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. |
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wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
access to the top floors via the two trees? /stephen |
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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 |
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wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
english breakfast in greece??????? surely you can do better!!!!!!!!!! /stephen |
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wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
After a full week of Greek breakfast, it was delicious...:-) |
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wrote on Nov 10, 2011:
ah, all those walks up kiara paying off. /stephen |
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wrote on Nov 11, 2011:
this is interesting ! :) At least we can't it in Malaysia.
Visitors are allowed to take photos? |
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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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