Skopelos doesn’t disappoint
We arrived on Skopelos yesterday afternoon and climbed our way up lots and lots (89 to be precise) stone steps to our home for the week, but it was worth it – a great two floor appartment, with a fantastic view out over the habour, and swifts screeching and swirling above our heads. We explored the labyrinth of cobbled streets, got lost more than once, before enjoying a delicious meal (is there any Greek meal that isn’t delicious?!) one street back from the front, elvated and looking down on the bustling street below. Skopelos is not big, loud and bright, but it certainly is more busier and more “commercial” than Alonissos. It is pretty, charming and delightful.
Today we took the bus to the nearby beach of Panormos.
There is essentially one bus route on the island, that starts in Skopelos town, heads across to the South West corner of the island, and then wends itself up the west coast to Glossa, before heading back again.
The busses are quite frequent, but with a few odd “blind spots” – nothing in the 9 o’clock, or the same for the return – nothing in the 5 oclocks – you buy your ticket before boarding (although you can pay on the bus) the cheapest fare is 2 euros, ranging to 4 euros for Glossa. We went halfway up the island and paid 3 euro each, each way. It was a bit of a scrum getting on the 10.30 am bus, we snagged seats, but not all did, and after the first stip it started to thin out and we enjoyed the 30 minute air conditioned ride to the beach resort of Panormos.
It was a pretty, shingle, beach in a bay with wonderfully clear water that got deep very, very quickly. (For me this is a plus, I love swimming in deep clear water, feeling the infinity of water below me supporting me as I glide and bob across the surface. Becky disagrees, spending her time imagining creatures from the deep all set to swim up and feast on her flesh. I had a lovely day spent swimming, Becky enjoyed sitting in the cooling shallows, watching the world go by, waiting for me to be dragged under to a watery grave!)
In the evening, having enjoyed a Gyros plate in a town square taverna (pictured above), we wondered the streets as darkness fell. The seafront was busy and bustling, but not loud or intimidating.
At the end of the seafront, we saw some stairs, so had to climb them …
because Becky remembered something “about a donkey” So like the pack animal I so often am on holiday, I laboured my way up, and up and up some more stairs …
(… to be fair, pausing at a pretty little whites washed church and soaking in the scenery below) until we saw …
The Donkey!
Apparently it’s a thing in Skopelos, but it was just a bar full of beautiful young people and loud music – with my aching legs I felt old and out of place so ambled back down the hill to our apartment and chilled in quite, calm darkness of our balcony, another day well spent.