SKOPELOS.

Mama Mia magic. Island no. 2.

Skopelos, the Mama Mia island. A brief ferry ride from Skiathos and another town of white houses, lime washed streets and lovely shops. We settle into our strange little two bedroom apartment with a kitchen separate out on lovely balcony with a view of the water in the distance and we check out the town and have some lunch. A friend who’s with us has a tuna salad and after a few minutes, she begins to have a reaction. The daughter takes her off to a chemist, the chemist says take her to the medical centre and there she is pumped with cortisone and put on a drip for a couple of hours. It was from the tuna we think, having googled it. That’s the last of the canned tuna for her for a while. But we were impressed that they looked after her so quickly.

The next day we walked to a beach that google said was twenty minutes away - it lied but on the way up a myriad of white staircases, we came across a little cafe run by an old couple who had met the Mama Mia stars and had photos with Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep. We stopped and had a juice before we were on our way again. The beach was windswept and picturesque and we had the best zucchini chips with tzatziki.

All the Mama Mia tours were booked out so we hired a car and I was impressed with our friend's skill in driving a manual on the wrong side of the road with crazy drivers and tiny roads clinging on the edge of cliffs. We went to the famous church on the cliff and sweated our way up the 110 steps to the tiny church which is nothing like the one in the movie (but we had been warned). Still, we lit candles but it was so hot and there were so many that they instantly melted into a sea of wax.

Then we went to another beach where scenes were filmed but it was full with a lot of loud music coming from the bar so we tried for another beach, the one with the jetty from one of the scenes from the movieB and there we found peace. It was quiet, we settled beneath a fig tree that provided us with tasty sweet figs and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. There was a small cave that you could swim into and when I went, there was a Greek guy singing and when you were in the cave, it had amazing acoustics. He was a bit embarrassed and stopped and I told him to continue. It’s moments like these that travel memories are made. On the way home, we sang Abba songs. I think our Mama Mia tour was the best.

The next day, I found a cute cafe where I sat with a selection of different cats and enjoyed good coffee.

On our last night we ate by the harbour and then were treated to a performance by a group of circus people who were also musicians, did acrobatics on their boat while behind them a full moon lit up the harbour. A nice farewell. Next day we were on a journey to the other side of Greece.

VOLOS, IOANNINA AND BEYOND.

We took the ferry back to Volos, staying the night there and eating a wonderful meal of garlic oyster mushrooms, stuffed vegetables and ouzo and got to chat with a couple from New York in search of the husband’s relatives and then the next day we were off on a long journey, longer than even we thought possible.

I had chosen a lakeside town on the western side of Greece as it was almost halfway. We boarded the bus knowing that even though it was a four hour trip, we would at least stop halfway. It didn’t stop, we just kept driving and driving, over mountain passes with hairpin bends and just when we thought we were stopping for a break, the bus driver got off and when we looked out he was having an animated discussion with some police and showing them his documents etc. It took ages and we were all getting nervous but finally he got in and drove off. But the amazing thing was we got to see (well from a distance), the amazing monasteries built atop the Meteora rock formations that arise out of the plain. There are twenty four monasteries built between the 13th -14th centuries on these immense natural pillars.

Five hours later we arrived, desperate for food and toilets. The bus hadn’t stopped once, normally they stop for a break at a roadside restaurant, this time, nothing. We looked at the taxi rank and were slightly concerned at the slightly dishevelled drivers and their even more dilapidated cars. We had to take the first one and his boot was already full of his stuff, he starts to try and jam our bags in and gives up on trying to close the boot. Luckily our hotel is not far, as we all look out the back as he charges off into the traffic.

We head into town for sustenance and happen upon a restaurant with an Aussie manager. His family went to Australia but he never really felt at home there and returned to Ioannina, a beautiful lakeside town with castle walls and an island with medieval houses on it. I wish we had longer here but it’s just a night. This is a restaurant where you eat the food of the day which is on display. I have male chicken as it is called in a rich tomato and cinnamon stew with vegetables and we order half a litre of wine and he tells us it’s not enough and brings a litre which he tells us is on the house. And as usual, when we ask for the bill in Greece, they bring you something - this time, the sweetest watermelon.

We walk down to the lake just on dusk, soft silken apricot light drifts across the water and as we walk home, we discover this is the city of silver, where most of the silver jewellery of Greece is made.

If it wasn’t such a long journey to get here, I would come again. The streets are decorated with beautiful murals and there are quaint cafes, one of which I go to before we leave the next day for Lefkada, the island on the west side of Greece.