skopelos - churches and cherries

on our first full day in skopelos we had the privilege 

of taking a bus ride around the island.

the excursion was generously 

provided to all the participants of the symposium 

by dolphin of skopelos

it was part of the 'mamma mia' highlights trip,

and the coolest part of the tour was seeing this church and meeting john...

 our tour guide was an extra in the movie.

she said when they shot the wedding scene 

she had to do this climb seven times that day!

 it was a good climb to the top, 

and (for me) a little nerve wracking at points...

i was glad to find a washroom up there, 

even though it was just a hole in the ground!

 after enjoying the view and trekking back down again, 

we were ready for some water.

fortunately there was a snack shop conveniently located 

right where our bus was parked!

it was there that we met jack.

john had come on his scooter to share his cherries with the tourists!

 when i asked if i could take his picture, we wanted one with us!

 then he gave us more cherries and asked if would send him the photos.

he wrote his address down for us and said "no lose" 

and "you send" many times!

thanks for the cherries, john!
the photos will be on their way soon...

skopelos - first glance

when we woke up from a deep sleep (after a long journey),

we were anxious to explore the town.

it is an incredible place!

these are some of my favourite images from our 'first glance':

this was the view from our balcony...

and this is what you find if you sneak out a back door of the hotel.

 then we wandered and enjoyed the many views!

and that is a view of our hotel from across the bay.

these are just my favourites from our first walk around town.

it is so beautiful there...

i'll have to share the rest from our first day on my next post!

thanks for stopping by.

skopelos - getting there...

many have already expressed their excitement 

to see my photos from our trip!

i'm excited to share them.

these are from day 1 and 2 - since it took that long to get there!

to get to our destination we were on 3 airplanes, one taxi and a ferry.

unfortunately we spent as much time sitting in airports as we did flying.

first we flew from toronto to philly.

this is the airport in philadelphia,

it was the middle of the day, 

but it felt like we were the only ones there...

from philly we flew to athens and then 

hopped on to this little plane to skiathos.

a view of greece from the window.

a few quick shots of skiathos, 

after we got our ferry tickets 

and enjoyed our first of many 'balls' of gelato.

(they call them balls - not scoops!)

 then an hour long ferry ride to the island of skopelos!

jude was feeling pretty happy 

to be on the boat and almost at our destination.

and looking pretty good 

for just an hour or two of sleep on our overnight flight...

our first glimpse of the town where we would be spending our week:

 the amazing guy i got to spend my week with:

 we left our home at 6:30am est on thursday,

and arrived in skopelos around 9:30pm friday night.

the farthest that both jude and i have ever travelled,

but definitely worth it as you'll see in the photos to come.

full fat greek yogurt

mamma mia beach on iphone

have i mentioned that the island we are visiting 

is the same one that mamma mia was filmed at?
i realize this movie is not for everyone,
but fun to see when you're visiting the location!
and truthfully - i do enjoy abba music...

today we spent a few hours on the beach
where many scenes in the movie were filmed.
doesn't it look almost muskoka-ish with the trees and rocks?
i swam, read, ate ice cream, and enjoyed the view,
while jude talked restorative justice and human rights with the academics...

after our time at the beach judah and i had lunch 

at a restaurant close to our hotel.

one thing i loved about this place was that it had 

a list of translations for common phrases:

greek - greek with our alphabet - english

 

 it was so helpful to see some of the words 

we've been hearing and trying to say..

i imagine we'll go back to the restaurant (it was lovely)

and i will bring some paper and a pen to write down more greek phrases.

for now, i've got 'thank you' and 'good evening' down.

 

as a result of my interactions with the staff in the restaurant

(taking photos and trying to learn some greek, i guess)

i was called 'dangerous' and a 'treasure' 

by the two older men who worked there.

dangerous treasure...

who me?!

and if you're ever in skopelos, 

go to the last restaurant on the left side of town along the shore...

there's a good chance you'll be offered dessert "on the house".

even if you're full (and you will be) - accept the offer, it's delicious!

full fat greek yogurt with apples of some sort on top.

it was like ice cream!

i asked what they did to the apples, 

and he asked if i was planning to open a restaurant next door?!

we have arrived...

we left our house at 6:30 am on thursday morning.

we arrived to our hotel at 9:30 pm on friday evening.

we got a little bit of sleep on one of the planes...

we flew from toronto to philly, philly to athens, 

athens to skiathos and then took a ferry to skopelos!

we probably spent an equal amount of time 

just hanging out in the airport, as we did in the air. 

twas a long travel to get here,

but so excited to explore the island of skopelos today!

iphone shot: view from our hotel room