1997
Mr. Zoran Ivkov
Already on the approach to the airport, we got a good view of the island and its main city.
There was a short bus transfer from the airport to the hotel, and we soon found our way on how to spend our holidays. With cheap food and lots of wine and ouzo close by, this seemed to be 2 pleasant weeks.Cathrine seemed to enjoy Skiathos from the moment she her feet on ground.
In the evening we walked around to get aquainted with the city of Skiathos, and we stopped at the Panellenion Grill to have some food and beverages. The grill was run by Agis and his brother. They were very friendly to us, and we often came back to the grill, having a lot of fun together with them.
Due to the heat and otherwhise pleasant life we lived at Skiathos, we used every opportunity to visit "waterholes" for refreshments. Often there were musicians entertaining the restaurants' guests.
One day we met Tore, also from Trondheim, and he and I rented 2 motorbikes to explore the island. Leaving Cathrine on the beach, we drove off. Considering there is only 12 km of paved roads on the island, we managed to cover approx. 90 km of driving around the first day, not being at the same place twice. The roads were not always of too good quality, sometimes so narrow and ending into bushes that we had difficulties turning the bikes, and sometimes so poor that we could have walked faster. But we did find some nice remote beaches, though.
Cathrine wasn't too pleased with us being away the whole day, so the next day all 3 of us went on a new tour. Since Tore and I had discovered some interesting places the day before, we took Cathrine to some places we knew would be of her interest too.
Since Cathrine had lived in Greece for 3 years, she has an interest for Greek culture and the Greek Orthodox church. First we went to the Monastery of Kounistria, where she could practise her belief and have a solemn time.
From there we continued through the rough landscape, on roads we sometimes had to drive at walking speed, to Kastro. To get to Kastro, we had to leave our bikes and walk the last part, about 15 minutes. From the top of the rock where Kastro is situated we saw a beach underneath, and decided to go down there to spend some time swimming and relaxing in the sun.
On the beach was also a little "shack" where we could buy sandwiches and drinks. What we did not think of it on our way down, was that we had to climb the rock to get back to the bikes. What took us about 20 minutes to get to the beach, took us more than 1 hour to get back, thanks to our "well trained" bodies.
Driving back to the city, we were surprised by the rain, and we seeked cover at a restaurant in the hills, and used the opportunity to eat there. The restaurant had an outside terrace, giving us a great view over the city of Skiathos. It was run by a very friendly lady and her husband, and they invited us back to their BBQ evening, which they held every Friday. Sorry to say, we never managed to get back there.
After dinner we stopped to get some more pictures overviewing the city.
Next to our hotel was the restaurant Lynari. We spent some evenings there with Bente and Roger and some of therir friends. The food was great and wine and ouzo flowed. In the evenings those working there gave Zorba lessons to the tourists, creating lots of fun, due to different levels of dancing skills. Those making a wrong step had to shoot a glass of ouzo and get to the back of the line.
One of the waiters had previously worked in Norway, and he offered me "fishballs", a Norwegian course. The problem was that it had expired its date by approx. 5 years.
An other pasttime activity was to throw bread into the water and watch the fish go crazy over it.
We also used the opportunity to take a 1-day excursion to the neigh-bouring island Skopelos, giving us a good view of Skiathos' harbour from the seaside.
Roger Hilde
The evenings we spent walking around or visiting restaurants, meeting the locals.
We also spent some nights exploring "Scorpio" and other night clubs.