Skiathos Town from the Ferry
Greetings from Alonnisos (or Alonissos in some guides), a small island 12 miles long and three miles wide. It was fun getting here, the wind was so strong the ferry did not take its usual route and instead kept to the leeward side of the other islands, missing out one stop as it was too dangerous. It is quite a large ship which carries lorries and cars as well as people so it was a little surprising. Fortunately the harbour in Alonnisos is sheltered so we landed safely. It was brilliant sunshine and warm. The forecast for the next few days includes warm rain, we might be confined to a taverna.
In ancient times the Minoans controlled the island and introduced vines whose wine was supposedly the best in the Mediterranean so for the next few thousand years this was the main industry on the island.
Unfortunately in the 1950’s the disease phylloxera wiped out all the vines then in 1965 an earthquake destroyed the main town, all the inhabitants moved across the island to establish a new, earthquake proof town where we are staying at the moment (picture from our balcony above) although many of the old houses have now been restored by incomers (pictured left).
We are not sure where to base ourselves on the island, we need to be near a few tavernas so we don’t have to cook, it would be nice to be on a beach and if the weather is not so good a bit of space would be good. So with these requirements in mind we explored most of the island today. The old town has some charm but is very exposed being on the top of a hill, we found the best beach (photo below) but that only has one taverna so after finishing this blog we will spend an inordinately long time comparing the merits of different houses and apartments on Booking.com and then, having gone round in circles, pick one at random.
All will be revealled on our next blog in a day or two.