Skiathos, Greece

It’s Friday, May 6th and we are anchored off the island of Skiathos. Unlike Mykonos yesterday this island looks lush and green. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Sporades group.  One day I’ll have to try and figure out how many island groups Greece has; it seems nearly every one we’ve been to belongs to a different group.  Someone told me that Skiathos was the island on which they filmed Mamma Mia, but google doesn’t say that.  Regardless, the pine forests I can see remind me of the movie.

Skiathos played a minor role in the Persian wars which interested me since I just finished reading a book about the battle of Thermopylae.  Apparently King Xerxes' fleet ran into a storm and was badly damaged on the rocky coast of Skiathos in 480 BC.  Because of that they were unable to invade behind the Spartans or resupply the Persian army.  Of course, Sparta was defeated at Thermopylae, but the weakened fleet was defeated later at the battle of Artemisium and commandingly destroyed the following year at the Battle of Salamis ending the Persian dreams of occupying all of Greece.

I tendered ashore and found myself in a most charming town.  The waterfront had a broad paved promenade with lots of cafés and restaurants.  There were a number of statues along the way. I headed inland and found myself in a maze of narrow streets (actually they were barely wide enough for a motorbike).  The houses and stores were again whitewashed as on every Greek island we’ve been to. The vacation season must have started here because there were lots of people wandering, eating and drinking.  There were quite a few who sounded like they were from the UK and I think they must have come by ferry.

I do have one observation about this and really all the islands I’ve seen.  They are all spotlessly clean.  There’s no trash lying around and everything looks sparkling.  I noticed that on the tours I took as well.   When I think about the trash I see sometimes lying around at home along the highways and streets, it’s very different here.  Perhaps we could take some lessons from these people.

I got quite lost in the maze of streets and when I asked for directions I found no English speakers.  They were all friendly and would lead me to someone else they thought might speak it.  Finally one did and she pointed me in the right direction.  I wasn’t worried because on an island you inevitably will come to a shore.  I stopped and had a drink at a café before tendering back.  I spent the afternoon talking with some friends from Florida.

At 4 PM it was time for trivia again.  Somehow mysteriously about 8 new people showed up and they joined the two existing teams.  We wondered where they came from because we’re at the end of the cruise and they hadn’t come before.  We came in second again.