The lovely pool at our villa overlooked the port of Skiathos. It was featured in many of our photos and made for the perfect setting for happy hour. Unfortunately, without a heater, it was icy cold. The kids made one grand entrance just so they could say they did.
Our final stop on our trip around the island was in the main city, also called Skopelos; while this island is larger than Skiathos, it is less inhabited at just under 5,000 permanent residents. We invited Diamantis to join us for lunch, where we again shared many mezes (appetizers). The men ordered the local ouzo, which each came with a meze (if only Diamantis had warned us before we ordered) and the neighboring table shared some birthday cake, so it was a huge meal. On the return trip across the choppy sea, Diamantis went out of the way to locate some dolphins. Our girls had never seen dolphins in the wild and were just thrilled--the perfect ending to a great day.
When Ashlynn spoke those words after seeing the crystal clear water, we knew that we’d come to the right place. She didn’t have snorkel gear, but she had goggles which she used for viewing the fish.
Our second stop on Skopelos, was at a cove for swimming. Jimmy was in the first in the water as you see him here diving right off the boat. This cove had an extra attraction--a convenient spot to walk on water.
We read that there were 105 stairs to the top, but the kids managed to count 185. Luckily there was a good railing as it was a little creepy at times on that steep rock. The chapel’s key was left in the door, so we let ourselves in.
It was very small and it’s clear that the wedding scene couldn’t have been filmed inside. Apparently there’s no record of when it was actually built, but it is believed to be from the 18th century.
After the success of our boat ride with Diamantis, we decided to hire him for a longer trip to the neighboring island of Skopelos, where several scenes of the movie Mamma Mia was filmed in 2007. Our first stop was to visit the Agios Ioannis chapel high up on a 325-foot tall rock (you can just see the white top in this photo).
Since this church was featured for the big wedding at the end of the movie, we thought there would be a dock for the visiting tourists. Silly us! Diamantis pulled the boat up to all of these rocks, and the kids just started scrambling across. I was too nervous to try with my injured ankle, so he attempted another approach on the other side and got me much closer. Jimmy and Tony were able to help me across the few rocks between the boat and the main walkway.
We actually only ate dinner outside the one evening that we had Diamantis over. He made an amazing crawfish soup. Tony BBQed fresh fish that Diamantis helped us pick out at the fish market. One of his cats was especially happy after he made off with an entire fish.
Feta cheese was unbelievably cheap here and we ate it prepared in a variety of ways. One of our favorite (and a big hit with the kids) was when Tony made it, which involved lighting alcohol on fire.
