This part of the holiday was organised by our children as a birthday present for me , although I let David tag along, I must say, he does well out of my birthday treats.
When we arrived at our daughter's house in Bulgaria there was a folder waiting for me, which contained all the details I would need for my excursion to Greece, such as hotel reservations, ferry tickets, an AA route finder etc. There was also information on where parts of the film, Mama Mia was filmed. I really enjoy that film and also the stage show , it is so upbeat and happy and of course has songs that you can sing along to.
As the film was mainly filmed on islands this meant we had to catch four ferries in all, two to get out there and two to get back. The first ferry was really early in the morning so we set off the day before to drive to the port town of Volos in Greece.
The road initially was lovely, to get to Dobrinishte you need to drive up the mountain from the direction of Sofia, to get to Greece you basically drive down the other side. It was lovely all tree lined and rivers running by the side but eventually you do make yourself back to the motorways and there is where some of the charm is lost. Especially, when the motorway is still being built and you are basically on a dirt track running alongside it, trying to avoid potholes.
We did eventually get back onto a proper road and made our way down towards the Bulgarian/Greece border driving behind a large lorry. Suddenly, the lorry stopped so we stopped behind it, as you do wondering if it was traffic lights or more road works, only to realise after several minutes that cars were whizzing past us. Turns out we were quite close to the border and we were in the lorry queue to get through immigration. The lorry behind us must have thought we were right plonkers ! So, we did what the other cars were doing and started to make our way down to the border, the only problem was that it was only a two lane road, one lane for each direction and of course now and again cars would come the other way but yet there were lorries on our side of the road. Now and again the lorries would leave gaps for the cars to dodge into but these were not always in appropriate places, which meant a lot of manoeuvring onto the road side, field entrances and at times reversing.
At long last, after driving past several miles of lorries we made it, after a cursory glance at our documents at both borders , we were in Greece. I feel really sorry for the lorry drivers at border crossings as they must wait for hours, some do get out of their cabs for a wander and chit chat with fellow drivers.
Driving into Volos was not very nice, the outskirts were very run down and there was a lot of graffiti all over the place, although I suppose many cities are like that. David had booked us into a bed and breakfast which was on top of the mountain overlooking Volos, so at least we were distanced from it and I must admit looking from afar it appeared very pretty.
We woke up bright and breezy and after an amazing breakfast headed to the port, this is where it started to get very stressful. The roads in the centre of town, where very busy and very narrow, unfortunately a lot of these old city centres were built when traffic was few and far between but now cars, lorries and buses were everywhere, coming at you in all directions. Through all this mayhem we were trying to find the long stay car park, and it was one of those moments when you do eventually see what you want but don't know how to get there. We ended up seeing a tourist information place, stopping there and asking directions even though we could see it, we were actually pointing it out to her through the window. There were two things mainly confusing us about it, where was the road in and it looked like a shopping mall and basically it is a car park for the shops as well.
So after that stress was over, we headed to the port, the same port incidentally that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from. Now, we had never used a ferry as foot passengers before so we were not sure what to do, such as how early you needed to turn up what documents you needed etc. David, however decided he had time to look for a geocache which was a great long walk along the harbour wall which I could see shimmering in the distance. Apprehensive about time, I didn't go but David set off on his mission slowly disappearing to a speck in the distance. Well, the longer he was gone the more I was getting wound up, I was sure we would miss that ferry all because of a geocache. I had the suitcase, tickets and passports, so if need be I was getting on that ferry myself. Thankfully he did return in plenty of time as , as it turns out catching a ferry is a bit like catching a train you just need to turn up and get on.
The ferry ride was nice and smooth and took about one and a half hours, we were on one of the bigger, more modern ferries. We arrived in Skiathos in beautiful weather at a lovely little pier, with the traditional white painted houses which were nestled on the coast line glistening in the sun. We were met by our lodgings owner who drove us a very short distance to our room for the night. It was a good job he picked us up as we would never have found it in the labyrinth of streets even though it was only a five minute walk away.
Skiathos is a beautiful little island and was lovely to wander around and explore.
Looking over one of the harbour areas where the yachts were berthed.
There was a lovely walk which went around a small bit of land which jutted out into the sea. It was very much like a small island in itself, but was attached to the main island by a small bit of land. We were told by one of the local tourist boating companies that we should walk around it, as it is very rejuvenating. We did but didn't particularly feel rejuvenated.
The clock tower below was used in the opening scenes of the film when Sophie posts her letters to her prospective dads.
The tower sits on top of the hill which has beautiful views looking out to sea and over the rest of the island.
There are many water wells dotted around which are still in use today. You often see people filling up water containers from them.
There are lots of lovely little streets to wander around , with cafes and shops dotted about.
One of these walks, surprisingly enough was to find a geocache which turned out to be at a lovely beach side bar. See, geocaching does have its benefits! While David was pottering around looking for it I decided to have a coke. Sat at the table I suddenly became aware of what was on the coke can, Santa Claus !
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