We are now back home after a nice 16 day break, our take off was delayed by a seagull on the runway! The pilot had to get a man in a van to go and frighten it off as he did not want it getting sucked into an engine.
I had a bit of a fright in the aircraft loo. As usual you have to shuffle in, turn round, close the door behind you which turns on the light. You then sit down in the cramped space to do what is natural. I then looked up to see a camel staring down at me! They have a big picture on the facing wall which is then reflected in the door mirror, someone in Jet2 has a sense of humour.
When they were very low due to the travel restrictions I bought shares in both Jet2 and Easyjet, both have gone up 30% which is good but I have been so impressed with Jet2 I sold my Easyjet shares last week and doubled my Jet2 holding. They were very quick to refund travellers when the problems started, they market themselves as a cheap package holiday company but don’t try to screw the customer like Ryan Air. They even have a sensible hand baggage policy, and of course if I can persuade you to fly with them my shares might go even higher.
So what did we think of the Sporades Islands? The three we visited are very different and each had a large number of English supporters. In fact almost all the non Greek tourists were English as well as quite a large English expat community living here. When we arrived a couple we shared a taxi with (covid has not stopped Greek taxi drivers cramming in extra customers) have been coming to Skiathos for many years and would not go anywhere else.
Another Brit we met in Alonnisos said “and how did you discover this wonderful island” it seems much the same as Bishops Castle with residents and regular visitors pinching themselves at being so lucky living there.
Alonnisos – A sleepy place, the main town whilst not beautiful had a bit of character and the fishing village we stayed in was very laid back. We were however disappointed with the walking, it is promoted as having good waymarked paths but I guess covid has meant fewer foreign walkers (Greeks never go hiking) so the paths have become overgrown. The one we tried was a little difficult but another couple had real problems on one of the main routes. There are few trees on the island so it is not very green.
The old town is supposedly up market, certainly many of the houses have been restored but it was dead. One gets the impression it is second homers not visiting this year.
Skopelos – A number of people had said Skopelos was not as nice as Alonnisos and Skiathos and we nearly did not stay there but we were glad we did. The hills are wooded and very green, the main town is fine but Glossa, the second town was great, it is built on the side of the hill, is being gentrified but there seem to be enough permanent residents to make the town viable.
Skiathos – Touristy yes but fine. There are enough beaches for everyone, some are commercialised, some quite posh and others remote and unspoilt. Our preference is for no water sports, nice sand, good shelter (umbrellas) and a taverna to keep us supplied with frappé, beer and the odd club sandwich.
Talking of food, apart from the restaurant we discovered a few days ago (and ate there on the last three nights) the food whilst fine has not been as good as last years Greek holiday, not sure why unless these islands are less prosperous than the mainland so fewer locals eat out.
None of the islands is as nice as Lefkada which we visited last year or Rhodes or Crete which are of course much larger and have good and bad areas, nor do they compete with the Pilion which is only 20 miles away on the mainland. So we probably won’t go back to the Sporades but that does not mean we did not have an enjoyable holiday, it was a very good 16 days and if you just want a relaxing fortnight by the sea we can highly recommend the Sporades Islands.