We’re in Mama Mia country once again. A few years ago we visited Skopolos which is the prime site of filming for this iconic movie, but the right-next-door island is Skiathos and some locations here were also used, both islands are astonishingly beautiful.
The tender journey is right into the heart of town. We start by heading around the coast going south, visiting a couple of viewpoints, and then various in-town sites we have identified as important – churches, a traditional house, but we can’t get in because it is full of tourists, Town hall, and so on.
We find the house of Alexandros Papadiamantis, one of Greece’s most famous authors and take a few minutes to marvel at the simplicity of his living arrangements.
The town is labyrinthine, and with motorcycles coming from all directions, it’s quite a challenge navigating. Google maps does it’s best but we get to take some imaginative routes to our destinations.
Soon we’re walking away from town alongside the water, until we come to the runway. Literally right there with traffic lights to hold back traffic when planes land. People on foot don’t matter, apart from a sign warning about risk of death. By happenstance Flightradar24 tells us a TUI from Gatwick will be arriving in a matter of minutes, so we position ourselves under the flightpath and watch as the plane first goes past, then turns and we can see the headlights coming right at us.
This is way better that the old observation deck at Manchester my dad used to take me to sometimes! The backdraft is incredibly strong, maybe that sign wasn’t exaggerating?
Having survived, we watch the Nottingham one arrive from a safer distance! We continue around the bay following a pathway until the tide ate it. As we didn’t fancy wet feet we start to head back, varying the route bit. A final wander around Bourtzi, a now connected tiny island is enough and we head back home on the next available tender.
After lunch the afternoon is whiled away with work, pool, chat and socialising. We accidentally learn that the advertised formal night is not happening, despite all the menus being the formal ones. This has a fabulous side effect for us, since on formals the Colonnade restaurant has French Night which we’ve never been able to attend before.
We start with chicken liver parfait and snails, before moving on to lobster and chateaubriand, and finally crème brûlée. The turn is a very funny magician, so no photos (keeping a low profile!)
