September 3, 2019 Athens-Istanbul-Atlanta

We had breakfast at the B&B with another couple that had arrived last night from Australia.  And I was just complaining about our 13 hour flight today.

We were at the airport by 8:00.  No problem checking in.  We had to change planes in Istanbul with a 2 hour layover.  It too nearly the whole 2 hours to get to the gate.  We had 2 additional document checks and one bag check.  They separated the women and men for the bag checks.  Then the flight was delayed for an hour.  We noticed several last calls for flights that didn’t leave on time.  This was a fairly new airport, but we still had to be bused to the airplane to board. 

The meals were good and they offered sandwiches on request through out the flight.  I’m sure everyone was on different time zones for eating.  Their flight map and statistics also listed the time until prayer.  In your choices for entertainment, you could choose to read the Koran.

the plane had hooks on the wall to attach cribs for babies to sit/sleep in

we were given a package with slippers, and eye mask and earplugs

We arrived in Atlanta at 8:30pm, but it was 3:30 am to us.  We took the airport shuttle to the hotel, greeted Pete and went to sleep.  That was a trip of a lifetime. 

September 2, 2019 Volos to Athens by train

We had the hotel breakfast and were on the train by 8:30am.  We took the train to Athens to the stop at the airport.  We found a B&B room about 20 minutes from the airport.  The owner picked us up.  We ordered dinner to be delivered by a local place the owner recommended.  The had great pizza and pasta and a ham and cheese crepe. 

beautiful train station in Volos

view from our room

Hurricane Dorian is hitting the Bahamas.  And they have called for a mandatory evacuation of Brunswick, GA.  Pete left for Atlanta yesterday.

September 1, 2019 Skopelos to Volos, Greece

As we were packing this morning, I could hear a priest singing from a nearby church.  I am sorry we didn’t have time to attend a service.  We were out of our villa and to the ferry dock for our 11:50am ferry.

we took a different route to the wate

 

 

 

We were back in Volos by 5:00 and checked into a different hotel, one closer to the train station.  We walked back towards the water and enjoyed another great Greek meal, Greek salad, ztatziki, saganaki, Dave had stuffed squid with cheese and I had grilled squid.  They were both delicious.

getting tipsy before leaving Greece

the locals playing dominoes in the park

the local ouzo, not as good

beautiful fountain with a ship

August 31, 2019 Skopelos Island tour by car

Dave finally felt alive today.  We rented a car by 9:00.  There had been an issue with some companies renting us a car without an International Driver’s license.  Word to the wise, they are easy to get before leaving the US.  We drove to the town of Neo Klimas on the norther side of the island to rent a power boat for the day by 10:30.  Dave really wanted to get out onto the water.

 
 We anchored near Kastani and Milia.  We thought we’d swim to shore, but didn’t bring a dry bag.  So it would be hard to take any clothes with us to go to a restaurant.  So we moved on.  The Milia beach was in a scene in Mama Mia, with the song “Does your Momma Know that your out?”.

Milia

 
We went to Agnostas and were able to tie to a dock.  We had a nice lunch staring at the water.  We tried all the crazy appetizers: sea urchin eggs, octopus salad, Roe salad spread.  Our main courses were spaghetti with meatballs and veal.

sea urchin eggs

sea urchin eggs

octopus salad

roe sprea

we need this sign on our boat

we ate at this restaurant

After lunch we drove by an island that was used in Mamma Mia.  It was the island where the daughter spent the day with the 3 possible fathers.  They were there by sailboat, which drew my attention.

 

village along the coast

the town of Glossa

this ferry is similar to what we take to the mainland

 We drove the boat around a few small islands off shore and had the boat returned by 4:00.  Next we drove to the north east side of the island to see the rock/church where the wedding was held in the movie Mamma Mia.  It was a beautiful spot with crashing waves.  The hike up there was very steep.  I can’t imagine all the filming crew doing this climb with equipment.  At the top, I realized the church was not the same as in the movie.  So they only filmed a few scenes on the rock steps, not the entire wedding here. 

 
 
 

 
 
 

now for the hike down

 

We stopped in the town of Ponormos for a drink and to stare at boats and water before returning the car by 7:00.

We returned to our villa and ate leftovers.  We spent the rest of the evening packing to leave in the morning.  Dave listened to Alabama’s first football game of the season until midnight.  And they won, ROLL TIDE!