Day seven & eight - The Airport, Agia Eleni, & Mandraki.

This morning was the wettest. We had a VERY lazy morning in the hotel, drinking coffee and reading while the deluge played out. At around 2pm, it stopped, so we went out to explore a bit.

We began at the airport to watch some more planes coming in. We had (yet another) coffee, this time is the Amaretto cafe, or 'the airport cafe' as it's known because of it's position right next to the runway. They have flight radar on monitors, so you can see when the next one's due. When one is due, people rush out to get their pictures and videos, then come back in to finish their drinks.

In the evening, we went into town to the Bakaliko restaurant. 

Stuffed peppers to begin with - I DO love peppers, but these were even better than normal.

Pork in cabbage leaves, and a sausage casserole,

Mmmmmmmmm!

A bottle of wine and books were the order of the late evening, watching the lightning strikes over the sea. Beautiful.

Next day, things looked a lot better, so we planned to go to Agia Eleni and Mandraki beach, deciding which to settle on when we got there.

Damage from the further storms in the night was soon evident.

We explored the length of Agia Eleni, before trying to drive to Mandraki. After seeing the damage to the dirt roads, the big chasms cut into them by the rainwater running, we decided to walk instead.

It was quite a trek, but super views on the way made up for it.
That sky still looks a bit unsettled.

This tiny beach below us looked good, but we pressed on.

They look like, but CAN'T be - lychees??

At the crossroads! We turned left, as we'd now been walking for best part of an hour. The path went down through some very pleasant woodland, The shade was welcome, as it was getting really hot now.

Nice to see the odd fungi in the woods.

Mandraki beach and cafe. The tin hut looked very out of place, but the bamboo covered seating area was the usual sort.

A nice cold beer (we weren't hungry yet), and some shelter from the sun. We'd been swimming and snorkeling for most of the day, and poor Sue got stung by a bee (luckily, she has her own first-aider on hand to deal with such emergencies). Drinks here were very reasonable, and Maria, the owner, promoted her brothers restaurant at bus stop 18 called 'Jesteri' -  a concocted name from the three owners. 

The sun was beginning to go down, so we needed to get back to the car before it set completely - no street lights here!!
The walk back was much more comfortable in the now softer sun, and we could pick up the pace without suffering from the heat.

We also noticed a short-cut on the way this morning, so we struck down and took it, slipping around on the pine needle carpet underfoot.

We arrived in perfect time, and sat to watch the sunset.

I'm tempted to say we did a bit of swinging on holiday - but don't get excited - this was what I mean. 😁

We sat together and watched the sun go down. 

Content, content, content!

A fabulous evening - we really didn't want it to end.

We stopped at  bus stop 18 and took Maria up on her advice to eat at Jesteri. Her brother was actually the chef.
I love these open kitchens, like ours at home.
Note the pizza oven behind.

 

We chose Mushrooms a la creme, mixed seafood and pork steak.

Faultless!

The forecast for tomorrow was exceptionally good. 

We planned to visit a very special place - Kastro.

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Day two/three - Aselinos beach.

Today we boarded the infamous 'sardine express', one of the four buses that goes from one end of the road to the other, stop one to stop 24 (Skiathos town to Koukounaries). We were at stop 12 (Tzaneria/Kanapitsa), but today we got off at stop 18, Troulos. We intended to walk the 45 minutes to Aselinos beach.

On the way, we were grateful for patches of shade, as the sun really had got his hat on, nudging up towards 30C. On the way, we passed some impressive prickly paw cacti, the fruit of which looked ripe.

And some delicate-looking flowers in the shade, the cyclamen.

This was one perfect beach! At this time of the year, quiet, relaxed, and still very hot and sunny. 

Time to chill out. My book choice this holiday was 'The Martian'. 

We've since seen the film.

Not what you'd call crowded, eh?

The sand here was fine and hot! The water was warm and inviting, and the food, like anywhere on this island, no matter how simple-looking the cafe or restaurant, was amazing.

I just LOVE these roofs of bamboo stems!

A shack, but don't let looks deceive you, the food and drink were of the highest standard, all served with a smile, and at a reasonable price.

As we reclined and dozed, the sound of clanking bells brought us back to reality. GOATS!! This must happen at this time every day, but as it was our first time, it was a novelty!

They mooched around a bit, exploring here and there, as goats do, until moved on by the goatherd

He drove them up this steep slope, we know not why? He does this every day - he must be one fit guy!

After a long beach day, we made our way back to the hotel, showered, and went into Skiathos town again. We feasted on fried, stuffed squid and swordfish, again such lovely food. We caught an earlier bus home, all this relaxing was very hard going - a bit more reading, then off to bed. ;-)

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