nothing but the odd thunder shower. Skiathos was becoming parched and I was spending 2 or more hours watering every morning just trying to keep our lawns, trees and flower borders alive. It is a great relief to see the rain even though I know that I will be fed up with it very soon. The last 2 winters were comparatively dry and over the last 10 to 15 years, we have definitely been getting less rainfall than we used to. The stream bed that runs through our valley (and helps to keep it so green) now only runs whilst it is raining. When I first came to Skiathos, it used to run until June and sometimes even July. We had pools of water that were full all year long and had terrapins and (I am told) even fish in them. These have all dried up and the terrapins disappeared long ago (more's the pity). During the summer months, we often find ourselves wishing for rain whilst all the visitors to the island are praying for none! However, without lots of good rain, this island would not be the green haven that it is. A good snow also helps (oh yes, we DO get snow sometimes) as the melt water almost all goes into the ground whereas a terrific downpour will often run off into the sea particularly after a long dry period.
Enough of the weather. Skiathos has gone into "winter mode" with all the shops and tavernas outside the village (bar a couple) shut until next season. The buses, which ran every 15 minutes in the summer, now go only 5 times per day and the schedule is cunningly worked out to be of no use to anybody.
The local people are sitting around in the kafenions, relaxing, drinking & swapping stories of the season just gone and telling each other how badly they did (in case the taxman is listening ;o). We are all wondering how the season will be next year and hoping that the terrorist madness (and the reactions to it) will not have too great an affect on people's wishes to come to a place where they can truly relax and "get away from it all".
We took Merlin, our catamaran, out of the water last weekend after a farewell trip to Tsoungria Island and a last picnic on the beach there. Hauling the boat out is always a sad event as it is the definitive end to the summer fun. We are winterising our houses, taking down the mosquito screens and putting up shutters and weatherproofing.
The oranges on our trees are ripening and, although they are not so big this year due to lack of rain, they will make us plenty of good marmalade.
We picked and pressed the grapes and hope for a decent wine though, again, there were far less than normal. I hope this years will be better than last years. That never matured properly as I had picked the grapes a little too early and the wine remained just too sour to be pleasurable. We live in eternal hope!
For the rest, I am looking forward to updating the web site and I have started to write a book about my experiences here, especially during the early years in the 70's when there was virtually no tourism in Skiathos and we lived a "back to the land" type lifestyle. I will let you know when (if) it is finished.
Lastly, a couple of statistics. So far this year, I have answered 3,575 emails from people making enquiries about Skiathos. That is, on average, 12 per day. This is up 12% on last year and, although the emails are now slowing down, there will be a lot more before the end of the year.
OK. That's it. I will leave you with the smell of the rain washing the summer's dust off the island and the sounds of the birds celebrating in the trees.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Skiathos Christmas 2001 newsletter.
Firstly, I would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy new year. We are looking forward to having our daughters back with us and to the parties and gatherings that will happen over the next few weeks. The Greek holiday season tends to stretch from around the Friday before Christmas (in this case the 21st) until after Aghios Yiannis on the 7th January. This is the best part of three weeks and, if you need to get any official paperwork done in this time, forget it! Apart from the usual holidays of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve & New Year's Day (when traditionally presents are given), there is "Ta Fota" on the 6th January when the waters are blessed for the coming year. The service starts at the church and the congregation then wends its way down to the port where the liturgy continues. A cross is thrown into the sea at the end of the service and local youngsters dive in to retrieve it. Traditionally, the weather is good on this day but it can be cold, and the divers smear themselves with olive oil to keep themselves warm whilst the priests drone interminably on. Encouraging shouts of, "Throw the cross Papa, throw the damn thing!" can be heard from the crowd which usually comprises most of the residents of the island. A lot of pushing and shoving goes on to get the best view and some unchristian words can be exchanged at times. Once the cross has been retrieved, everyone wishes everyone else "Chronia Polla" ("Many years" or "A long life") and retire to the cafes and ouzerias to enjoy ouzo or tsiporo and snacks. The next day is the name day of all the Yiannis (and there are a lot of Yiannis and their relatives) so not much gets done then either. After this, life returns to normal, and most everybody goes into winter hibernation. There will be no celebrations until the Carnival season starts and this will be late next year as Greek Easter Sunday will be on 5th May. For those of you who have never experienced a Greek Easter, this is a good opportunity to do so as the charter flights will be starting before this date. Easter is the big happening of the year and, although it is unfortunately becoming commercialised like so much of our lives, it is still a wonderful event to participate in. If I can help anyone with arranging accommodation for this time, just send me an email. Regarding weather….I shall never, ever, ever, complain of lack of rain again (well, at least, not until next summer). We had over 35 centimetres in 3 days in November and as I write this, we are into our 15th day of rain with hardly a break. We had the driest and warmest September & October since records began and were desperately praying for rain. Now, I am desperately praying for a glimpse of sun, just to remember what it looked like! The streambeds are up again and we shall not be going anywhere for the next couple of days. Thank goodness I have access to the Internet to keep me from going crazy! Shipping has often been cancelled, sometimes for many days in a row, and has upset the whole rhythm of the island. People are often finding themselves on the wrong side of the water, stuck in Volos or Athens trying to get to Skiathos, or trying to get off Skiathos to catch a flight or get home. I have also been working on my book about my early experiences here and that gains many pages on these wet days. Otherwise, it goes in fits and starts and I find that my memory is full of holes. Luckily Lida remembers many things that I don't and I have been in contact with old friends again to check some details. It has been nice getting in touch with people again and, even if the book comes to nothing, at least it has stimulated these contacts. A footnote to the Shirley Valentine performances last September. There were 4 performances altogether and were thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. Over 600 GB Pounds was raised and split between the International Women's Group of Skiathos charity fund, and the Skiathos Friends of the Animals dog shelter. There is a web page about the Dog shelter at: http://skiathosinfo.com/sfa.htm. Unfortunately I haven't updated it recently, but it does give the number of the charity if anyone feels like supporting this good cause. I have put a web page up with this year's Christmas carol at http://skiathosinfo.com/The 12th day of Christmas.htm but this is a slight variation on the usual story and does contain strong language, so only read it if you don't mind four letter words.
Most of the mainland is covered in snow (only the warmth of the sea is keeping us snow free so far) so maybe we will get a white Christmas. I'll leave you with the (potential) sound of welly boots crunching into virgin snow.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the March Skiathos Newsletter.
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You are receiving this because you subscribed to it, came sailing or walking with us, stayed in one of our houses, signed our guest book or simply sent an email or enquiry to one of my many sites. To be removed :o( go to <http://skiathosinfo.com/newsletter.htm> and follow the instructions.
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As I look out of the kitchen window I see the pink blossoms of the peach tree and behind that the blossoms of our small almond tree and behind that the white of one of our massive old plum trees. Against the slow greening up of the land it is quite a sight. The old plum tree produces lots of plums but they are not really great and don't get ripe until latish September. It is fun to see passers by picking a plum in summer, try it, and then spit it out with distaste! The plums don't even make a very good jam but, as I look at the thick blossom now, I am reminded of why we keep it. We have had an amazing February, just one day of rain and for the rest, sunny & warm (to hot) days. Mind you, we needed it after the snows of December and January. We certainly got our white Christmas but I think most of us would have been happier without it. The snow started on the Monday before Christmas around lunchtime and by Tuesday evening we were looking at 1 metre of the heaviest, iciest snow I have ever seen. Trees, electric cables & telephone lines were all knocked down and two parts of the main road were damaged badly. Half of the road, at Maratha, disappeared entirely! The olives suffered tremendously but will recover now that they have had all the broken wood cut away but many pine trees were uprooted or so damaged that I doubt if they will survive. The local council is still busy trying to clean up the mess along the roads and may be finished before the season starts but nobody will clean up inside the forests, as there just isn't the will, the money or the manpower. I guess nature will have to take care of it. I had to get to town on the Wednesday, as there was a real estate contract to be signed. It involved the purchaser of the land, my daughter's man & myself trudging through 4 kilometres of hip deep snow until we reached the main road that had been partially cleared. Luckily, the snow packed down under our boots and we only had to lift our feet a mere 50 or 60 centimetres or so every step. That was quite a trip! I have scanned in some photos of the snowy scenes and you can see them at: <http://skiathosinfo.com/wintersports.htm> We had barely recovered from this snow, when another lot hit. This was the one that you probably saw on your TV's as Athens ground to a halt and everything there was chaos. We were by then quite used to snow and the island reacted quickly and efficiently, but we could have done without it. Our electricity came back after a few days but I was without telephone communication for 4 weeks!!! For an Internet user and email junky like myself, this was purgatory! When I finally could log on, there were over 500 emails to answer. I must admit that I ignored some, as I just didn't have the puff to answer the ones that asked for information that was already on the web site.
I have been extremely busy. The demand for land and villas is rising all the time and my biggest problem now is to find sufficient properties to fulfil the need. However, as the locals have now realised that I am in the business of selling property, more and more are letting me know of plots, villas and houses. I had expected the winter to be as quiet as it always was, but things have changed. More people are coming out of the season and enjoying the peace and quiet of an uncrowded Skiathos and many more people are living here full time, which makes for a great winter mix of interesting faces. Most of us end up in one of the plastic tents set up on the waterfront outside a caf? for a mid day coffee or beer and a chat. I get quite a bit of my work done there meeting or phoning clients and friends jokingly refer to it as my “office”. For the rest, Skiathos is quiet and the rush to get ready for the season hasn't yet started. We are looking forward to “Kathero Lephtera” (Clean Monday) at the beginning of Lent when we shall all end up on one beach or another, flying kites and having seafood picnics. Greek Easter will be very late this year; the 5th of May is Easter Sunday and the charter flights will already be flying so, if you have the time, try to be here for the best Greek celebration of the year. Many of the locals are asking me if we are going to have a good season or a bad one. They now know that the web site is a fair bellwether of the interest in the island and, as far as I can see, everything looks like another good year coming up. The tour operators have been saying that, due to 11th September, bookings are going to be down so they cannot pay as much this year to the locals letting accommodation but, at the same time, it seems that more charter planes will be arriving this summer. So, it looks as though they are just playing both ends against the middle for the own extra profit. Come independently and support the Skiathos economy, not the fat cat tour operators who leave very little money on the island. Olympic is providing (again) a minimal service starting from the end of March and you can see their schedule if you follow the links at: <http://skiathosinfo.com/flights.htm>. You will also find lots of links to travel agents and other companies offering flight only seats to Skiathos. A good way to get from the UK to Skiathos is to fly with easyJet and then Olympic. Olympic themselves may be offering good deals from Gatwick or Manchester all the way through to the island. Worth checking out. Finally, a plug for our own accommodation in Zorbathes Valley: <http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm>. You will not have a more relaxing and peaceful holiday than in one of our houses here. I guarantee it!
Well, that's it for now. I hope to see many of you again this year and the island hopes to see the rest. If you listen closely, you may hear the first nightingale trilling in the background!
Regards,
Geof.
The July 2002 Newsletter:
I must apologise for the large gap between my previous newsletter and this one. I have really just been too busy to get it together…..but now you are for it!
It's 06:30 in the morning and I've been up for ? of an hour, getting the lawns and flowers beds watered and feeding our 2 cats (who would tear me limb from limb if the food is not in their bowls by 07:00 at the latest). It is a lovely time of day, everything looks so much greener in the morning light and the temperature is so nice and cool. The cicadas haven't yet woken up but the birds are already singing to each other (or nagging at their babies to get out of the nests and start looking after themselves).
Today, I am off all day with my catamaran. Either to Skopelos or Pelion depending on which way (and how strong) the wind is blowing. I have 2 couples and one of each couple has their birthday today so we shall try and do something a little special. I look forward so much to these sailing trips as they are such a relaxing day. I can forget about the property business, the web site, looking after building sites and all the other things I do in a “normal” day, and just use the natural elements to get from Skiathos to a good beach and taverna and back again with some interesting company. We have been doing fewer and fewer catamaran trips and I don't really know why. Are people less adventurous than they used to be, are we getting too many of the “lie next to the pool at the hotel/apartment and never experience the island” type of people or is it that there are now so many yachts in the harbour offering a similar kind of thing? Anyway, I am happy whenever we have some clients as, otherwise, we tend to put off going out ourselves until “tomorrow” and, as we all know, tomorrow never comes.
I have probably taken on a little too much work and seem to spend too much of my time running from appointment to appointment, to building sites and to the airport and not enough time enjoying the beauty and peace of this island. On the other hand, life is really interesting at the moment and I am facing challenges that still stretch me at the venerable old age of ?? (Emails with estimates of my age to: <mailto:decrepit@skiathosinfo.com> please).
I still remember traveling form town to Troulos by mule when the estimate of time and distance was measured by the company you had or, if you were alone, by how many cigarettes you would smoke. “How far is Kechria?” “About 3 cigarettes.” In those days, the mules, horses and donkeys outnumbered the cars and were often quite reluctant to give way! Now there are only a few old boys riding animals and both species are dying out rapidly. Although the pace of life in Greece is still much slower than the business driven frenzy in Northern Europe, I still have the feeling that we have lost something on the way. Although most Skiathitees have a pretty good standard of living now, they were happier when they had much less things and much more time.
The island is a bit quieter this year. The tour operators estimate that, overall, bookings are down 10% and that is certainly the feeling we have here. I must say, I don't mind too much; the roads are a little less busy and business owners have a little more time to chat (although mostly they are complaining that tourism is down this year!). However, we will see what happens in July and August when, traditionally, the Italians and mainland Greeks invade the islands for some pillaging and raping. I think it will be the usual madness. Thank God for the peace and quiet of Zorbathes Valley where we live.
Just a note on crash helmets and seat belts. Although, in Greece just like the rest of Europe, it has been law to wear seat belts in cars and crash helmets on mopeds and motorbikes, this was never enforced in Skiathos before. Well, now it is being enforced and the police were (and still are) on the road often (except for long coffee breaks and even longer lunch hours) and they harvested a fine crop of fines (for the police benevolent association) before locals and tourists alike got the message. You have been warned!
I have just received an email from Audrey & Brian Hall who so successfully produced and performed "Shirley Valentine" last year in Skiathos. They are planning more entertainment for us culture-starved inhabitants and guests. Here are the details:
We are delighted to tell you that once again we are going to present theatre in Skiathos in September, again for charity.
This year it is 'Her Big Chance' an hour long piece from Talking Heads by Alan Bennett.
We have arranged to present this at the Hotel Esperides at Achladias Bay. The dates are 8th. 15th. 22nd. 29th of Sept and the 6th October. All are Sunday evenings and will start at 10.p.m. when they have cleared dinner. We have been led to understand that all will be welcome (not only their hotel guests).
Audrey & Brian.
Oh dear! A week has passed since I started writing this and I haven't yet sent it off. I had better do it now or it will turn out to be the autumn newsletter.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Autumn Skiathos newsletter.
Once again my apologies for taking so long to get this written but I have been so busy with various building projects and property contracts that the web site and the newsletter have been slightly neglected of late.
Today was Election Day throughout Greece for municipal and provincial elections and over the last 2 weeks Skiathos became a hotbed of political debate. In shops and cafes, tourists were served without the usual pleasantries as opinions of who should be elected (or buried) were bandied back & forth with great gusto. The Greeks love a drama and an election is always something to get one's teeth into!
We had 3 candidates for mayor:
The incumbent, a right winger and local doctor who has been in for 12 years already. His brother was mayor, his father was mayor and his grandfather was mayor (are we talking dynasty here or am I just being paranoid?) He has done a lot for his ego (and some say his pocket?) in the last 12 years but not much for the island (witness the state of the roads & the rubbish situation).
His main opposition comes from another right winger (maybe even more to the right as he would probably like to bring back the royal family to Greece) who is so fond of his own voice that he barely listens to anyone else's.
Thirdly is a loose coalition of the left led by a lady who has been a councillor for quite a few years. She is not my favourite person but is backed by some good people with common sense who might make some changes for the better and do profess to be thinking of the island's future rather than their own self interests…….we shall see.
Guess where my vote went. We may have the result by the time this goes out so…….
Re politics, I have posted a web page: <http://skiathosinfo.com/terrorism.htm> with a couple of cartoons culled from Greek newspapers (and translated) so you can get a Greek slant on world politics.
The weather this year has been the most unusual in my 30 years here. We had some fantastic thunderstorms (including one today just after Lida & I had cast our votes…was this a sign?!!!) with some remarkable displays of lightening and torrential downpours. The problem has been that they didn't last for just a few hours or a day as is normal but went on for many days and, in August and September, for a couple of weeks! There were some rather pissed off tourists especially as the weather in northern Europe was apparently very good during the same periods. Our streambeds have now been running since August and we have never seen them run except in winter and early spring. Still, we can't control the weather, which is a good thing as it would probably be just something else to fight about.
The island is slowly settling towards “winter mode” and many shops and businesses are already closed even though there are still tourists around. It has not been a good year for Skiathos, but also not for Greece and tourism elsewhere in general. Probably a combination of factors contributed, the economic situation, the advent of the Euro (which I am sad to say the Greeks thoroughly took advantage of to rise prices), the nervousness following the events of September 2002 and the growling of warmongers. Still, I am looking forward to sharing some good times with friends who I barely see all summer, perhaps playing a little (gentle) tennis again and getting some good bridge games in (I play regularly with a Frenchman, a lady from South Africa and an American lady which gives our evenings a nice international flavour). Although we are quite serious about our bridge, the 4 of us have quite sharp and witty senses of humour so I will often return home from an evening's bridge with a jaw aching from too much laughter.
We have various building projects in the pipeline to enhance and improve our accommodation in Zorbathes and I have taken on the overseeing of some building sites and a swimming pool project. With all that and updating the web site I don't think that I will be hanging around on street corners much ;o)
I always try to leave you with some “feel” of Skiathos and this time it has to be GREEN! The island is just covered in greenery and heather like no other year in our memories, so with my trouser legs wet from treading through dewy grass, I will leave you until the next time.
Peace,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Christmas 2002 Skiathos Newsletter.
We had a glorious autumn with warm sunny days and mild winds from the south. Many more days than normal were spent having lunch on our new terrace that looks down the valley of Zorbathes and sometimes we were tempted to get back to the summer mode of T-shirt, shorts and sandals. Of course, it couldn't last forever and 2 weeks ago the rain came in with a vengeance. In the last 15 days it hardly stopped raining and twice, the day's rain exceeded the monthly average. Our streambeds became rivers and only 4WD vehicles with a high chassis could get through them.
I am overseeing the building of several houses for people that bought land through my services and wish to have someone here to make sure that things happen on time and according to plan. A near impossible task in Greece, of course ;o). Up until the rains set in, everything was going swimmingly (sic) but virtually nothing has happened in the last 2 weeks. As we are now going into the Greek “holiday season” which lasts from 23rd December to 8th January, not much more is likely to happen for a while!
The exception to the above was the guys working for a swimming pool company from Athens. We are building a pool for Dutch friends who bought a villa here and they worked every day regardless of the weather. Some days they had to construct a plastic “tent” over the pool so that they could work on and then the wind came roaring through to fling the tent away! However, nothing seemed to deter them and I am sure that the fact that they wished to finish before Christmas and get back to their families in Athens has been a great spur. It will be interesting to see how the pool looks at the end of the day. We had to make large rearrangements to the villa to get it in exactly the right place and I have been attaching photos of destruction to the owner's emails for quite some time. Now they are getting the photos of the pool and they can finally see some positive action. This pool will use an ingenious new system of water treatment that makes the water absolutely sweet, clean enough to drink, using no chlorine or salt. It sounds like heaven and I am curious to see how this feels. The system, although not cheap, is easy to install on older pools, so maybe we will all be able to benefit from it sometime in the future.
On the waterfront, there are now 5 cafes and ouzerias that have enclosed their outside areas in plastic tents (that resemble intensive care units) and it is pleasant to sit “outside” inside (or vice versa) and drink a coffee or consume an ouzo with a snack and still see the sea and fishing boats bobbing up and down in the harbour. Anytime from 10:00 onwards you can usually find some good company to sit and chat with and catch up with residents who have been here all year but have been too busy during the season to exchange more than a nod and a quick, “see you in the winter”. The season is mulled over, plans for the following year are discussed, and those that are building vent their frustration (and then bury it with ouzo and a shrug) as the rain runs down the side of the tents.
For the rest, not much has happened in Skiathos. After the frenzy of the election (when the incumbent got in for another 4 years) everyone seems to just want to wind down and relax. However, we attended a council meeting last week when sparks were flying between the mayor and the new leader of the opposition and it seems like we are in for “interesting” times. It will be good for the island to have some other voices raised about the issues that affect our lives (and the lives of all who come to enjoy Skiathos' beauty).
On our land, we have been pruning the olive trees and cultivating under them. The olive harvest was poor this year (as last winters snow had broken so many branches) but we still managed to gather enough to make oil for a while. If we don't get a crop next year (they fruit every two years as a rule) we shall have to BUY oil. It will be the first time for many years and will surely not taste as good as our own (psychologically if not in reality). We chopped down a big old plum tree that had come to the end of its days and split it up for firewood. It has left a “hole” in our landscape but the wood burns beautifully and we shall appreciate it (in our fireplace) to the last.
Both our daughters have come back for Christmas. Although they are now both grown up and away from home, we shall try to hold to the tradition of Christmas together for as long as possible. They both love Skiathos, having been born here in Greece and lived on the island for most of their lives, but whether they will be able to live here in the future is another matter. Apart from tourism and the building industry, there is not much for them to do and they both have ambitions beyond that. Maybe teleworking and the Internet will provide them with the opportunity to live in this most beautiful of places whilst still being able to use their capabilities to the full. I remain, as ever, hopeful.
Well, that's it for now. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year and, above all, a peaceful 2003.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the spring Skiathos newsletter.
Well, I know many of you have been waiting for this Spring Newsletter for some time but I was waiting until spring decided to appear. At last it has sprung (although today it is raining again!). After a long winter of bitter winds and much rain (and when it wasn't raining, it was trying to snow!) we have finally had a week of beautiful, sunny weather. The whole island has stirred out of its somnolence and is busy airing accommodation, preparing shops and businesses, cultivating bits of land for a garden and getting around to all the things that we have put off all winter. Everybody is painting, scrubbing, cleaning but most of all, smiling, as the sunny weather brings out the best in us all. Fruit trees are blossoming and you can feel the wild flowers just straining to come out of the ground and burst into colour. Greece has more varieties of wild flowers than all the rest of Europe put together and (although we only see a small percentage of this) it certainly feels like it in April and May.
We have tried to go for a good long walk at least every Sunday as the encroachments of age add to the waistline and slow down the energy. Determined that I shall not turn into a couch (or computer) potato, Lida drags me off for walks around the Kalamaki Peninsular or across the island to Kechria Beach and the Monastery. I must admit it is no hardship as these walks always remind me of exactly why I love living here. The streambed at Kechria has more water in it than we have ever seen and there are real waterfalls and spray here and there. Coming back through the Mandraki woods last Sunday, I was struck (yet again) by the fact that the only noises we could hear were our footsteps crunching through the pine needles, the sighing of the breeze in the trees and the singing of the birds who are also celebrating spring. Not an engine, siren or any other human generated cacophony to be heard.
Of course the war in Iraq is on everybody's minds. I feel upset for all the good Americans (among whom are many of our friends) who will have to deal with the fact that their administration has squandered decades of goodwill by their hasty, ill thought out and (in fact) illegal attack on the people of Iraq. Not to mention putting back international cooperation by who knows how long. Of course, apart from the uncertainty in the international situation, everyone in Skiathos is wondering just how badly this will affect tourism. We all expect fewer people this year but how many fewer remains to be seen.
We went to California earlier for our annual holiday and spent many wonderful days there with old friends. They showed us some amazing scenery in Yosemite Park and Big Sur and I would have loved to bring back some of the crashing Pacific waves to one of our beaches here. I am truly glad we made this trip before the war started as, at the moment; I have no inclination to return for quite a while.
We are putting in a vegetable garden this year. After several years of not doing so (15 odd years of commercial market gardening was enough to make me want a break) we feel that all the uncertainty warrants us doing so again. It will not be on the market garden scale, as we just want good fresh vegetables for our own use. However, if there are surpluses, I know many of the local ladies who will happily take them as they are constantly reminding me how good our beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. were. Growing organically, we may have produced less, but I hardly ever came back from market with leftovers.
I am reminded of the time, many years ago, when, in London, we came across a Greek bookshop run by a Greek lady who obviously had not been back here for many years. We asked if there were any books about gardening in Greece as we wished to start a garden but didn't know how quite to begin in what we, at the time, considered to be quite a harsh climate. “There are none!” she said. “In any case you don't need a book, the soil of Greece is so fertile, you just drop the seeds on the ground and come back in a couple of months to pluck the harvest”! Oh, that it was so easy!
I am also looking forward to preparing “Merlin”, our 8-metre catamaran for launching at the end of the month. Her bottom will need polishing, her sails repaired, her rigging checked and then a good coat of paint overall will set her up for the season. I long to be back on the water with the wind trying to tug my cap off and the white water creaming under her bows, heading for the taverna at Tsoungria, Panormos or Kadi Georgi and a good Greek meal.
Our bookings are well down this year (but that was to be expected) so we have lots of room for any of you who would like to experience the peace and quiet and good hospitality that we offer.
See <http://skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm> for more information.
Well, as always, I will try to leave you with some flavour of this beautiful island and this time it is the smell of the beeswax candles in the churches as we approach Easter.
Regards to all,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the summer Skiathos newsletter.
A couple of nights ago we had an evening picnic on Tsougrias Island with a large group of friends from Holland. We waited until the taverna had closed and almost everyone else had left the island and we had it mostly to ourselves. We produced a variety of food and wine (including “Chateau Zorbathes”, our very own) and watched the sun go down over the hills of Skiathos across the bay. It was such a mellow evening that even the advent of hordes of mosquitoes from the brack water lakes behind Tsougrias' beaches couldn't detract from the beauty of the evening or put us in a bad mood. As the day light faded the lights of Skiathos Town and all the buildings, tavernas and hotels along the south coast came sparkling to the fore and the reflections on the almost perfectly still sea made the spectacle even more entrancing. The mosquitoes gave up as soon as it became completely dark and we could relax and finish our wine in comfort. I even went for a swim, which, if any of you know me !
personally, is as unlikely as pigs flying! Motoring slowly back across the gently undulating sea with our friends and listening to Lou Reed's “Perfect Day” crowned the occasion. Our captain, who had done the plentiful wine more than justice, had some difficulty in pointing us in the right direction, so his son gently eased him from the controls and brought us back safely to the Skiathos shore.
Tsougrias has to be one of my favourite beaches and places. There are no roads, you can only get there by boat, either your own, or one rented, or by the sea taxis that leave regularly all morning from Skiathos Town and return hourly in the afternoon. My other favourite beaches are the ones that you have to make an effort to get to. For that simple reason, there are never too many people there and the beach tavernas have to keep a good standard of food and service to make sure that they encourage those people to come back. I will not list them (you have enough clues already!) and I don't want to make the mistake of them become as busy as all the “popular” beaches are.
“Gavros” those small fishes that you can eat whole and are usually on the menu as “Whitebait” are the staple good priced fish throughout the summer. They are actually fresh Anchovies but bear no relationship to the over salted, dried up, tinned things we know elsewhere. If these are cooked correctly (gently fried in olive oil, first one side and then the other and NEVER deep fried) these are succulent, juicy mouthfuls of delight and, incidentally, extremely good for you. A plate of Gavros, a Greek salad and a view of the Aegean with a cooling breeze wafting across it should be enough to mellow anyone. The best ones are to be found at- ………………… (suggestions to gavros@skiathosinfo.com)
My other summer pleasure is sailing “Merlin”, my catamaran. Unfortunately, I do not get out on her as often as I would wish as the pressure of work keeps me running around (don't laugh - I have to make a living as well as enjoy the delights of Skiathos). Being out on the water, the temperature is always a few degrees cooler, the cares of day to day living seem to be left “on the shore” and there is always a good beach taverna to look forward to. Often the guests staying in one of our houses accompany us and they add to our enjoyment by their own delight in the (what for most, is a novel) experience. This year I shall have to make a new trailer for her, repair her sails (maybe have to completely renew the main) and consider buying a new motor but she is worth every penny and has given me more pleasure than any other material possession I have or have had.
In September we are planning a few days on a large sailing boat with German, Swedish and Belgian friends when we intend to explore the “Eremonisia” (the “deserted islands”) off and to the north of Alonissos, and the Marine Park in that area. It is something I have wanted to do for years but have never attempted in my own craft. Once we have done it with a more experienced crew, it will be a lot easier to make the journey alone.. Strange as it may seem to some, I cannot wait to get off Skiathos. However, I know that when I return it will be with be with a large smile on my face because Skiathos is really the only place for me in this world.
As every year, Audrey & Brian Hall will be putting on performances throughout September with the idea of bringing some extra culture to Skiathos and collecting money for local charities.
Here is more information
'A Cream Cracker under the Settee' by Alan Bennett will be performed at the Hotel Esperides on Sunday evenings starting at 9.0 pm on September 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th.
The play is a tribute to the late Dame Thora Hird and will be performed for the same charities as last year. The Skaithos Friends of the Animals and The International Womens Group.
The play is only a short one and the entire evening will only last around 45 minutes.
This will allow people to catch the last ferry back to Skiathos town and the people from around the area will have plenty of time to sample the delights of the bar or even a local taverna.
Tourism is well down this year and the island will have to tighten its belt this winter. We have a gap in the bookings for our Farmhouse from the 1st until 18th of August so we are now offering a 15% discount to anyone who would like to make a last minute booking. (<http//skiathosinfo.com/accomm/zorbades.htm>)
Well, that's about it for now. Our garden is being ravaged by a “plague” of grasshoppers but we get the occasional fresh tomato (if we are quick) and they taste soooooo good!
I leave you with the buzz of the cicadas in the olive and pine trees and the “creak” of the crafty grasshoppers as the eye the next ripening tomato.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Autumn Skiathos newsletter.
The last charter flight left a couple of weeks ago and the island breathed a collective sigh of relief. Much as we need the tourism and the money it brings, working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for over 5 months (as do the majority working here in the summer) can be wearing at the best of times (and this year was not such a good year). The waterfront cafes that were still open filled up with business owners, waiters and general dogsbodies, sitting and doing ..……. absolutely nothing! The feeling of "getting the island back" was a welcome one and the local people were smiling at one another (even those who do not normally speak to each other!)
The weather also changed as the last flight took off. After a week of hot, south winds, it turned around to the north, became blustery and cold, and proceeded to rain. Instant winter! Even this was welcome after a hot and pretty dry summer. It has since alternated between south winds with hot, sticky weather but fantastic cloud formations, to west winds that dry the atmosphere out and make for clear views of up to 100 kilometres across the sea. Interspersed is the odd night of strong north winds and rain, usually just enough to avoid going back to the summer regime of daily watering (a blessed relief as well!). The sunsets have been amazing with everything from complete cloud cover and the sun just breaking underneath for the last 10 minutes creating a sky that seems to be on fire, to a few, very high, wispy clouds that catch the last rays of the day and go through the whole spectrum of colours as the light fades. One of the special aspects of Greece is its amazing light, light that has attracted artists for centuries. It is a constantly changing and fascinating spectacle that never tires the eye, particularly during spring, autumn and winter. The summer can be less interesting in this respect as the days are usually a boring parade of hot, hazy blue sky. Of course, that is what most people come on holiday for but there is so much more here enjoy. Colours that seem to be more vivid than elsewhere, jump out and hit you in the eye, but are then "weathered" by the evening light to make them turn into pastels of amazing softness and complexity. In our valley, the plane trees, fruit trees and a few other deciduous trees are changing to their autumn colours and stand out against the intense green of the pine forest and the ever-changing hues of the olive trees.
The highlight of our summer was the charter trip we took in a 55-foot sailing boat to Alonissos and the offshore islands there. They are called "the deserted islands" and are havens of peace and quiet with only the other odd sailing boat around. Our captain and hostess were Belgian and we were a mix of English, Dutch, German and Swedish and the combination worked really well. The sailing was magic, the food great and the feeling of relaxation wonderful. Once our captain saw that one of our Swedish friends and I wished to do most of the sailing, he relaxed with a book towards the prow and let us get on with it with just the occasional comment about tweaking a sail or adjusting the course to keep us going at maximum speed. We spent 4 days and 3 nights on board and I haven't enjoyed a trip more. Must do it again soon!
It has not been such a good year financially for Greece as a whole and Skiathos in particular. The Iraq war made May and June more or less washouts and the general economic nervousness (compounded by the tour operators filling planes with whoever they could get at whatever price) brought the overall takings of the island considerably down. The hope is that, next year, the Olympic Games will bring more tourism, but no one knows if they will affect the islands in a positive or negative way. It is a one off event and maybe tourism will be concentrated on Athens. We shall have to wait and see and try to remain optimistic.
On the home front, the real estate side of our business was very flat all summer and I was thinking that we would be having a very brief and frugal holiday this winter (no trip to California this year!) but there has been a flurry of activity in the last month and it seems that things are picking up again. Quite a bit more property has come onto the market as well recently and I will have to get down to updating the web site soon. We didn't let our houses as much as we would have liked this summer and are now putting in a swimming pool to compliment the peace and quiet that is our main selling point. We were losing too many bookings for the lack of a pool and so, after many years of refusing to do so, we have succumbed to market forces. We have taken the opportunity, whilst having the JCB here, to make a deep wine cellar next to the pump house for the pool and hope that this will extend the life of our home made wine which always tended to become barely drinkable once the heat of summer kicked in. Of course it has been dubbed the "bomb shelter" and friends have been kidding us that it is really a protective measure. We will drink a glass of our own wine to the health of ALL the people in this world and hope that we never have to use the cellar in fear.
I will leave you with the crunch of dried leaves underfoot and the smell of bonfires in the air.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Christmas 2003 Skiathos Newsletter.
The annual Christmas Bazaar took place last Sunday and was voted by all as a huge success. This was an event that was started quite some years ago by the International Women's Group of Skiathos as a small handicraft and bake sale to get some money in, but has now developed into an event that includes all of Skiathos. Money raised by the group now goes to local charities and needy causes and the amount increases yearly. This year the Scouts and Guides and the Skiathos Athletic Association joined with the Women's group at the local high school to make it a truly pan Skiathos happening. There were the usual handicraft stalls and a vast array of home made cakes, biscuits and other goodies as well as the Gluehwein (mulled wine) and waffle stall (which I just had to keep checking to make sure that everything was up to standard!). The women also ran a Games room with lots of ways to win prizes including a bran tub/lucky dip area which was constantly busy until the gifts ran out. Other events were a slide show with a story, a balloon room (literally hundreds of balloons which you could wade through, kick, bounce or pop to your heart's content), a baking room where the kids made cookies in all kind of shapes that were then baked at a local bakery and consumed with gusto. Father Christmas hats were being made in another room and by the end of the day all the kids were dressed in one and cotton wool was flying all over the place. The local choir came and sang Christmas carols in both English and Greek and Santa Claus (Agios Vasili for the locals) turned up to have his photo taken with all and sundry. All in all it was a wonderful Sunday, enjoyed by everyone, and a record amount of money was raised for good causes.
After a fairly wet first half of December the weather has turned beautiful for a few days. Clear sunny days followed by sharp, frosty (at least where we live) nights with the stars just leaping out at one from the night sky. (The local council keeps threatening to put streetlights along our road but A) we don't want or need them, B) it is a waste of resources and C) it would spoil the pleasure of those wonderful starry and moonlit nights.) The forecast is for cold wintry stuff to hit is just before Christmas so maybe another white one? Who knows? Several people who are now experiencing their first winter here have suddenly had a reality check as they were assuming that the sunny summer weather just went on all year. Have they not been reading the newsletters I ask myself?
Last week we poured the concrete for our swimming pool. Quite a job as it had to be completed in one day and it needed around 28 tons of reinforced concrete. 17 workers and 3 concrete mixers were used and everything went swimmingly (sic). Of course it is still a huge tip in and around the pool area but now we can begin to see how it will take shape. Flower beds, rock walls, a BBQ area and a new parking area will all slowly come together to make this a welcome addition to our guests facilities here. Not to mention the bonus for us of a cooling plunge in the heat of the day.
The wine cellar is now almost complete and the wines themselves seemed to have turned out well. Lida bought a professional looking corking machine in Volos and we are now all set to get serious about this. Of course our friends and we will have to spend much time sampling and comparing the wines, which will certainly help in adding to the Christmas spirit. There is some dispute about whether some should be named Chateau Zorbathes or Chateau Migraine. Time will tell.
Outside my window a Jenny Wren is hopping about and Robins are to be seen in the garden. The frost is slowly melting off the lawn (it won't do the grass any good at all!) and the bright sunlight is stream through into my "office" making the computer screen hard to see, so I guess it is time to wrap this one up.
I wish you all a very wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy and, above all, peaceful 2004.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Spring 2004 Skiathos Newsletter.
I am sending this today, Sunday, hoping that it will brighten up your Monday morning.
Easter has come and gone and we celebrated with all our good friends who always come for this special time of year. The weather was brilliant and we managed to hold ourselves in patience and give the Pascal lamb a proper slow roasting over the coals (5 hours!). The food was voted the best ever and we washed it down with our own wine. For us it is always special because it signals the definite end to winter and the time when we can start to think of warm to hot days, sailing over to Tsoungria, walking to Kechria, seeing all the good friends and acquaintances we have made over the years, and drinking an ouzo (or two) whilst watching the sun go down.
On to local news. Some of you will already be aware that many of us (Skiathitees and foreigners) are fighting against having a high-tension power line supported on massive pylons being put through the north and east of the island. There is more information about this at: <http://skiathosinfo.com/DEH/powerlines.htm> which voices what our objections are based on.
On the Tuesday after Easter there was a demonstration against the Public Power Corporation (DEH) who are intending to despoil one of the last untouched areas of Skiathos by constructing this high voltage overhead line.
Most of the residents of the island are against this for health, environmental and economic reasons. The island closed down completely between 10:30 and 12:30 and an impressive turnout of something between 1,500 and 2,500 people carrying banners and placards, met at the high school, marched down the main street and listened to speakers just before the Bourtzi on the harbour front. (It was amazing that, in this society where no one can agree on anything and family members have been known not to speak to one another for years over some small dispute, so many were agreed on this issue). Impassioned speeches were made by all members of Skiathos society, from the head of the church to the children of the junior school, plus several guest speakers from all political spectrums. The DEH say that the alternative (putting in an undersea cable) is far too expensive but our argument is that our health (and that of our children) plus the cost of the environmental damage would be far higher in the long run. The highlight for me was when a representative of one of the junior school classes said that they would hold a bazaar, bake cakes and collect donations to help the DEH with the terrible burden of the extra cost! The fishermen, tourist boat owners and a yacht made a symbolic block of the harbour entrance (no ferries were expected at that time) to show that they too were concerned. The demonstration closed with the students from the high school putting on a small play that ended with them casting an effigy of the DEH into the sea. Many TV stations had cameras recording the event and, as well as news reports, there have been several topical programs discussing the issue. We hope that this will make some impression on the DEH, the government and anyone else who may find themselves in a similar situation. There is an appeal due in June at the highest court in the land against the decision to allow these pylons and we are working with pro bono lawyers to try to get a positive decision for the island. We believe that our demonstration will help in that fight. I have posted photos of the demonstration at: <http://skiathosinfo.com/DEH/demo.htm>
If any of you wish to support our cause, there is a form at: <http://skiathosinfo.com/DEH/protest-form.htm> which you can submit (after adding your name and email address) and which we will forward to the DEH and to the ministries involved in this case. All help will be gratefully received. We feel that this is an issue of the utmost importance to the island and, if you have ever had a good holiday here, it would be good to add your voice to ours to try to keep our beautiful island from this threat.
Our new swimming pool is now finished and has enhanced our accommodation facilities immensely. As always, we have worked with Jacques and Andreas (French & Albanian) who, with their excellent team of Albanian craftsmen, have created one of the best pools in Skiathos. Whether it was because this was the first pool they have created from the beginning (they have already had lots of experience with every aspect of building pools) or whether we have been the recipients of extra special care, I don't know, but it is perfect! When the tiles go on is when one sees whether everything is square and vertical, etc. There is not a millimeter out of place.........quite remarkable! If anyone needs some good work done on their existing villa or for some future project, I cannot recommend this crew highly enough. See Jacques' web site at: www.skiathosbuilder.com <http://www.skiathosbuilder.com>
We decided to use a salt water system (it is less than half as salty as seawater) as this is kinder to the skin than chlorine and just far more pleasant to swim in. Also with all the recent negative reports about the damage chlorine can do to the body and the environment, we definitely didn't want to offer that to our guests! Lida went for the first swim shortly after it was filled but it was still pretty cold and she didn't stay in for long!
You can see pictures of the pool on my accommodation pages: <http://www.zorbathes.com> and, if it looks inviting, do drop us an email to see if we have availability. I have also put up a page with a photo history of the building of it if anyone is interested: <http://skiathosinfo.com/pool/photo-history.htm>
Of course, you cannot just “put in a pool”, so we have terraced quite a bit of our land with rock walls, made extra patios, improved the road and added a cellar half of which is for the pool equipment and the other half of which is storing our wine.
The wine has turned out really well and, if we don't drink it all, the cellar should let it mature in the right environment. We have always been so disappointed with the wine souring in the heat of summer and now hope that we have cured this problem.
Spring is definitely springing and everybody is busy preparing their shops, tavernas and cafes for the coming season. The locals are speculating about how good or bad the season will be and whether the Olympics will help us or not. The peace and quiet of winter is over and, although it is lovely to have the island more or less to oneself, we are all looking forward to a bit more “life”.
The nightingales and blackbirds are singing and Lida is busy planted the flowerbeds around the pool. It is time for me to get away from the computer and give her a hand.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Skiathos summer newsletter.
Greetings to all the new subscribers since the last newsletter and, of course, hello again to all you regulars.
The most recent excitement in Skiathos was the arrival of the Olympic Flame. It was flown in on a military helicopter and was passed from hand to hand as it was ran from the airport, along the seashore, around the ring road and down Papadiamanti Street to the Bourtzi. There were vast crowds there to greet it and fireworks were let off. This was then followed by a concert in the open-air theatre. The crowds were a bit too much for us so we chose to go to a nice quiet taverna near the Plakes where we could watch the full moon come up over Arkos and Skopelos. We did hear the fireworks but couldn't see them. However, shortly afterwards, from the beach at Arkos, more fireworks were set off which we could see but not hear. Very beautiful at such a distance. With the full moon coming up a bit later and some glasses of tsipouro and wine under our belts, it was voted a fine evening by all.
We watched the opening ceremony last night and thoroughly enjoyed that. How they created some of the special effects, I still don't know. I wish, for Greece's sake, that it will be a great Olympics. They certainly got off to a good start.
The other huge Greek celebration was of course winning the Euro 2004 Football Championship. All of Greece broke into one huge party that carried on all night. At around 02:00 the Skiathos brass band girded its loins (or rather, struggled into their uniforms) and marched down the waterfront to add to the cacophony of horns and hooters, singing and shouting. I have never seen so many Greek flags in my life and you can still see them on buses, cars and even the delivery trucks humping sand & gravel to building sites.
Greece really needed that win. It has had so much bad publicity about not being able to be ready for the Olympics that it's ego (never small!) had taken a good bruising. This was just the lift they needed and they thoroughly deserved it.
The island has been quieter this year than for a long time. Tourism is down here, as it seems to be everywhere in Europe except for the really cheap destinations like Turkey and Croatia. Is it the Olympics, is Greece getting too expensive, is it the ongoing terrorist paranoia stoked up by Bush and his cronies? Who knows? We just know that it is actually nice to have less people around, the roads and beaches are quieter, there is not that frenzy that often happens about now and, although everyone is hurting to a greater or lesser degree financially, everyone seems more relaxed.
We cannot complain. Our houses are renting quite well (the new pool obviously playing a large role in that) and we already have some bookings for next year. We think (hope) that the magic of Skiathos will always attract discerning clients and that, if one offers a quality service, guests will continue to return to enjoy the relaxing peace and quiet that we offer.
We held our annual regatta last week. It is partially in memory of John Bremner (therefore called the John Bremner Memorial Regatta) and partially an excuse for a lot of nice people to get together and have a good time. 8 boats took part ranging from an 18 foot beach cat to tiny Toppers. Of course, the beach catamarans took the major honours (they would be hard to beat even carrying a few sacks of cement) but a venerable Yeoman (built some 25 odd years ago) came in third having judged the winds and course well. It even managed to hoist a spinnaker on the downwind stretches. We all adjourned to Sklithri Taverna to enjoy some ouzo, wine and snacks and the prizes were duly presented. A glass was raised to John's memory. He always supported anyone who sailed or who wanted to learn, and I had a few good sails with him across to the mainland and learned a lot from him (including an appreciation of a fine malt whisky or two!).
The island has a new mayor. We hope he will pay attention to some of the basic needs of the island like the roads and the rubbish situation, and try to bring it up to a standard on a par with islands like Mykonos where pride in their island, cleanliness and attention to detail bring tourists back year after year. He has, at least, been supportive of our efforts to fight the PPC (see following paragraph).
For those of you waiting to hear about the situation with the Public Power Corporation's plans to put pylons across the northeast part of Skiathos, the news is that there is no news at the moment. Everything goes into abeyance in the summer. Half the population goes on holiday and the other half is working hard serving them and the foreign tourists and trying to make a living. There was to be a decision by the highest court in the land in July but that seems to be put off until the beginning of December. What we are afraid of is that the islanders will forget or become complacent about the situation and that the solidarity against the pylons will shrink and wither away with time. We will try and get everyone stoked up about it again this autumn once the season winds down.
Thanks to everyone who submitted our email protest form at: <http://skiathosinfo.com/DEH/protest-form.htm> every little helps!
For those that don't know about this situation, there is more information at: <http://skiathosinfo.com/DEH/powerlines.htm>
The other evening, I was sitting out on our back terrace having watched the sun go down when it suddenly struck me that all I could hear was the quiet susurrations of the night crickets, my neighbour's sheep calling to each other, the tinkle of goat bells in the distance as a herd settled itself down for the night and the odd hoot of a couple of owls who nest close to our house. No cars, no hooters, no sirens, no planes, no man made noise at all except the tinkle of ice in my glass of ouzo. Bliss!
A friend of mine (whose house I helped to build) said that she hates my newsletters!!!! When she is in England and receives them she just wants to be back so much it hurts. I am still trying to figure out if this is a compliment or not!
Anyway, Skiathos is always here and waiting for anyone who wishes to enjoy her. I shall continue to love living here, warts and all (the island, I mean!) and bother people by writing about my view of it.
I leave you with the chirp of cicadas in my ears, the heat of the sun on my back and the happy sounds of people splashing around in the pool.
Regards,
Geof.
Click here for the 2004 Christmas newsletter.
Hello and welcome to the Spring 2005 Skiathos Newsletter.
Monday 14th March was Katharo Theftera (Clean Monday) when most of Greece goes for picnics and to fly kites for the beginning or the Lent fasting period. Traditionally only seafood and anything that doesn’t bleed may be eaten but there is such a wealth of good food within this range that there is always an abundance of things to sample. We go to Koukounaries every year where we meet up with many friends, attempt to get kites up and consume far too much wine and food. Conversation is non-stop and we usually endeavour to be the last to stagger home where we collapse on to the sofa and wonder why we do this to ourselves every year. Actually it is always a great day and the weather is hardly ever bad. This year we had blue skies and sun but very little wind.
Several Sundays ago, the local council organised a Carnival Parade on the newly paved Old Port. The new paving and the destruction of the plastic tents that used to dominate the Old Port has bought it back to life and it is so nice to have so much space to stroll around in, meet friends and enjoy the spring weather. The Carnival Parade started with a clown entertaining the kids for an hour or so and then the school classes and various local organisations paraded past dressed as everything from drunken Greek farmers through pussycats to witches. Free wine, sausages and souvlaki were on offer and we also contributed lots of money to the local ouzeris. A very good time was had by all.
The week before, on a very blustery Sunday, we decided to visit the north side and try to find the last two places we had never visited Aghios Panteleimon and the Church of the Panayia Glykosfilousa. We set off with our good fiends Becky & Phil having driven towards the Kechria area from the top of Skiathos near Profitis Ilias, and followed the road that was signposted for Panteleimon. The wind was cold but the sun was out so the walking was very enjoyable. As we approached the olive grove where the church of Aghios Panteleimon is situated we noticed several cars and a pickup truck. Next to the church is a small kalivi, barely 3 metres by 2 in which we found 6 local men sitting around a large table covered in food and wine. With typical Greek hospitality and generosity (they were not so sure about inviting women into the party) they insisted we came in, made space and plied us with food and locally made wine, both of which were delicious. One of them had been out picking fresh “Horta” (literally “grass” but actually wild greens such as young dandelions, etc.) and this had been boiled up and then drenched in olive oil. The bitterness of the greens combined with the sweetness of the olive oil and washed down with draughts of the wine made for one of the best meals I have ever had. Also on offer were stuffed calamaries, fish charcoaled on the outside grill, fresh shrimps and several other snacks all prepared by the men themselves. It was their day to get away from their families, get well and truly “happy” on the wine and enjoy themselves with arguments about anything and everything. For some reason they decided that, as a “neutral” party, I had to adjudicate on differences of opinion (of which there were as many as there were people!) and it took all my tact (and a few glasses more wine) not to offend anyone and keep the “discussions” rolling along. Actually, when Greeks are arguing, it looks as if they are going to kill each other but we have rarely seen anyone come to blows. Everything is taken in good heart and even vast differences of political stances are eventually accepted on the Greek principle that everyone is entitled to his opinion (however wrong they may be). What looks like war is mostly piss taking (friendly sarcasm). We eventually beat a retreat and pressed on (rather unsteadily) to Glykofilousa where we unpacked our own picnic but had room only for a cup of coffee. Both these churches are small and sweet and are lovely havens of peace and quiet. On the way back, we stopped at “Pyrgi” and the Church of Anastasia, which is close to where the road dips down towards Kastro. The church is minute and is dedicated to Saint Anastasia who used herbs and natural remedies to cure people of illnesses. The “Pyrgi” is the remains of an old watchtower that was manned in the days of the Persian invasions, several centuries B.C. From this tower, all the Northern Aegean was visible and, should enemies be sighted, a beacon was lit which could be seen from above Koukounaries. They in turn lit a beacon and other beacons were lit going across Evvia Island until the last one was sighted in Athens thus giving the Athenian League several days’ notice of the approach of trouble. The base of the tower was formed from large shaped black stones that would take many men to lift and which can still be seen today.
You may get the impression from all the above that all the Greeks (and ourselves) do is eat, drink and talk. Well, of course that isn’t what happens all the time but it is the essence of Greek life. Good food, washed down with wine or ouzo (tsipouro for me) and, above all, good company (with lots of different opinions) is what makes this society tick. “Parayia”, company, is all important. I have had locals take pity on me because I was reading a book on the hydrofoil to Volos and come a sit and chat with me for the rest of the journey. Obviously, I would only be reading because I didn’t have anyone to talk to!
We hope the Supreme Court will finally decide on the problem with the high-tension pylons from the Public Power Corporation at the end of March (if the case is not put off again) and we have every indication that the decision will be positive for the island. Hopefully the PPC will cease to lobby to put these pylons across the northeast of the island but will go for the undersea cable option instead. However, in Greece, you never know. I will keep you all informed.
Spring has definitely sprung and many fruit trees are in blossom. There are lots of migrating birds and it is a delight to wake up to their birdsong every morning. The townsfolk are starting to stir from the winter somnambulism and mix up their buckets of whitewash to refresh the town again. Businesses are going through renovations or upgrades and the energy is definitely starting to flow. We are putting our villas in order and cleaning the swimming pool area, the land and pruning the trees and vines. (BTW. The wine was less in quantity this year but tastes better than ever!) Greek Easter will be on the 1st of May this year so it may be interesting for some of you to come and experience this best of Greek holidays. If you ever wish to know when Greek Easter is (or Northern Europe’s Easter) go to this web page where a neat bit of Javascript I found will work it out for you. http//skiathosinfo.com/easter-dates.htm
Again a reminder for anyone owning property in Greece. By May, all property owners in Greece must make a tax declaration. Even if you have made the statutory tax declaration the year after you purchased the property, you will still have to make another one next year. If you have NOT ever made a tax declaration you MUST get your affairs in order this year. Contact your accountant for more information. If you do not have an accountant, I can recommend one.
Email me at geof@skiathosinfo.com
For those looking for property, go to my property web site http//skiathosproperty.com
There are quite a lot of new properties listed this year so if you haven’t had a look recently, go and check them out.
Also lots more accommodation is listed on my Accommodation Index http//skiathosinfo.com/accomm/ As more and more locals realise that the Internet offers them a great way to sell their accommodation directly to their guests (& more & more of you are booking through the Internet) these pages have grown and grown. There is now a wealth of choice from very upmarket villas to simple, but clean, self-catering apartments and studios. For flights to Skiathos, check the link at the top of my home page http//skiathosinfo.com
Well, that’s it for now. I will leave you with the buzz of the bees in the fruit tree blossoms and that indefinable smell in the air that tells us winter is over.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Skiathos summer 2005 newsletter,
It’s the weekend of the 15th August and suddenly, unexpectedly, I find I have a free day and enough spare time to get this newsletter written.
This weekend is always the pinnacle of the tourist season. The 15th is the second biggest religious festival in the Greek calendar and traditionally, the cities empty and everyone heads for the islands. I have not seen Skiathos so full for several years and, at the moment, I doubt if there is a spare bed on the island. We say to ourselves every year, if we manage to survive the 15th, we get to live for another year. By next weekend, most of the Greek and Italian tourists will have returned to their homes and we will settle back to the (comparative) slower pace of the charter tourism. Thank goodness we have the tranquilly of our green and peaceful valley of Zorbathes where we are always away from the hustle & bustle whatever time of the season it is. There’s no avoiding the roads though and extra care is needed with so much traffic.
We have had many old friends staying with us this year, one of whom I haven’t seen for 23 years, and it has been wonderful to renew the bonds of friendship and realise that time and distance will never break a true fellowship. Lida’s sister, her man (my partner for many years in our market garden times) and their children are coming from New Zealand in September and Lida’s father will be here for five weeks in the same period. It promises a busy but rewarding time.
Our houses have been full for most of the season and we are already getting several enquiries for next summer. Having the swimming pool has made all the difference. Our guests enjoyed the peace and quiet but now that they can have a swim at any time, it has made everything perfect. We have made many more acquaintanceships that we hope will turn into friendships over the coming years.
Apart from a couple of days of rain (one day it was very heavy with a spectacular thunderstorm) it has been hot, hot, hot. Of course the tourists are loving it but when you are working and don’t have the luxury of falling into the sea or swimming pool every so often, it can start to get bothersome. The island, however, has stayed amazingly green for the time of year. Here in Zorbathes, admittedly one of the greenest places on the island, we usually expect everything to have browned off and be waiting for the late October rains but it is still incredibly verdant. Perhaps that thunderstorm and downpour put enough water into the earth to support a lot more new growth.
Our new mayor has put a lot of emphasis on keeping the island clean this year and has managed very successfully. He has taken on extra workers for the season and one can see the difference. He, and the local council, have also been doing much to bring the village up to a better standard. Stone walls have been laid where before was just rough concrete or a pile of rubble, more green and garden areas have been created, the old port is completely rejuvenated and this winter, the new port (yacht harbour) is due to follow. I must give him a “bravo” and raise a glass (never a problem) to his efforts. One thing that hasn’t been sorted properly is the situation of the beach tavernas. This is because the local council is stuck between the law (which says they are totally illegal) and the desire of all of the tourists and many of us residents to be able to continue to enjoy a Greek salad, a plate of fresh fish and a wine or ouzo next to the sea. Of course, in Greece, “legal” and “illegal” are extremely blurred areas (what! how is that possible you may ask, but this is the Greek way) so there is a lot of wiggle room and mostly the beach tavernas have been allowed to continue. One problem is the taverna and bar at Vromolimnos Beach, which is incredibly popular with youngsters and a huge attraction for them on the island. This has been open, closed, open again and now looks closed for the rest of the season. Why?….who knows? In Greece it is often difficult to get to the bottom of things even in an island this small and there are as many theories as there are people!
Regarding the high-tension electricity pylons that the PPC is threatening to despoil the north of the island with, there is to be some (final????) decision this October and we are reasonably confident that we will be able to stop them. Of course, in Greece, nothing is sure, so we will have to wait and see.
The web site is growing by leaps and bounds and more and more people are booking their holidays via our pages. We tried to offer a source of flight only tickets to be able to help further this growing trend but our contacts, unfortunately, could not deliver the promised tickets. My apologies to all who tried to get flights this way. We are researching other possibilities for next year and, if this comes together, there will immediately be a link near the top of my main page for this service.
Well, that’s it for now. A nice breeze has just started and, if I get a chance, I will sail over to Tsoungria with some good friends for an ouzo or two and a snack.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the (rather late) Autumn 2005 Skiathos Newsletter,
Skiathos has gone into "hibernation" mode. I stood on Papadiamanti Street
yesterday (Saturday) afternoon at 16:00, waiting to meet a client, and there was
hardly a soul in sight and no shops open. Very strange when I think back to the
crowds that move constantly up and down throughout the day and late into the
night in the summer. Granted, when the sun is shining, the Old Port waterfront
cafes and ouzerias do have people in them enjoying a drink and soaking up
a bit of relaxed sunshine, but in general, it is very quiet.
There are many plans, among them paving the road to Kastro; finishing the
harbour paving and road; extending the airport parking apron and the runway;
opening a new rubbish dump (with recycling even!) and closing and renovating the
old one. However, none of these has yet started so maybe none of them will
happen (at least not this year). Local elections are coming up next October so
the promises are abundant. We will see what happens in fact.
The court case against the DEH (Public Power Corporation) regarding the proposed
high tension power line across the north of the island (see previous newsletters
at:
http://skiathosinfo.com/newsletters2.htm and/or this web page:
http://skiathosinfo.com/DEH/powerlines.htm) seems to have ground to a halt
with both sides apparently happy with this situation. The DEH?s hope is that our
resistance will wither with time, but our hope is that, since the DEH will have
to be broken up to comply with EU laws (it is at present a Government monopoly),
we may be able to negotiate better with a private company that is not used to
riding roughshod over environmental laws and local opinion. Meanwhile, at least,
it is not happening.
I have started playing some tennis again (Lida never stopped) and it is a great
pleasure but somewhat hard on my ageing, tired, unfit body. This has been
stimulated by the presence of a Dutch couple who have moved to the island.
Thomas was a tennis coach and Martine a tennis professional and Martine has
revived the (once) thriving tennis lessons for the Skiathos children and any
adults like us who which to improve their game. They also take pity on us by
playing doubles with us and, although we are nowhere near their standard, we
still have some interesting games and rallies. I love doubles as I was always
fairly good at the net and I can let my partner do most of the running!
The weather, which was not at its best in September and October, has settled
into a pattern of high humidity and haziness. The day starts with an overcast
sky which by midday clears away for a lovely sunny afternoon (thus the ouzos on
the waterfront after midday). There are no real sunsets but the sun is a
wonderful glowing red ball for an hour and a half before it finally sinks into
the sea. This is quite spectacular from the road above Koukounaries in the
Maratha area. The fruit trees, vines and plane trees have all changed into their
autumn colours and there is that special smell in the air of wood smoke,
mushrooms and slow decay. Not all the island has olives this year but there are
about half the olive groves with some and you can see groups of figures crouched
over picking the olives from the ground. Our trees have nothing so we will have
to get oil from the press this year. Since most islanders now make their living
directly or indirectly through tourism, the olive groves have been sadly
neglected and this is quite apparent in the lessening of the olive crop. Olive
trees (like all living things) thrive on love and attention but if they don't
get regular pruning and fertilizing, they start to suffer badly. Given the right
treatment, they will produce for hundreds of years. When pruned they are also
providers of food for donkeys and goats and olive wood is among the best in the
world for burning in the fireplace. All in all a bountiful part of nature.
On the home front, we are renovating a kalivi (small Greek cottage) on our land
and turning it into a nice place to live. It is down by one of the stream beds
that border the land and which is a lovely, shady, cool spot in the summer. Our
houses rented pretty well last summer and bookings are coming in for next year
so we must be doing something right. I am looking to open an office in Skiathos
Town for next season and take on some help, as both the real estate and web site
business are becoming much more than I can handle alone working out of this
small office in our house. The web site is growing almost exponentially as more
and more rental owners seek to advertise their villas, studios and rooms
independently. Businesses are also coming on board and we hope to add a whole
Greek section to it shortly. If anyone has any ideas about how we can improve
the site, please email me at:
geof@skiathosinfo.com
For property details and information, go to:
www.skiathosproperty.com
We are still hoping to offer direct flights to Skiathos (at least from Gatwick)
for next year and our researches into this are ongoing. We will inform you as
soon as we have news and, if it is positive, it will certainly be featured at
the top of the www.skiathosinfo.com
home page.
The next big event on the island is the celebration on November 20th
at the Monastery of Kounistria, just up the road from us, past the Dog Shelter.
Here follows information taken from Betsy Barnard?s Skiathos Calendar about the
event:
On the morning of the 20th the miraculous icon is brought up to the
top church and taken out from the town about 2:30. The bells ring in town about
1. People follow on foot on the old road to Kounistria. At the monastery of
Kounistria there is an evening service and an all night vigil. Large bonfires
are made and there is much feasting. Buses run to the monastery all evening.
Early next morning, about 5, the icon is taken back along the old road to town,
people following on foot. To Ayia Triada about 8, down the old paved road to the
Kalo Pigadi and along the main road to the church, Tries Hierches. Service
9-10:30.
They say she smiles (the icon that is) as she is taken back to her own church at
the monastery, in tears when brought back to town again.
The miraculous icon was probably discovered sometime in the 1690s. A Hermit who
was living near Kounistria then, saw a light shining in one of the pine trees.
He sent a message to Kastro (where everyone was living at the time) for the
chief Priest and people to come, and they found the icon there.
We have the idea that this hermit lived in the kalivi we are now renovating on
our land as you can see exactly where the icon was found from this spot.
However, maybe this is just wishful thinking.
Well, that?s it for now. I will leave you with thought of the sea lapping at the
scores of perfectly empty beaches.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Spring 2006 Skiathos Newsletter.
It is finally here! Not the newsletter?. but SPRING!
It has been the longest, coldest, snowiest and most depressing winter that we,
or anyone else, can remember. Emerging into these lovely spring days is like
coming out of a dark dungeon into the light. We know that most of the rest of
Europe had bitter cold this year and they have all our sympathies but we had
snow 4 times (!) and rain and cold winds until just a few days ago. (Climate
change? What climate change?) It's amazing how the weather affects us. I have
never seen people quite so down as this year. It is probably as much
psychological as physical but, as building projects got pushed backward, roads
remained as mud swamps and cold winds cut through the warmest clothing, we all
felt miserable. What a change a day or two of sun can bring, everyone is smiling
at each other and suddenly the whole town is humming with activity as people get
their shop, taverna or accommodation ready for the season. Building sites down
remote dirt roads have suddenly sprung to life as materials can finally be
delivered. Of
We always look forward to "Katharo Theftera" at the beginning of Lent, but this
year we spent a chilly day trying to have a picnic and pretending to have fun at
the beach. It really didn't work and we gave up early in the day. We did however
have a reasonably warm day for the Carnival parade. There were lots of floats
and the school kids from tiny tots to the teenagers all took an enthusiastic
part. My favourite floats were the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Gods"
(particularly Aphrodite).The local council supplied free wine and souvlaki and a
troupe of professional dancers. All in all, a good day. Now we are all looking
forward to Easter.
I celebrated my birthday a few days ago (pretty old some days, young and
sprightly others) and we went to Stamati's Taverna on the steps just past the
church of the Three Patriarchs, up from the water front. That is where I
celebrated my first birthday on the island with a couple of newly made American
friends. In those days it was just a very small room with 7 or 8 tables crowded
on top of each other and everyone rubbing shoulders. Having eaten our full there
we went on to the Mesogio Taverna (affectionately known as "Ma's" in those days)
and topped everything off with a few more carafes of retsina. With only room for
even less tables that Stamati's, they still managed to squeeze in two juke boxes
and often, both were blaring out different Greek music while someone gyrated
between the tables performing a "Hasapiko" dance. Sum total per person for an
impressive night out, 30 Drachmas (0.10 Euros!). Both tavernas are now run by
the sons of the original owners and it is nice to be greeted by those who I knew
I was heartened by one of the old Greek boys (he has to be 80 if he's a day) who
goes everywhere with a wheelbarrow. When I was complaining that, as I got older,
I couldn't do everything I used to be able to do, he said, "It's just a matter
of adaptation. I can't carry much anymore, but I can still push a lot around!"
An indomitable people, the Greeks!
We finished building our small bungalow called "The Kalivi". Once again,
Jacques, Andreas, his brother Spiros and their team (www.skiathosbuilder.com)
did a magnificent job and there now stands a building that we can all be proud
of. I stood on its cantilevered balcony which overlooks one of the stream beds
that border our land and watched the sun go down in a rosy haze. All in all, a
wonderful house in a wonderful spot! We took away the old greenhouse that was
just next to it and opened up the whole area. Since I stopped the organic market
garden some years ago, the greenhouse has just accumulated junk (instead of
seedlings and young plants) and it had to go. It was the end of an era.
The new era has started with my acquisition of an office in Skiathos Town for
the real estate work, the web page design and some marketing. I will be joined
by Gigi, a half Dutch, half Greek lady, who will be adding her talents to
organize the office, act as backup to me while I am out showing clients
property, help in the design of the web sites and generally (hopefully) ease my
burden. The office is located on Papadiamanti Street just 40 metres from the
harbour. It is on the first floor of a new building (but built very nicely in a
traditional style) in the fork of the road from "MacDonalds" (yuk!) to "No Name"
(the best "gyros" in town) and Papadiamanti Street. We would love it if you
popped in. A map to it will shortly appear on the property web site:
www.skiathosproperty.com
My last job in an office was back in 1968 and I vowed I would never set foot in
one again. However, at least it is MY office and I can shut it when I want or
just leave Gigi in charge for a while. Actually, I think I will probably still
spend a lot of time out of the office, showing property, dealing with client's
needs at banks, at the notary, with the lawyer, with the accountant, etc. etc.
As my previous clients know, all of Skiathos and every caf? was my office before
and that was quite nice, but I had to carry around all the relevant files and
information in my brown leather bag ("you'll be buried with that!" one client
said) and it sometimes became uncomfortably heavy. We will see how it all works
out.
The latest news about the DEH's intentions to put high tension electricity lines
across the north of the island (in the last piece of virgin forest!) is that we
have managed to stop them (at least for a while). We are still waiting for what
the decision of the highest court was based on. Was it just based on a fault in
the DEH's study plans, which could be rectified in time and then we would be
back to square one. Or was it a definite decision to not allow them to go this
route at all but use an undersea cable instead. We hope for the latter but will
probably not know for a few months yet. (Don't ask me to explain the Greek court
system, please!).
Good news for scuba divers. Diving (except for snorkelling) was only allowed in
one very small area off Tsoungriaki Island. Now you can dive everywhere, except
in archaeological areas. Where are they, you might ask? Well, I don't know, is
the answer. It is probably a good idea when you arrive to check with either of
the dive schools or the dive shop in town to find out the latest situation. Go
to the business pages for more information about how to contact them:
www.skiathosinfo.com/business/index.htm
We have noticed that our bookings (and many acquaintances bookings) are quite
down in June. We think this may be the "Soccer World Cup effect" where many
people are staying home to watch the World Cup thinking that they will miss this
it if they go on holiday. However, every caf? and bar in Skiathos Town (and
quite a few outside town) will be showing all the matches, and many of them on
large screen TVs. So if you want to watch, please do come. Alternatively, there
may be those who wish to get away from the World Cup fever and for those we
recommend our houses in Zorbathes (www.zorbathes.com)
which do not have TVs. Quiet days on the north and west side beaches can be
followed by a BBQ around the pool with never a hint of football!
I usually try to leave you with some feeling of Greece and this time I am going
to get a little philosophical. An acquaintance quoted me something from
Kazantzakis. I probably don't have it correctly but it went something like this.
"We come from darkness, we go to darkness. The short space of time in between,
we call life."
Life is short. Enjoy it everyday. Be good to your self. Be good to others. Bring
a little happiness into someone's life every day and it will be repaid many
times over.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Summer/Autumn Skiathos Newsletter,
Disgustingly late for summer I'm afraid and too early for autumn but, there we
go, I just haven't had the time to get anything written down before now.
Ah! You say, he's been having too much fun (again!). Well, there has been a
goodly amount of fun but it's really been the pressure of work that has kept me
from getting this out to you.
A really good day was the 15th of August which is the height of the summer
madness, a very big Greek religious festival and the time when most Greeks go to
the islands for a holiday. Also, for us, a break from the office, as we observe
all the Greek Bank holidays. We always say that, if we survive past the 15th, we
get to live for another year! We took ourselves off to Kastro Beach figuring
that most people would be recovering from the late night services and probably
wouldn't make it as far as there. We were right. It was very quiet and Apostoli
(who runs the lovely beach taverna there) was able to relax and chat in between
serving the few customers who had made it down the path. He was also grateful to
have a quiet day as he had been extremely busy for the previous month in which
the weather had been fine and calm and the many tourist boats came every day to
his beach to visit the old town of Kastro. We asked if he had any fresh fish and
he produced two different kinds plus a plate of tender calamaries which we
washed down with copious drafts of ouzo and wine. I crashed out on the beach for
a snooze and was later woken by the laughter of our youngest daughter frolicking
in the sea with her boyfriend. I staggered back up to the taverna with the
raging thirst that one too many ouzos brings and Apostoli took one look at me
and said, "Ella, katsi, kafe, nero?" "Sit, I bring you" He knew
immediately what I needed and, with that great Greek hospitality embedded deep
in his bones, told me that it was, "on the house". Sitting there sipping my
Greek coffee and drinking my water, I felt so content and happy, and realized,
once again, that it is the simple things in life that bring real pleasure.
After a while, gazing up at the sheer cliffs of Kastro I started to wonder what
it must have been like to live there during the Turkish occupation and with life
occasionally threatened by passing pirates. So different from now. Times were
hard then and just scraping a bare living from the soil and the sea and trying
to feed the family was a constant worry. Also, having to keep your head down so
as not to offend the local "Effendi" must have been extremely difficult for a
people as proud and independent as the Greeks are. Families were large as that
was the only way to have enough hands to feed everyone and look after the old
ones who could no longer do the physical labour. Every wild herb and green was
utilized to supplement the diet and help heal the sick and olives and olive oil
were the main staple of the diet. Meat was kept for special occasions and
holidays, when perhaps an old goat or sheep that was no longer producing any
milk might be slaughtered. Having started our stay in Skiathos trying to do the
"back to the land" thing and striving for self sufficiency, we know just how
hard life can be when you are a "peasant" trying to sustain yourself with just
what the land can offer.
The Greek Orthodox Church was the mainstay of the Greek culture in those days
and kept everything together despite the Turkish occupation. (They say that
there were almost as many churches in Kastro as there were houses!) Perhaps that
is why the church is still extremely important today in all Greeks lives.
Marriages, births and deaths always involve a church service. Even the opening
of a new business or venture needs to be blessed by lashings of holy water
splashed on everyone with a sprig of basil by the local priest. I stood for the
local council 8 years ago and, even though I am not a Greek Orthodox Church
member, I had to receive the priest's blessing!
All of this leads me on to the next local elections this October. There will be
four candidates standing for mayor this year and one of them has to get 43% of
the vote to get in on the first round. If none of them do, then the two with the
most votes go on for a second round of voting. Needless to say, all four reckon
they will win in the first round (hmmnnn, I don't think so!) During the last
election, I made comments (in that particular newsletter) about each candidate,
and then was extremely surprised to get a lot of flack from local people (I
didn't even know they read the newsletters!) as they were upset about what they
took as negative observations about their particular choice (I was pretty
negative about all the candidates!). This year, I will just say that our eldest
daughter is standing for councillor, so you can be pretty sure where our votes
are going!
A quick welcome to all the new people who have signed up for this newsletter
since the last one, it is always gratifying that for every 1 person who wants to
be removed from the mailing list, some 20 odd sign up.
We are now producing a skiathosproperty.com newsletter with a listing of all the
new properties that have come on to the market recently plus information about
the process of acquiring property here. If you wish to receive this, you can
sign up at
www.skiathosproperty.com on the home page.
The property market is very strong with lots of interest from our web site
visitors plus the extra new clients coming through the office door. This time of
year is when contracts get completed, after people have viewed and chosen their
property through the summer. We remain very busy until Christmas when almost
everything (& especially the bureaucracies!) closes down for 3 weeks. Lida and I
will then take a few weeks holiday ourselves (Holland, as always, and then on to
Cuba for a week is the plan this year) but the office will always stay open as
Gigi will be there when I am away and I will cover for her when she and her
family go to Holland. In March, things pick up again and often this is the time
when deals between local Greeks are completed. No one here has much time in the
summer to think about buying property as they are far too busy trying to make
money from the season.
Good news: for those of you who have not visited this year or for those who came
but didn't notice, McDonalds has closed down! Greece has some of the best ?fast
food? in the world with its "Gyros pitta" and to have people sitting at
McDonalds, filling themselves with crap, was the last thing I (& many others)
wanted to see in our beautiful little island.
Other good news: the old (illegal) rubbish dump is being closed down and will be
replanted with trees and (in theory) brought back to its original, forested
state. It will be replaced by a brand new one which is supposed to follow all
the relevant E.U. regulations (including recycling - we will see) & should not
pollute the area it is being made in. The bad news is that it can be seen from
half the island and by everyone arriving from Volos or Aghios Konstantinos by
hydrofoil, Flying Cat or ferry. As usual, they only got it half right!
Well, that's it for now. I am off to Tsoungria on "Merlin" (even though there is
no wind and it is overcast) as I need to make the most of my free Sundays. I
love to sit, relaxed, with an ouzo in my hand, and look across the water at
Skiathos where all the work and worries are (relatively far away).
I leave you with smell of the pines in my nose of the taste of the fresh figs on
my tongue. I wish I could share them with you all in person rather than in
writing.
Come back soon.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Christmas/Winter Skiathos Newsletter,
We were sitting in the ouzeri on the Old Port, sipping a tsiporo, listening to
the locals stoking each other up over one thing or another, when one of the
fishing boats returned to the harbour. It was surrounded by a cloud of gulls
making their strange half cat, half baby cries, and was being closely watched by
a group of men waiting to see if there would be anything worth buying from the
catch. The haul was not large but obviously had some good fish in it because the
group grew as the catch was wheeled down to the fish market to be sold. Business
was brisk as people vied for the better and bigger fish and then settled down
after the first rush. The cats prowled around hoping for an odd fish head or
even, if they were lucky, a whole fish or two. The sun, which had been shining
brightly all day, dipped down behind the upper church and suddenly the
temperature dropped by 5 degrees prompting most of the tables at the ouzeri to
call for their bills and head for home. Across the !
water, in the far distance, the snow covered mountains of Evvia reminded us
that we are well and truly into non summer mode and that, Greek island
notwithstanding, we get a real winter and it will be a while before we are back
in shorts and T shirts weather.
The Greeks do do a lot of sitting around drinking, eating (never taking drink
without food and glasses of water) talking, and joshing each other. They do a
lot of what we English call, ?taking the piss? or "taking the mickey" out of
each other and sometimes it looks like they will come to blows, but it is all
done in good heart and is usually designed to create that most beloved of Greek
events: DRAMA! If someone, or a group, can get someone else or another group
close to anger without it actually spilling over into the real thing, it is
considered a job well done. Nothing is sacred and, in a society that is probably
as democratic as you can get (i.e. everyone thinks they are the equal of anyone
else) any opportunity to poke fun is exploited remorselessly. A lot of
foreigners do not understand the Greeks (& I certainly don't profess to
understand them fully) but the priorities are just different here. Some think
them lazy, but I have seen them working far harder than any other people I know
(when it suits them); but they live to a different drum beat and the work ethic
and money earning ability of northern Europe and the States comes quite well
down on their list of priorities. And that's why we like it here! OK, it's hard
and frustrating when you are trying to get something organised (as a real estate
agent, I can tell you all about that) but most of us are here because a totally
organised life, doesn't have much LIFE in it.
I have quoted the Tourist Ten Commandments on the web pages (as posted by "Shadowfax"
on the bulletin board) and will list them again here. They apply almost equally
to those of us who live full time or a lot of the time here.
Thou shalt not expect to find things as thou hast left them at home, for thou
hast left home to find things different.
Thou shalt not take anything too seriously, for a carefree attitude is the basis
for a fine holiday.
Thou shalt not allow other tourists to get on thy nerves, for thou art paying
good money to enjoy thyself.
Remember to take only half the clothes thou thinkest thou needest and twice the
money.
Know at all times where thy passport is, for a person without a passport is a
person without a country.
Remember that if we had been meant to stay in one place, we would have been
created with roots.
Thou shalt not worry, for he who worrieth hath no pleasure.
When in Greece thou shalt be prepared to do somewhat as the locals.
Thou shalt not judge the people of a country by one person who hath given thee
grief.
Remember, thou art a guest in other lands and he that treateth his host with
respect, shall be honoured.
What else has been happening? Well, we had the municipal elections and the
incumbent (who was originally the Deputy Mayor but became Mayor when the
previous Mayor had to step down) was elected by an overwhelming majority on the
first round of voting. He was the candidate with whom our daughter was standing
so we are very pleased with the result. He now has four years to prove what he
can do as, in the last few years, he has had to deal with the old guard of
councillors who were voted in with the previous Mayor. Our daughter didn't get
enough votes to get on the council but would have done if all the foreigners
here who are eligible to vote had registered and voted for her. Maybe next time
around, who knows?
Concerning the long battle with the Public Power Corporation which wants to
pollute the north side of the island with high voltage pylons, we have won the
first case in the Council of State (the highest court in Greece) and need to win
another one to be (almost) sure to put an end to this awful plan. I say ?almost?
because the PPC is virtually a law unto itself (being a government monopoly) and
will probably try to do it all over again. We hope that the local motivation to
stop them will hold firm.
A bronze statue of Odysseus lashed to the mast (to resist the call of the
Sirens) has been unveiled in front of the Bourtzi and dedicated to all the
Skiathos seaman who have lost their lives at sea. The Retired Seaman?s
Association organized this and funded mostly from the sale of the very nice
calendars they produced every year. (Lida doesn't think it is Odysseus, and
maybe she is right, but I like to think it is!)
The New Port is finally getting its new paving stones and will look very nice
when finished (it's a bit of a tip at the moment!). However, there is no sign of
the planned new ferry harbour at the end of the New Port so I assume we will
still have trucks driving past the cafes and the Port Police blowing their
whistles frantically as they try to manoeuvre the trucks on and off the ferries
in the cramped quarters of the present ferry harbour. There are major road works
at Megali Ammos where the road keeps subsiding and it is now impossible to drive
past so everyone living and working past this point (an awful lot of people)
have to drive up the mountain, past Platanos Taverna and Profitis Elias, even
higher to Agios Konstatinos and then drop back down the long "scar" road to
either Vasilia or Platanias (Ahia Paraskevi) before they get back on the main
road again. This adds about 15 minutes (and much cursing) to the journey. As I
come in every day to the office, I am not very happy about it, but the work
needs doing so, as the Greeks say, "Ti a kanoumai?" ("what can you do?"). Also
we have had a large landslide close to Sklithri (incredibly heavy rains in a
very short period!) and the road is temporarily half blocked there. At east the
council is getting on with these works and not leaving the to the last minute (i.e.just
before the first charter flight arrived) as used to happen so often in the past.
We just hope they will be finished soon.
We have picked our olives and have a good supply of oil again, hopefully enough
to last us for two years until the next harvest. The wine is bubbling away and
will probably be broached (far too early!) for Christmas. We have a good stock
of logs for the fire so, even if we do get a large dump of snow which could cut
us off (and it seems to happen more and more frequently nowadays) we should be
able to weather it OK.
Many people have been arriving to complete contracts, or to sign pre contracts
for houses still being built, and the office has been tremendously busy. Several
old town houses have been bought and renovations are about to start on them.
It's really nice to see the town being brought back to what it once was with
lots of old stone house being restored rather than pulled down and ugly concrete
blocks taking their place. Of course, although they still have the look,
character and feel of an old house, they now incorporate all the modern luxuries
as well. Our latest Property Newsletter number 4 is now out and can be seen at:
http://www.skiathosproperty.com/newsletters.htm
Bookings for our houses in Zorbathes are already very good and we think it will
be a much better year than this one where the football World cup more or less
killed June off here as far as tourism was concerned. All in all, it wasn't a
bad year for the island although you will always hear many Greeks grumbling
about how bad it was, just in case the tax man is listening!
OK, I think that's it for the moment. As I look down Papadiamanti Street to the
harbour, where a gentle breeze is ruffling the water, I cannot think of any
other place in the world where I rather be.
I do hope many of you will be back next year to share it with us again.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & Welcome to the Skiathos 2007 Newsletter,
The reason I haven’t written one earlier this year is that I suffered a rather
bizarre accident in the spring.
With several friends, I was pushing my catamaran across the parking lot at
Koukounaries Harbour, to launch her at the ramp there, when the VHF aerial at
the top of the mast made contact with a high tension electricity line above
(22,000 volts, I am told) and I & my good friend Jacques suffered electrocution
as the electricity grounded itself through us! Fortunately Jacques didn’t get
such a large dose as me and was able to stay on the island for treatment but I
had to be whisked away to hospital in Athens by helicopter. We suffered burns on
our arms and particularly on our feet which are still in the process of healing
even now. During my two month stay in Athens, two of my toes were amputated as
they were completely dead (rather like frostbite) and I underwent several
operations to save the rest of my toes.
All in all, quite a shocking experience!
However, all’s well that ends well and the fact that we are both alive, did not
suffer any internal injuries (all the internal organs are very sensitive to
electric shock) and are almost back to normal (whatever THAT is) is something to
be truly grateful for. We received huge amounts of support and since I have
returned to the island I have been kissed, hugged or had my hand shaken by so
many residents, Skiathitees and foreigners alike. All the support and good
wishes have been quite overwhelming; uplifting & humbling at the same time.
It has been a year! Whilst I was still convalescing in a wheelchair back home,
we had a very bad forest fire which came to within 2 metres of one of our
houses. I could not walk properly at that point and it was the most frustrating
experience of my life to watch the fire come ever closer and not be able to do
anything about it. Fortunately, some of our Albanian friends (the ones that have
built most of our houses and swimming pool) came to help us and with buckets of
water from the pool managed to keep the fire at bay. We are eternally grateful
to them and really do not know how to thank them enough. We and our guests had
to move out for one night just in case it flared up again and because the
electricity and water had been cut off. We stayed with friends & the Caravos
Hotel at Koukounaries kindly provided free rooms for our guests for the night.
The next day we moved back, replaced the burnt water tank and pipes and carried
on (almost) as normal. Looking from our land to the hills everything is black
but looking towards the main road, the valley is untouched and still lush and
green. We consider ourselves very lucky to have escaped with no serious
problems.
So, what has gone well this year? Well, it has been our most successful year
letting our villas here with more and more regular guests returning. The Real
Estate business continued without my presence and Gigi (who was literally thrown
in at the deep end) managed wonderfully and completed several deals while I was
away. We had talked about taking on another person to help and we have now been
joined by Jacqui, a lovely English lady, who has brought order, continuity and
also a good sense of fun to the office.
On the island, we have wonderful new asphalt roads going back up in the hills
all the way to the Kastro turn off on the north side. No one can believe it! The
main road is still a bit of a mess but (rumour has it) this is going to be
asphalted as soon as the season ends next month. We shall see……..
In the town more Pelion stone paving has been laid in some of the older areas
and the New Harbour, where the yachts moor, has all been repaved and looks very
nice. There are still plans to move the ferry harbour down towards the Alkyon
Hotel area to stop the traffic chaos whenever a ferry arrives but whether this
will happen or not is anyone’s guess.
While I was in hospital, I day-dreamed about visiting all my favourite places on
the island and determined that I would do so this summer whatever the state of
my feet was. So, once I was reasonably mobile again, I went to Sklithri,
Tsougria Island (courtesy of our Dutch friends’ motor boat), Elias (Mandraki)
Beach, Kechria Beach, Small Aselinos Beach, Kastro Beach, Aselinos Beach and
drove to all my favourite spots in the hinterland of Skiathos. I haven’t been
absolutely everywhere I would like to go to but will leave a bit for next year.
Having a near death experience makes one appreciate all the more the beauty of
this island and the experiences of clean air, good food, love & nurture, and
LIFE in general.
I bought a rowing machine to build up my muscles (I lost some 14 kilos in weight
and lots of muscle tissue whilst lying in bed) and spend 20 minutes every
morning pretending to row down the Thames in the annual boat race, to get my
strength back. I look at the nature all around the house and watch the birds to
pass the time (as otherwise it gets pretty boring) and this morning spotted
three ravens swooping down the valley. They used to live in the area known as
“Korakafolia” (literally, “Raven’s Nest”) on the north east side of Skiathos
above the airport but seemed to have moved here for the peace & quiet since the
advent of the jet charter flights some 20 years ago.
To finish, I must write a few lines about Lida, my wife, who probably suffered
more in some ways than I did (she thought she had lost me a couple of times!).
She has been an absolute rock and never let me think for one second that this
was not all going to turn out OK. Her love, & that of my daughters, has been the
most significant factor in my swift recovery.
Bye for now,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Skiathos 2007/8 winter newsletter,
Firstly, I wish you all a happy and, above all, healthy 2008. As the Greeks say,
may it bring you everything you wish for.
Today is ?Ta Fota?, (?The Light? or Epiphany, in non Greek Orthodox countries).
There is a church service which starts at the main church and then wends its way
down to the Old Port of Skiathos where a cross is thrown into the water to bless
the sea and those that work and travel on it. Several local lads dive for this
cross (rather them than me) and whoever brings it up has kudos for the rest of
the year. He also gets quite a bit of money as he tours the cafes & tavernas
afterwards, with the cross on a plate, and everyone throws in some coins or
notes. Most of this probably goes to the church but I am sure he gets something
as well. It is pretty cold waiting for the cross to be thrown and one wonders if
the service is prolonged just to see who is hardy enough to keep waiting. In the
old days, many of the lads used to smear themselves with olive oil (the Greek
equivalent of bear grease) but whether this was to keep out the cold or to bring
out the muscle tone for all to see i!
s a question I have never resolved. Virtually all the population attend this
event, all dressed in their Sunday best and it is one of the few times that one
sees whole families together. Sometimes it is hard to recognize some of the
artisans and fishermen as we are used to seeing them covered in paint, plaster,
brick dust or fish scales, etc. Everybody shakes hands and wishes each other ?Xronia
Polla? (many years, or a long life) and ?Kali Xronia? (a good New Year) and,
after the event, repair to the cafes, tavernas & ouzeris that line the
waterfront for coffee, ouzo or tsiporo and gossip. Normally the weather is sunny
but cold but today is overcast and not very warm. I can?' remember the last time
it rained on Ta Fota and the weather is usually pretty nice (the Greek Orthodox
God arranges that, just like he usually manages to cry a little {rain} during
the Good Friday service at the monastery). It is an official holiday and more or
less marks the end of ?the holidays? whic!
h start just before Christmas (however, tomorrow is Aghios Yiannis &,
as most people have a Yiannis in their family, they will all be taking a day
off!). Things slowly get back to normal again, most of the bureaucrats are back
at work (God forbid that they should ALL be at work together!), the Post Office
starts sorting the Christmas mail so we might get some Christmas cards soon, and
life reverts more or less to normal.
Having wished you all health in the following year (&, I hope, for many years to
come), I wanted to tell you a little bit about why the Greeks are some of the
healthiest people in Europe (despite being amongst the heaviest smokers). The
secret is this; they eat lots of onions, garlic, olive oil, fresh fish & lemons.
Often onions will be consumed raw in salads and garlic will be taken on or in
food in a barely cooked form. Many who live in or near the countryside will also
gather wild greens (?horta?) which are full of vitamins, minerals & necessary
trace elements. These are thoroughly (over)cooked and the served with lashings
of oil and lemon juice. Fish are always served with large chunks of lemon or
with ?latholemono?, a sauce made from olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.
All of these good things offset the copious amounts of wine, ouzo or tsiporo
commonly used to wash the food down. As I have mentioned before, as a rule,
drink is never consumed without food which me!
diates the affect of the alcohol.
The Greeks have two sayings which are very important. One is, ?Pan metron,
ariston? which means, if you exercise moderation in all things, you will always
be in top form, and the other is, ?Ygeia pano apo alla?, meaning, health above
all. As they say, if you have your health, you can handle anything, but, you can
be a billionaire or own half the island, without your health, you have nothing
and can enjoy nothing.
Which brings me on to my health. I am fine. Apart from some scar tissue on my
feet which can sometimes prove bothersome, I am probably fitter than I was
before the accident. In a couple of days, we shall be going for our yearly check
up at the same hospital I was treated in and I hope to see and thank some of the
doctors and nurses who treated me so kindly while I was there. Jacques is fine
and traveling in Nepal and Bhutan as I write this.
We are off on our annual holidays from tomorrow for about a month. Amsterdam as
always, to see Lida?s father and family (her father will be 90 this year but
still lives on his own and is very independent) and then to the UK to see my
aunt (92!!! still on her own and bright as a button). From there we go to see
two lots of friends in Ireland, something I am really looking forward to as I
have never been there and, so I am told, the Irish and Greeks share a lot in
common.
On to island news. As promised, the main road has been asphalted and looks very
smart, except that they have only done about half of it and no one is saying
when the rest will get done! They are making a larger bridge at Koukounaries to
take away the large volume of water that can come through the stream bed there,
rather like they did at Platanias (Aghia Paraskevi) last year. Speaking of
bridges, due to the much larger amounts of water that now come through our
stream bed (since the fire, there is no vegetation to absorb the rainfall) our
neighbour panicked one night (the water was very high and his house is built
right on the stream bed!!!) and got the local council to break two bridges over
the stream to allow the water to flow more easily. This meant that we have had
to walk out to the Aselinos road as we had to leave our cars outside the valley.
Needless to say, we were not very happy about this. The local council have
replaced one bridge (but, in my opinion, not suff!
iciently well to solve the problem) but not the other one. As usual, although
Greeks live their lives to the fullest, when it comes to public works, they only
get it half right.
On the travel front, I see that EasyJet are now flying from Gatwick (& Dortmund)
to Thessaloniki which may be an alternative for those of you that cannot get a
charter flight or don't wish to be stuck to 7,14 or 21 days return. There are an
awful lot of low cost flights from all over Europe into Thessaloniki and you can
see a list of destinations and carriers at:
http://whichbudget.com/en/cheapflights.php?from=SKG
There is often more choice into Thessaloniki than low cost flights into Athens.
See:
http://whichbudget.com/en/cheapflights.php?from=SKG for a list.
Some important information for those of you who have bank accounts here is at:
http://www.skiathosproperty.com/bank-details.pdf
Greek banks may no longer accept money being sent to bank accounts owned by
foreigners if the account holder(s) have not produced an official document from
their tax office stating where they pay tax, what their job or business is, and
what their home address is. Next time you come here, if you have an account, (or
if you are intending to open a bank account with the idea of buying property
here), please make sure you bring this documentation. For UK residents, it is an
original of your P60 tax form.
Lida has just finished making her annual marmalade from our oranges, mandarins
and lemons and I thought I would leave you with the wonderful aroma of a fresh
picked lemon. I wish I could truly send you this through the Internet.
Hoping that lots of you will make it back to Skiathos again this year.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Spring 2008 Skiathos Newsletter,
We were walking back from the fish market with a bag full of fresh shrimps as
the full moon crept up over the Pounta. It was huge and still reddish and looked
as if it was only as far away as Skopelos. There was a pleasant southerly breeze
ruffling the water, making the fishing boats bob up and down at the quayside and
it seemed to me to be a moment of complete peace and tranquility. We are not
often in town in the evening but, when we are, we take the opportunity to get
some fresh fish or shrimps as there is nothing like fish caught only an hour or
two ago for a delicious meal. Many of our foreign friends dislike the bones of
the smaller fish but we, like the locals, prize them for their variety of taste
and delicate flavour. Besides, we soon learnt the proper way to handle the bones
and can eat all manner of fish without them being a problem. Fish used to be the
poor man’s food but, as stocks diminish everywhere (and particularly in the
enclosed Mediterranean), they have become ever more expensive. However, we
prefer fish (and sea food in general) to meat, as you never know with meat
products what is actually in them unless you raise the animals yourself. We no
longer keep our own goats and chickens so tend to be wary unless we know that it
was locally raised and then by whom.
Having said that, we always roast a baby goat or lamb over coals for Easter and
it is one of the highlights of our year. Many of our friends come for the
occasion and it is really the beginning of summer and the end of the “winter
season” for us. It takes a good 4 to5 hours of steady turning to get the meat
tender but thoroughly cooked through, and we all take our place at the spit
using copious amounts of beer and wine to keep the heat at bay. The animal is
stuffed with garlic and herbs and is basted with lemon and oil (or lemon and
water) as it turns (some say water makes the skin “crackle” nicely, others swear
by oil) and there are always “discussions” as to whether it is cooked enough or
not as the hours pass by. Red dyed eggs are cracked against one another and then
peeled and consumed with salt and pepper; the idea being to have an egg that
cracks everyone else’s but survives unscathed. After the meal, which is usually
completed with fresh salad from the garden, the hardier ones take a walk around
the Kalamaki Peninsular to try to work off all the food, while the less hardy of
us take a siesta! In the evening more wine and spirits flow, we pick at the
leftovers and conversation meanders to and fro until we finally tire and wend
our way to our beds. The day starts early with the lighting of the fire for
coals and finishes quite late and is always one to cherish.
The wild flowers this year seem to be more prolific than ever and the poppies
are just starting to cover our fields with a carpet of red. Also the flowering
trees such as the Judas Trees, the “Paschalio” (Lilac) and the Wisteria seem to
me to be more vibrant than other years, but Lida thinks that I just forget every
year how amazing the colours are. As the plane trees start to get their spring
leaves and other trees are getting their early growth, the background shades of
green complement the rainbow shades of all the flowers and flowering trees. We
had a pretty dry winter (again) but at least got a goodly amount of rain through
March from which the local flora has certainly benefited. Greece is renowned for
its wild flowers having a climate that ranges from almost sub tropical through
Alpine and, even on Skiathos, there are a range of mini climates that encompass
so many different environments and flora. It is a good time for walking as
nature changes so fast in these days that even the same walk can be completely
different from one week to the next. My feet, although sometimes a little
painful, can now do a lot of walking and I am glad to be back to being fit
enough to do so. I did play tennis for a couple of hours two weeks ago, and that
proved a tad too much as my feet gave my a hard time for a day or three.
However, I am lucky to be here, (which might be the title of my autobiography if
I ever get around to writing it!) and have no complaints whatsoever.
On to cultural events, there will be a painting exhibition by local artists
(including Lida) on the causeway leading to the Bourtzi on Easter Saturday from
12:00 until 19:00. There will be original paintings and decorated Easter eggs
for sale. All the proceeds will go to the local charity “ALKI” which supports
children from Skiathos who have special needs. There will be between 15 & 20
artists displaying their work and we hope the event will be well attended.
I have added a new web page to my site with links to local artist’s painting
sites and to paintings contributed by artists who have sketched and painted
Skiathos scenes. Look for the link on my main page.
Gigi is spending quite a lot of time revamping the web site but there are so
many pages on it now, and so much information, that it will be a long, slow
process. She has added photo galleries of local events such as celebrating
National Independence Day, Carnival, and the kite flying and picnics at
Koukounaries Beach on Kathera Theftera at the beginning of Lent. We have added a
page with youtube.com videos and a link to youtube’s site where you can find
another 400 or more videos. A surprising number are taken from behind the
airplanes as they take off, (!) not a place I would like to be as you will see
if you watch some of them. Several of the more artistic ones are contributed by
my (now retired) accountant who has a lovely feel for video and music and the
beauty of Skiathos. There is one of the snow a couple of winters back for those
of you who think Greece is always only sun, sand and sea, and one of a rare
southerly storm that caused chaos in the harbour.
The real estate business is keeping us busy and we are gearing ourselves up for
the new season with lots of clients already expected.
The villa bookings are a touch down so far this year (but all our regular guests
will be coming back again) so, if you are looking for a truly relaxing holiday,
please have a look at our web site: www.zorbathes.com
You can book cheap direct flights from thompsonfly via the link on our main page
and Olympic Airlines are now flying into Skiathos daily from Athens.
As ever, I would like to leave you with something from Skiathos so I hope you
can hear the sound of the bumble bees humming around the flowering trees and
smell the aroma of the jasmine on our front porch.
Hope to see some of you here again this year.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the summer 2008 Skiathos Newsletter,
We are well into the high season now and the island is very busy. Even though
the western economies are going through a hard time, it seems people still need
their vacation (from the hard grind of work) and, of course, all the Skiathos
lovers will not be kept away. Perhaps they don’t have as much to spend but they
can still lie on a beach for free if they wish and the appreciation of all the
beauty here still costs nothing.
We have had a series of good friends staying with us recently culminating in
last week where we had our friends from California in one house and our German
friends from Munster in the other. Many an evening was spent by the BBQ next to
the pool while stories of the last years were recounted. We caught up with the
news of other mutual friends, new connections were made and the beaches and
beach tavernas of Skiathos were discussed favourably or otherwise. The highlight
of the week was a Kaiky (traditional wooden fishing boat) trip which took us to
a lovely quiet beach on Pelion and then round to Kadi Giorgi, to the fish
taverna there. Copious amounts of wine, beer and tsiporo were consumed as we ate
mezethes, both simple and complicated, and excellent fish dishes. We were 37
people of many nationalities and a good time was had by all. We returned via an
hour on the beach at Tsoungria Island (& a drink in the beach taverna there for
me). Tsoungria is still one of my favourite places as I can look across the
water to Skiathos but have none of the worries & responsibilities of work at
that moment. It is also a beautiful place to watch the sun go down, and then
motor slowly back across the channel (just before the mosquitoes emerge!). These
friends have now left but many more will come in the following 6 weeks and life
can get a bit hectic with parties and tavernas meals at night following the work
during the day. (It’s a hard life, but someone has to do it!!!).
The movie “Mama Mia” (which is only topped by the latest Batman movie at the
world’s box offices and is No.1 in the UK) has been playing non stop to packed
audiences at our local open air cinema, Cinema Paradiso. There have been reports
of dancing in the aisles to the music. Of course it is very popular here as
Skiathos, our neighbouring island of Skopelos and the Pelion peninsular feature
hugely and all the beautiful scenery in the movie is from these places. People
have already been enquiring about booking places to rent for next year which can
only be good for the local economies. We have put together a page on our web
site www.skiathosinfo.com/mamamia.htm featuring photos of the making of the
movie here in Skiathos and some of the local characters who “starred” as extras
and who we know well. I was waiting for the casting director to come and offer
me a starring role but I guess she couldn’t find me :o(
Our daughter will be getting married this winter in Athens and, as this will be
in a Greek Orthodox Church, she had to be baptized into the Greek Orthodox
faith. None of us are in any way religious but it was quite a moving ceremony at
the main Monastery of Evangelistra which is always a beautiful place to be in.
There was a light moment as she was baptized as she is far too big to get into
the usual font and the “holy plastic wash tub” was used instead. Our good Greek
friend Erini (who has lived most of her life in the UK) was the Godmother and,
in the traditional Greek way, this will bring our two families even closer. Her
son was married here one week later and 200 of us crowded into the Bourtzi for
the marriage vows and then went to the Skiathos Princess for a buffet and party
that carried on through the night (I am told it went through the night as I
couldn’t make it past 1AM).
I had to return to Athens for remedial surgery on my feet. (We are starting to
refer to these trips as the yearly vacation to Athens). It was successful but
has made walking difficult again and one foot is being stubborn about healing
properly. This is probably caused by having to walk a fair amount as I get to
work in the morning and back to the parking places in the afternoon. So, I am
taking this weekend and a day or two off with no walking and my feet up, in the
hope that this will be enough to complete the healing process. It as also given
me time to write this newsletter (you don’t think I could do nothing do you?)
and I hope to catch up with a few good books I have been wanting to read.
Finally, I wanted to say a few words about the wonderful diversity of people on
this island with its great mix of many nationalities, and particularly about the
women of the island (God bless ’em). Starting obviously with my wife and
followed rapidly by my daughters, all of whom have always supported me to the
full, even when I seemed to be embarking on new bizaar ventures (or getting into
bizaar accidents!). I then have the two lovely ladies that work in the office
with me, our caretaker in Zorbathes who helps keep our gardens & houses looking
wonderful, my civil engineer, the lawyer I mostly use and the notary I mostly
use. All of them are extremely hard working (whilst some of them are raising, or
have raised, families as well), are very conscientious, patient, very
sympathetic and they all have a great sense of humour. A joy and privilege to be
around!
I leave you with the sound of the sea lapping on the edge of the beach.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Autumn 2008 Skiathos Newsletter,
It has been a bit of a slower season for us this year with September in
particular being a bit of an anti-climax. The weather was good and very hot
until then when suddenly we had many cloudy and cool days and quite a lot of
rain. The rain was very welcome for us as the island was quite parched and it
was a struggle to keep all the flower beds, lawns and veggie gardens alive, let
alone thriving. The island is now beautifully green again and October & November
are proving to be lovely months. We have been having picnics on the (now
deserted) beaches and Lida has been swimming regularly. Our pool cooled down
quite quickly but the sea is still lovely and warm.
The demise of XL, and its associated travel company Kosmar, was a big financial
blow for the island. Apart from the lack of flight only seats at the end of the
season, Kosmar owed many accommodation owners large sums of money which they
will now never see. They in turn owed money to various workers and craftsmen
(carpenters, plumbers, etc.) who will now also not get paid, so the economic
damage filters down throughout the island. We sincerely hope that another
company will take up the reins but, with the present economic climate, who
knows?
FLASH, I have just heard that http://www.kissflights.com/ will be selling flight
only tickets to Skiathos leaving both Gatwick and Manchester on Fridays.
Despite the financial problems, we are still getting many clients for property
purchases and it seems that many people would rather have their money in
property than in the banks at the moment. Property is real whereas nobody knows
whether their money in the bank or stock exchange will suddenly become much less
in value. We hope that some sense will be brought into the financial world and
that greed will no longer be acceptable!
I have (re)discovered two wheels, and bought myself a bicycle for getting around
Skiathos Town. The bike has to be one of man’s greatest inventions. It whizzes
me from office to accountant to notary to banks, etc. in half the time, with
half the effort, and keeps me from overstressing my poor, abused feet. Why I
didn’t get one years ago, I’ll never know.
It looks as if the authorities here are going to finish asphalting the main road
all the way to Koukounaries. They are certainly starting the preparatory work.
But, as always in Greece, we will believe it when we see it. We are also
supposed to be having our dirt road into Zorbathes covered with a concrete
topping which will make driving in and out of the valley a lot easier, but again
….. (see above!). The council has been putting up nice wooden signs where locals
can advertise their accommodation and businesses, and all posters and flyers
were supposed to come off walls, telegraph poles, etc. under threat of dire
fines. Of course they came off for a month or so and then went back up. However,
it was a step in the right direction. They are also making more effort to keep
the island clean and have succeeded quite well. In the middle of August, when
the island is totally full, it is a bit of a struggle, but at least they are now
seriously trying.
We have pressed our grapes and the must is frothing nicely. We have also
branched out and are trying our hands with cider as well this year. All in all
we have potentially well over two hundred litres of alcoholic beverage bubbling
away and next year promises to be a merry one. The olives are ripening on the
trees and the harvest looks promising. We are putting in a much larger garden
because it seems that we cannot definitely rely on so many tourists coming next
year and it is, apparently, very good for our carbon footprint (not to mention
our health and our wallets) to grow as much of our own food as possible. Who
knows, we might have to go back to being mainly self sufficient as we used to be
in our early days here. Some goats, a few chickens and a pig again. Ah, the
simple (but hard) life! Over the years we have planted many fruit and nut trees
and have mostly given the produce away, but we may now have to look into long
term storage instead. We are keeping all our options open but are optimistically
hoping for the best. Whatever happens, I cannot think of a place I would rather
be than Skiathos.
I sold Merlin, my catamaran. It was hard, but after the accident and not really
having had much use of her for a couple of years before that, it seemed like the
right time to say goodbye. A good friend from Volos bought her and I am happy
that she is going to a good home. We are planning to buy, or share the use of, a
small motor boat so that we can still get to all the places we love. As for
sailing, we will go as often as we can with friends and hope to have the odd 3
or 4 day trip when we can find the time and an available charter yacht. Motor
boats are OK for getting around but there is nothing like the use of natural
forces to get from A to B without the intrusive noise of a motor.
Lida is now racking the wine. This involves siphoning the clear wine off the
dregs that have accumulated in the bottom of the demijohns. She has to suck on a
tube to get the siphon going and taste the wine for dryness and flavour as she
does so…..she is now as drunk as a skunk! No, actually, she just has a very
broad smile on her face which bodes well for the vintage.
Well, that’s it for now. I leave you with the rustle of the wind in the pine
trees and the smell of wood smoke as the nights draw in.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello & welcome to the Christmas 2008 Skiathos Newsletter,
The island has slowed down a lot now and everyone is looking forward to “the
holidays” which tend to stretch from 24th December until 7th January. During
this time, it is almost impossible to get anything done if it involves the
bureaucracy as inevitably, the person you need to sign or issue the paper you
need, will be away. This is the time when the ouzeris and tsipouratheka usually
do good trade but this year, the whole economic situation has made everyone
nervous and they are going out much less than normal. It hasn't stopped us
though :o)
We are looking forward to our daughters both being here to celebrate Christmas
with us and then, not long afterwards, Zoi’s wedding at Vouliagmeni on the
coast, south of Athens. A lot of people are coming from all over the place and
it will be a great opportunity to catch up with friends and relatives. We shall
then travel on to Amsterdam and various other places in northern Europe for our
annual vacation.
The main road to Koukounaries has now been asphalted for its entire length and
they are now talking about surfacing the ring road, the road to the airport, the
road to Kalivia and the road to Xanemos. If all this happens, it will be a
miracle!
As for our road, it has been promised that it will be surfaced with concrete, at
least on the hilly bits which become extremely slippery in winter. However,
although they have several times scraped the surface with JCBs and a grader
(which makes it flat but even more slippery when it rains) they have not yet
surfaced it. We are in the “avrio” stage. i.e. it could happen any day…..or not
at all!
One of the things that always amuses us here are some of the translations from
Greek to English on menus and brochures. Here are some of our favourites:
Hotel:
• “Individual heating (pioneer in the way of heating cause each customer chooses
alone him the temperature of space of means of thermostat).”
• “Satellite TV with rich program of (fashion, sport, music of news) so that the
stay of customers is pleasant.”
• “The rooms allocate complete sound-proofing (because vitrification triplex
solar-e, this has as result and better sound-proofing and better heat
insulation).”
• “In all the rooms exists the use of electronic lock that provides for the
biggest safety of access.”
• “In the big lounge room of our hotel our customers can enjoy our rich morning
from the 7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.”
Menus:
• (Referring to a glass of ouzo with a meze for one person):
“Ouzo with atomic titbit.”
• “Omelettes without two eggs.”
• “Kind of flat bottomed fish.”
• “Drunker’s appetizer.”
• “Ancient Greek shrimps in a glace of honey.”
I could go on but I don’t want to stop you discovering some gems yourselves.
Here is my Christmas card to you all (keep an eye on the reindeer to the left):
http://www.mesasoftware.com/merrychristmas.htm
So, that’s it for now. I hope all of you have a great Christmas holiday and that
2009 will bring us better news than what has been happening recently. I
certainly hope that Mr. Madoff hasn’t “made off” with any of your money.
I hope to see many of you back here again soon.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Autumn 2009 Skiathos Newsletter.
Of course I must begin with giving you all my apologies for not having written a
Spring or Summer newsletter. Several times I have begun one but inspiration
deserted me. However, it is now pouring with rain, (more on this later) & highly
unlikely that we will get anyone coming into the office desperate to buy
property, so now seems a good time.
Actually it was the return of the Hoopoes and the Bee eaters to our valley that
reminded me that time had passed (quicker than expected) and autumn was with us
once again. It is the time when we pick, crush and press our grapes (and regular
readers will know that this is an important part of the yearly cycle here), and
as I was turning the press I though, I must get a newsletter written. Hoopoes
are lovely birds with black and white bars on their wings, a long beak and a
quirky “crown” of feathers that can be flat or raised. Bee eaters are medium
size colourful birds, always in a flock, that make a very distinctive sound
which can be heard quite clearly even when they are flying so high that you can
almost not see them. Both are family of the Kingfisher. We nearly always hear
them at wine making time. In fact, they are often the reminder that it is time
to inspect the grapes for ripeness.
The weather has been strange this year. After a reasonable rainy spring, it just
became hot, hot, hot with no real let up. We did get quite some windy days which
took the edge of the heat but the heat just seemed to go on forever. We locals
were praying for rain and a little coolness. Be careful what you wish for! The
second week of September the thunderstorms and the rains started. Real rain,
occasionally hammering down hard enough that it was impossible to drive. There
have been a few days since with sun, but not many, and there have been very many
unhappy tourists but, the weather nowadays is completely unpredictable.
September was always our favourite month; it hardly ever rained, the real heat
was out of the sun, the locals more relaxed after the bustle of July and August,
the sea was still warm plus we had a little more time to catch up with our local
friends. Now we have no idea when the rains will pass. Apart from the
temperature which is pretty much OK for September, it feels more like November!
Still, all risk of forest fires is now over and that is always a relief as we
have come too close to loosing (one of ) our homes too often.
Enough of the weather.
The tourist season has not been as bad as we had feared. People still want to go
on holiday and the Greek Islands (and of course, Skiathos in particular) will
always remain popular. However, people didn’t have so much money to spend and
many local businesses have probably made much less than usual. Also, by some
quirky reasoning, the UK charter companies put the prices of their flight only
tickets up considerably thus discouraging many potential guests from making
independent bookings. We think they would like to see us independents disappear
altogether so that they can control the market totally. Often people were told
that the flights were full, but that was absolutely not the case, so they are
definitely trying to manipulate the market. Fortunately, we managed to find
guests for our houses from elsewhere and had Americans, Serbians, Rumanians and
Australians as well as guests from Great Britain.
After a lot of hard work, the local council and business association managed to
get a good amount sea connections to the island with ferries coming regularly
from Volos and Aghios Konstantinos and passenger hydrofoils and Flying Cats from
both those ports plus Thessaloniki. The island was very full in August but not
completely full, and this is probably the first year for many years that not
every single bed was occupied. There were very many young Greeks and it seems
that Skiathos was an “in” island with them this year. However, they only spend
money on cheap food and expensive discos so didn’t really help the economy in
general. The tourist shop owners, the restaurant and taverna owners and the
beach bar owners are all complaining that revenues ares down considerably.
However, they always do that in case the tax man is listening, so we will
probably never know the real situation.
The property market has been very slow and we will be happy to keep our heads
above water this year. When the market turns around and people start looking at
Greek island properties again, we will have a wonderful portfolio to offer. As
always, all our properties, businesses and long term rentals are listed at
www.skiathosproperty.com
As we were not sure what kind of year it would be financially, we put in a large
garden to be sure to have something to eat at least!! Of course it produced far
more than we could consume and, what we didn’t give away, Lida has been busy
conserving, freezing, bottling, pickling and drying, so that we will have a good
winter of organic foods (& wine!) to see us through.
Someone emailed me the following and, although it does not pertain to Skiathos
in particular, it does relate to why Lida and I live and love it here. Although
there is plenty of sand on Skiathos beaches, there is not much in our lives.
Read on:
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day
are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of
him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large
and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He
shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf
balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of
course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous
'yes.'
The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire
contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.. The
students laughed..
'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize
that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your
health, your friends and your favourite passions---and if everything else was
lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your
car.
The sand is everything else---the small stuff.
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for
the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff
you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with
your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your
spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the
house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your
priorities. The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.
The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you
that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of
Beers with a friend.
On that note, I’ll leave you to get on with your lives while I look for a friend
to share those beers with.
Regards,
Geof.
Hello and welcome to the Christmas 2009 Skiathos Newsletter,
Here I am, sitting in the office and the rain is pouring down! A steady stream
of water is moving down Papadiamanti Street towards the harbour and, if it keeps
up at this rate, it will turn into a river.
Greek streets in small towns like Skiathos are cunningly designed with the
cobble stones sloping to the middle so that the water runs in the middle of the
street and one can walk on the sides without getting your feet too wet.
Unfortunately, as no one has gutters on their roofs here, water pours down on
your head, so you have the choice of a wet head or wet feet! Very cunning! No
wonder they don’t go out whenever it rains. The good thing here is that you know
that, within a day or two, the weather will clear up and the sun will shine
again. Usually, in the winter when the weather gets bad and work is not so
pressing, I will not go in to the office, just work from my home computer using
logmein.com to work on the office machine. However, today it didn’t look as if
it was going to rain that much, so I made the mistake of coming in. Luckily it’s
too warm yet for snow but I suspect that this winter will be a heavy one and we
might well get a dump or two. It will serve us right for having such a wonderful
late October and November. The days were gloriously sunny, warm but not too hot,
and perfect walking weather, so that’s what we did a lot of at weekends and on
some afternoons. The German Walking Club, in conjunction with the Mayor and
local helpers, have re opened many of the old footpaths that had become
overgrown since so many roads had been put in on the island. It has been a
pleasure to rediscover them and some of them we haven’t walked for 20 years or
so. Monasteries and churches are being renovated and a new (cobblestone) road
has been made down towards the old town of Kastro. At the end of this road,
there has been built a half Amphitheatre from stone where you can sit and get a
good view of Kastro. My assumption is that this will be used for some kind of
cultural events, but I haven’t heard anything specific. Many locals have been
going to Kastro and staying for the weekend. They have been clearing the paths,
renovating rock retaining walls and exposing more of the ruins. It’s very nice
and makes the place much more attractive to visit. Of course, they also have a
good time barbecuing meat and wild mushrooms, cooking up wild greens and other
vegetables, and washing it all down with drafts of wine. They certainly have
worked out that balance between work and pleasure!
The off season is a great time for us who live here permanently. We get to see
our friends again and have time to swap stories of the summer’s adventures, boat
trips, work and tourist woes, and whatever else happened, all over a few glasses
of wine or tsiporo. Our “bridge club” has started again (only 5 or 6 of us) and
so Thursday evenings are greatly looked forward to again. There’s more time for
walking, tennis (when it’s not raining), gardening, catching up with new
contacts made through the summer and generally taking it easier than during the
“season”.
Christmas is not such a big thing here (certainly no so big commercially, which
is a great relief) but there will be the annual Christmas Bazaar at the high
school where home made cakes and crafts are for sale, there’ll a (mad) kiddies
playroom, the choir will sing and typical Greek winter sweets will be available
(usually made available by the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of the island). We
usually have a few friends for Christmas dinner and our youngest daughter will
come from Athens for a week. Unfortunately, our eldest daughter will be in
Thessaloniki for Christmas this year so will not be able to join us. She will
then be off to the UK to give birth to her baby, our grandchild. Interesting
times ahead for us, as we move into a new phase of life. All our friends who
have grandchildren seem to be crazy about them so we have to assume that
grandkids are a “good thing”.
Our orange, lemon and mandarin trees are loaded with fruit this year and we will
be drinking lots of fresh juice and making plenty of jars of marmalade. It is
not an olive year this year (they usually crop every second year unless they are
intensively farmed) but we have enough oil from last year to see us through. The
wine has slowed its fermentation down and will soon need a second racking. By
the end of January we will have bottled it all but I can see we will probably
have to have a “taste” at Christmas as we are just now finishing last years
vintage.
Economically, Skiathos is definitely suffering a bit. Many cafes, bars and
restaurants are open through the winter (most of them used to be shut) as they
try to cover at least the winter’s rent and expenses, but people are just not
going out so much. The Greek economy in general appears to be in pretty bad
shape and, having just a had a regime change, no one knows what new laws will be
enacted, what previous ones repealed, and how the taxman is going to try to get
his hand deeper into our pockets than ever. Having said that, there is a huge
black economy here which I don’t think is as bad as the official economy seems
to be. The main problem the Greeks have with any new laws is working out how to
avoid them!
A day later and it is still raining! Our stream bed is quite high (more a river
than a stream) and I am writing this at home now. Apparently, there were floods
at Troulos and Koukounaries, Kolios and Aghia Paraskevi had problems. Of course,
"it never rains in Greece" …. but, when it does, it surely does!
At the beginning of November, we took a few days trip around Central Greece and
Evia. We visited Delphi (to our shame we had never been there) and just loved
it. A magnificent place (now in ruins of course) in a majestic setting. The
Ancient Greeks thought it was the naval of the Earth (i.e. the centre of the
world) and when you are there you can understand that feeling and realise why
they considered it a holy place. Unfortunately the Delphic oracle is long gone.
A pity, I had quite a few questions to ask. We then traveled on to Southern Evia
to stay with Annie, a friend of ours, and see that part of the island as we had
not driven down that far in previous visits. Annie showed us around and told us
the best places to visit. She took us to see the “Draco Spitia”, literally, the
Dragon Houses, which (it is assumed) were built by Neolithic man, and are
constructed from massive slabs of stone which must have taken huge efforts to
move. Therefore the name “Draco Spitia”, as legend has it, only Dragons could
have moved these rocks! Annie does tours of Evia featuring local culture and
cuisine…see her site at: www. http://www.cultureandcuisineinevia.com/ Southern
Evia is rather barren but has a stark beauty about it. When you are up on high
ground the views of the small islands offshore and the mainland of Greece are
absolutely stunning. On top of many of these barren ridges are the huge towers
of wind generators as this part of the island gets wind all the time either from
the south or north. Many people find them ugly but I think there is a certain
beauty about them. Additionally, of course, they are providing a clean, carbon
emission free, way of producing energy, so I have to think positively about
them. On our way south and then back north, we stayed a couple of nights at
Eretria where old friends of ours have an apartment right on the sea looking out
over Eretria Harbour and across to the lights of the mainland. A wonderful spot
to be. We caught up with each others lives and ate with them at their lovely old
house in the hills above the town. We drove back up through North Evia, which is
far greener and lusher than the south half and has some really nice looooong
beaches (sometime kilometres of them). Eventually we took a small ferry across
to the mainland, south of Volos and headed back home. It was a great break and
reinforced our opinion that Greece has some of the most spectacular scenery in
the world.
So, having described the joys (and trials) of the winter here, I just thought
I’d remind you of summer again. My mind sees us motoring to a quiet beach with
some friends, the sun blazing down, a small taverna with some simple Greek food
awaiting us (fresh fish, an array of different salads, perhaps a local
delicacy), some good (but generally pointless) conversation about this and that,
then coming back to our mooring as the sun dips towards the horizon and the
light fades to pastel colours, the sea like a mirror and a tired but contented
feeling in our souls. Ah!!! Life is not always like that of course, but just the
fact that I know it can be, keeps me going.
Have a good Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
Regards,
Geof.