The day draws in, the stars come out
Like house lights far away
The sky slow shifts from blue to red
And night replaces day
The wind that helped us cross the sea
Brings distant village sound
Of dogs and bikes and human kind
And stirs the trees around
It's peaceful here upon the wall
High above the plain
I think I'll bring a cushion, if
I come back here again
The more modern side of town. The islanders have avoided building (until now) on the lower levels since these areas are the first to be overrun by invading pirates, war parties and brigands.
The view from the monastry. Being the highest point it was the place the islanders retreated to in the event of invasion, which happened fairly often
You can see most of the town from here and that is the majority of the population of the island, though there are more, and newer houses growing around the bay every year. This is the upper end of Skyros' main street, it is a little wider lower down, and right at the bottom of the town two cars can pass each other safely. This part however is the domain of pedestrians and motorcycles.
The village, (not really big enough to be called a town, except there isn't anywhere else,) is the only significant population centre, so it gets the same name as the island. There is a general purpose military post and airport at the other end of the island which takes summer traffic. In winter it's ferry, private boat, or swim.Skyros
a small Greek island east of the Greek mainland. Visited on the turn of the millennium
We went to Skyros for our honeymoon over the millennium, the idea being that the weather would be nicer than Scotland and the population less vulnerable to the anticipated and much hyped millennium bug. We were correct on both counts, and only suffered a little at the hands of the local weather deities during the ferry crossings.
The majority of the tourist industry is centered on the summer months, to the bemusement of the locals who think it's far too hot then, (but will happily sell you an icecream). If you want to visit in the winter, when it is far more pleasant then you will have to cross by ferry from the mainland. Weather can be an issue, and we had to come back a day early because the ferry was expected to be storm bound the next day. We arrived a little late for the same reason, and here lies a lesson worth learning. The ferry set off from a little port, possibly Kymi, on the mainland. While we waited we were given free local wine, in what seemed the only open restaurant. Well it was red, flat at the top and had alcohol in it. We, a party of forty with many students, left almost all of it on the tables, unopened. Be warned.
