Top 10 things I love about Skopelos....

1. You can buy freshly baked loaves of bread for under a dollar in town, and a few times a week, a man pulls his truck up to the car park at the top of town and yells "psari φρέσκος", fresh fish, into a megaphone so you can meander up the hill and join all the Greek ladies as they buy some.

2. The village feel... winding, narrow cobbled lanes where the garbage man collects the trash with his donkey, old Greek ladies in black dresses sit on their front steps and talk, clothes flap in the breeze as they dry on lines, children play in the streets, and the sounds of Greek music playing, food frying in a skillet and forks clinking on plates waft out of lace-curtained windows as I stroll through town.



3. The church bells... tolling on the hour and half hour, and making special "announcements" to villagers: come to church, someone has died (2 tolls, I think) and others...

4. Wearing flip-flops, casual attire, and no makeup all summer long. I didn't even bring a hair dryer.

5. Hearing roosters crow at sunrise.

6. The FOOD! Fresh ingredients, local seafood, reasonable prices in tavernas, excellent variety, and accomodating, friendly restaurant proprietors.

7. Having the clear blue Aegean Sea within eyesight and walking distance. I can swim as far out as I want to & never worry what's lurking underneath me ... no sharks, only sea urchins!

8. Having the shutters open all day and night to get fresh air and breezes with no screens and no bugs.



9. The friendly local people here. They don't appear to be anti-American and they go out of their way to smile, speak, remember & acknowledge me, even if they "only" served me a slice of pizza or saw me in their shop the night before.

10. No one hassles me or tries to rip me off. Men are polite, even shy, and soft-spoken shop-keepers and waiters don't over-charge people. There are no aggressive salespeople insisting tht I come in and take a look.

11. (bonus) The beautiful natural scenery... mountains, beaches & flowering vegetation, combined with the very Greek man-made additions to the island over the centuries make this island a wonderful place to wake up and explore every day.

Here's a blurry full moon rising behind the mountain along the harbor...