Grecian Paradise: Skopelos

Photo Album.  After a short day in Athens, we took a ferry to the idyllic Greek island of Skopelos.  What’s more public transport in our lives?  It was strange to be back in Western culture.  You mean we actually have a plush seat?  And the toilets are clean?  I don’t have to squat?  There’s A/C?  Wow!  I suppose we did pay for it after all, but quite a bit different than the Indonesian $4 ferry from Bali to the island of Lombok. 

Brilliant turquoise waters greeted us as we

 approached Skopelos.  Terraced white buildings draped over the mountainside cove, woven together between cobblestone streets like a labyrinth.  The sun was pounding down on our shoulders in 90+ degree heat but felt amazingly refreshing due to its arid nature.  It had been humid in our world for 3 months straight so it was quite nice to not feel like I could cut through the air with a knife and drink gallons of water daily to stay hydrated. 

As soon as we departed the ferry with our turtle shells on our backs, we prepared for the journey to The Skopelos House.  Bonnie and Tom (Andy’s parents) put together colored photos for directions to this 400-year-old abode since there are no street signs or clear dir

ections used in writing.  We passed the bakery, turned right at the white wall with the wrought iron gate, up a hill with a Lucky Strike sign, pass the mural at the hairdressers and turn left on the 20^th step.  We made it!  We entered with a skeleton key and plopped our bags down with a sigh of relief.  After 7 years of hearing about this paradisical Grecian sanctuary, Andy and I are finally here. 

Skopelos is a very unique island in the Sporades.  It’s mountainous and covered in a blanket of dark green pine trees.  I have visited the Cyclades Islands in the south (Santorini a

nd Mykonos) which are both pretty barren and desert-like so this was a foresty treat.  We spent 12 luxurious and much-needed days here (7/31 - 8/12).  After two months of rice and fish in Asia, we gorged ourselves with delicious feta cheese, fresh baked bread, vine-ripened tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and peaches that knocked our socks off - my mouth is watering just think

ing about them.  They are the perfect combination of sweet but slightly tart, deliciously juicy (but not enough to drip down your chin) and crisp with zero strings that get stuck in teeth. 

We read books on the beaches just about every day and delved into our packed lunch and cold beverages in the cooler.   Each beach was pretty packed with Europeans on summer holiday (especially this year since Mamma Mia was recently filmed on Skopelos).  We found refuge on Valario Beach which was a bit of a hike, but well worth the trip since it was beautiful scenery and secluded.  A swim and a snorkel here, a snooze there...ahhh.  Our fuel tanks were being filled up by the minute.