While Australia wooed a new Prime Minister we whiled away week one on Skopelos

Each evening between about 5pm and 8pm the cobbled street below our current home, Blue Shutters House, hosts its nightly choir of words in the cool of the early evening after a generally warm day. There is no obvious choir conductor but the choir members are talking, talking, talking and only the rise, fall and pace of the voices seems to indicate happiness or not with the day’s business. Occasionally there is the richest loud laughter.
It’s a magic place. This week we were joined in our island home by Robbie and her friends Nancy and Beth and their friends Matt and Renee stayed a few days at another establishment before heading to nearby Alonisos.
We all met in Athens on Friday the 18th of June. We all arrived at different times by plane to a public transport strike and our subsequent taxi fares to the Hotel Tempe in the city varied between 30-40 euro. We all shared war stories about who had the craziest taxi driver.
The tavernas were all in the grip of World Cup fever before Greek elimination but we found a great location with very average food score on a roof top under the Acropolis. Dawn next day saw us on the march to our bus stop for our bus/ferry experience to the island via Agios Konstantinos. In great contrast to the quiet dawn scene, bus loads of riot police were gathering on street corners in anticipation of another mass demonstration.
In the last week, days have been spent variously:
• taking the steep walk to the blue blue water at Glifoneri where you pass shrines and houses with cherries in trays drying on covered verandahs, and you meet the local man at the beach who provides you with some of his apricots as he peddles his 5 euro a day beach chairs and umbrellas;
• having a very slow lunch (siga siga) at Stella’s taverna half way up the hill, where no matter what you order Stella seems to decide what she’ll provide for you ;
• driving down to the perfect pebbled beach at Glisteri where sustenance can be had in the courtyard of a postcard – like taverna;
• sailing with Vasili on his yacht through the marine park with dolphins diving around us and stopping at secluded bays for a swim in crystal clear water;
• walking around the old town in the cool of dawn, following the steep whitewashed slopes and seeing all the local gardeners tending the in-season produce in their vegetable gardens;
• drinking expresso coffee and eating pastry at the harbourside;
• experiencing wonderfully slow post office service at 7.31am as the first customers for the day;
• driving on fire tracks in the middle of the island to climb to the Mumma Mia wedding church (Agios Ioannis) where there were lots more tourists than when we ‘discovered’ it in 2006 and where now a couple of entrepreneurial Greeks have set a makeshift caravan style taverna;
• and, eating and swimming at beautiful Milia beach where Rob had a brief encounter with an small octopus which was keen to meet her.

In the last week, nights have been spent variously:
• enjoying two fabulous welcome parties-one up the hill at the print studio and one at its neighbour’s house in his vineyard. There was food to die for, including meat cooked on a traditional wood fired oven, Skopelos goat cheese, and home made wine with no ill effects next day;
• experiencing a huge storm that came on while we were in the vineyard which necessitated a move to a covered verandah where Greek dancing just seemed the right thing to do;
• savouring the delights of tsiporo with food at a taverna;
• watching the young and not-so-young head off to night club land to emerge very slowly next day;
• celebrating Bas’ birthday on several occasions;
• watching the dramas of the World Cup at the harbourside on a big screen; and
• watching the change of Prime Minister in Australia on an I-phone.
Throughout the week Bas’ artists have arrived on the island in different sized parties with various stories about good and bad travel experiences to date. Bas had some major dramas getting his etching plates through Greek customs but all emerged at some cost in the nick of time.
The girls have left for Australia via Athens and Dubai and I’m just back from the beach at Glisteri where Basil had yet another birthday party on his real birthday.
We’ll keep you posted.