Stuif's Adventures

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Greece, Skopelos & Skiathos, 2011
From Meteora we drove to Voulos, where we returned the rented car and were just in time to catch the ferry to Skopelos.
Skopelos is one of the Sporadic Islands, less popular than the famous Cyclades, but of course still quite a lot of tourists. Luckily it was almost off-season.

It became famous recently because of the Abba-movie Mamma Mia. The wedding at the end of this movie takes place in a small chapel, beautifully located on top of am isolated rock. This chapel was the reason that we decided to visit Skopelos. Actually it was one of the reasons that we decided to visit Greece!

As before in Delphi and Kastraki, we were lucky with the guesthouse we had booked. Right at the waterfront of Skopelos town. A nice, cosy room.

In the evening we explored the town. Many churches (more than 350 on the island), and a lot of climbing required.
The next day, after a morning walk and a hearty English breakfast, we rented a car and drove to the other side of the island, where the Agios Ioannis di Kastro chapel is located.

And there it was, the Mamma Mia chapel! We had more or less expected that there would be many tourists, so it was a pleasant surprise to find only a handfull of other visitors. It's a steep climb up to the chapel, one couple turned back halfway because the man had fear of heights!
The chapel itself is nothing special, but the views are of course nice.

After lunch in the small cafe with the famous Skopelos cheese pie, we drove back through the forests to the town, had some rest and then went to Agnondas, a small fishing village, where we had the most romantic dinner you can imagine.

The next day we left Skopelos reluctantly, and took the ferry to Skiathos, more popular than Skopelos because of its beaches.
Another good choice of guesthouse, high above the bay, and famous for its seafood.
We took a bus to the Banana Beach and had a lazy afternoon at the nudist beach there. Nudist beaches are often more relaxed and friendly, and this beach was no exception.

There is one interesting monastery on Skiathos, which we visited the next morning before taking the afternoon flight back to Athens. Our plan was to stay overnight in the Metropolis hotel again, before continuing to Santorini the next morning. But the public transport was on strike, so we had to book a room in the Sofitel airport hotel, a waste of money. That was actually the only time we noticed anything of the unrest in Greece.

Voulos, boarding the ferry
 

Interior of the ferry
 

Arrival at Skopelos
 

Skopelos town
 

Entrance of our guesthouse
 

Our cosy room
 

Evening at the harbour
 

Dinner
 

Skopelos main street by night
 

Our guesthouse
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Skopelos harbour
 

No cars here
 

One of the many churches
 

Detail
 

Real English breakfast
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Skopelos town
 

Just a chapel along the road
 

There it is! The Mamma Mia chapel
 

On its own small peninsula
 

We did it!
 

Steep climb up
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The chapel
 

Inside the chapel
 

The toilet...:-) Directly down to the sea
 

Nice surroundings
 

Steep climb down
 

Lunch with Skopelos cheese pie
 

Autumn!
 

Another chapel on our way back
 

Interior
 

What I always do in a church
 

View of Skopelos from above
 

Very picturesque
 

Narrow streets
 

Looks almost like a minaret
 

One more church
 

Walking down to our guesthouse
 

White and blue, typically Greek
 

Neighbour chat
 

So relaxed
 

Our restaurant in Agnondas
 

Ouzo as pre-dinner drink
 

Seafood dinner with Retsina
 

Can it be more romantic?
 

Watching the sunset
 

Am Abend da es kuhle war *
 

Metaxa as after-dnner drink
 

View from our Skiathos guesthouse
 

Skiathos town
 

Main church on Skiathos
 

Harbour front
 

Big Banana beach
 

Rocky crossing to the next beach
 

Little Banana beach
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Another church tower
 

Could be a poster for Greece
 

Dinner at our guesthouse
 

Delicious deserts
 

Monastery of Panayia Evangelistra
 

Inside the monastery
 

An icon
 

The church of the monastery
 

wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
access to the top floors via the two trees? /stephen

wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
I may be an orang belanda, but I am not a good climber. Access to the guesthouse is from the back

wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
english breakfast in greece??????? surely you can do better!!!!!!!!!! /stephen

wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
After a full week of Greek breakfast, it was delicious...:-)

wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
ah, all those walks up kiara paying off. /stephen

wrote on Nov 11, 2011:
this is interesting ! :) At least we can't it in Malaysia.

Visitors are allowed to take photos?

wrote on Nov 11, 2011:
People would probably not appreciate it when you take (frontal) pictures of them individually..:-). But taking general pictures is no problem, when you join the crowd yourself, as of course we did..haha

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