After our epic breakfast, we took a short hike from the waterfront to the only known archaeological site on our end of the island. What we found were supposed to be the unexcavated remains of "Roman Baths," but they just looked like rocks with rudimentary concrete steps and pathways nearby. Not terribly impressive, and definitely not photo material.
What followed that dud outing was the Wild Panda Skopelos Southern Coastal Tour 2011, or WPSSCT2k11 for short. We donned our swimsuits and drove to the nearest village, Elias Neoklima, then found our first (and best) beach of the day: Kastani Beach.
We parked there and found a pathway over some rocks and through some light vegetation that looked like it led to another beach around the bend.
Above: Light vegetation.
Our hike was supposed to take us to Milia Beach (one the guide books said was gorgeous), but instead we found some rocks and naked people--poorly endowed, I might add.
Returning to our vehicle, we drove on toward Adrina Beach, then the picturesque Panormos Bay...
ABOVE: Panormos Bay
Limnonari Beach...
Limnonari
Agnondas Bay...
Agnondas Bay
...and then Stafilos, where we stopped for lunch. We walked down to a beachside café that served sandwiches, cold beer, and shade, so we made ourselves at home there.
At this point in the day, we were hot and tired, mildly lost, but on the hunt for seals because our illustrated tourist map had drawings of the aquatic mammals near the Cape of Stafilos. Our café owner rattled out some quick Greek that I loosely translated to mean, "Beautiful area over that hill. I'm sure whatever you're looking for is there."
The moral to this story is that I don't speak Greek very well: we hiked over the cape looking for seals, and DID find a beautiful area of mostly abandoned beach. However, the unabandoned part was populated not by cute, lovable seals, but by portly, unattractive nudists. Egads!
We had stumbled onto Velania, the beach that our café hostess Ismene had warned us against: "No go here, is people with no clothes."
Above: At least they were kind enough to indicate the Demarcation Line.
Having had enough of adventuring for the day(we covered 20+ kilometers of winding roads, most of the island's length), we retraced our path to Kastani Beach, our favorite so far. Annie and I swam and snorkeled, discovering a few caves along the coastline.
Meanwhile, the Hales weren't quite so active:
Above: Hard at work taking a much-deserved siesta.
In the late afternoon we all enjoyed a beachside beer, then eventually made our way home for more balcony wine at sunset. After showering, we steered back into Glossa for a late dinner at Maistrali Restaurant: swordfish steaks for the men, spaghetti bolognese for the women.
Our night concluded with another quiet walk through the narrow cobblestone streets of Glossa before a short trip home. I think we all crashed immediately, with little concern for our humble single bed accommodations.
Skopelos Day 2 (June 21) Album:
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| Skopelos: June 21, 2011 |
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Skopelos Island, Sporades, Greece
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