May 21
We get up and have coffee early and ready ourselves for our 8:00 departure to the bus station. Instead of trying to save a few bucks by lugging everything down into the metro, we decide to find out how much a taxi to the bus station will cost. Turns out it is not much more than the metro, but much quicker and much more convenient. We arrive at the appointed hour and wait for the 9:00 departure which (surprisingly) happens at 9:00. This bus is a far cry from those we have travelled by in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia. We have assigned seats and it is bright and shiny, nearly new and very cozy for our 4 hour drive. Once underway, we watch as the big city fades away and we are zooming down more bucolic street that soon give way to orchards and farms and finally seaside villages. We arrive in Volos around 1:00 and take another taxi to the ferry port. We cannot board the boat until 2:00, so Annie, Hudson and I take a stroll around town while Paulie and Sam have ice cream at the dock while guarding our luggage. Soon, we are on board and sailing at a very rapid pace toward our final destination. This is a wonderful ride and before we know it we are pulling up to the first port of call - Skiathos. The Greek island group we are visiting is called the Sporades and is located northeast from Athens in the Aegeon Sea. We may a short stop and then onto Skopelos. As we approach the harbor the kids are amazed at how beautiful it is here. The water is crystal clear and the sky is a gorgeous shade of blue that sets off the white stucco houses. We get off the boat and are enchanted with the small cafe lined walkway that circles around the harbor. We soon get a taxi to our hotel, the Aegeon Hotel, and we arrive amid some confusion at the reception desk. The landlady seems to think we were arriving on the 23rd and does not seem at all prepared to have us as guests in her hotel. She does not speak good English and insists that we speak to her daughter on the phone to discuss the details of our reservation. Eventually, we get settled into two separate rooms and unpacked a bit and off into the town to find our way around. We walk along the waterway until we reach an outdoor cafe and are lured in for our dinner to a most welcoming location. We meet the owner, Ilias and his family and we have a great dinner. It has turned a bit nippy and we have a brisk walk home up, up, up the hillside to our hotel. We are not able to have any hot water so we forgo showers before bedtime.
We get up and have coffee early and ready ourselves for our 8:00 departure to the bus station. Instead of trying to save a few bucks by lugging everything down into the metro, we decide to find out how much a taxi to the bus station will cost. Turns out it is not much more than the metro, but much quicker and much more convenient. We arrive at the appointed hour and wait for the 9:00 departure which (surprisingly) happens at 9:00. This bus is a far cry from those we have travelled by in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia. We have assigned seats and it is bright and shiny, nearly new and very cozy for our 4 hour drive. Once underway, we watch as the big city fades away and we are zooming down more bucolic street that soon give way to orchards and farms and finally seaside villages. We arrive in Volos around 1:00 and take another taxi to the ferry port. We cannot board the boat until 2:00, so Annie, Hudson and I take a stroll around town while Paulie and Sam have ice cream at the dock while guarding our luggage. Soon, we are on board and sailing at a very rapid pace toward our final destination. This is a wonderful ride and before we know it we are pulling up to the first port of call - Skiathos. The Greek island group we are visiting is called the Sporades and is located northeast from Athens in the Aegeon Sea. We may a short stop and then onto Skopelos. As we approach the harbor the kids are amazed at how beautiful it is here. The water is crystal clear and the sky is a gorgeous shade of blue that sets off the white stucco houses. We get off the boat and are enchanted with the small cafe lined walkway that circles around the harbor. We soon get a taxi to our hotel, the Aegeon Hotel, and we arrive amid some confusion at the reception desk. The landlady seems to think we were arriving on the 23rd and does not seem at all prepared to have us as guests in her hotel. She does not speak good English and insists that we speak to her daughter on the phone to discuss the details of our reservation. Eventually, we get settled into two separate rooms and unpacked a bit and off into the town to find our way around. We walk along the waterway until we reach an outdoor cafe and are lured in for our dinner to a most welcoming location. We meet the owner, Ilias and his family and we have a great dinner. It has turned a bit nippy and we have a brisk walk home up, up, up the hillside to our hotel. We are not able to have any hot water so we forgo showers before bedtime.
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