Day 9, Sunbathing & Skiathos town

When we wake up this morning there is good news and bad news! Which do you want first? Ok, so we can finish on a positive note, it's bad news first; my ear is still blocked and lots of fiddling can't clear it. The good news is that Elaine's back seems to be ok this morning, fingers crossed it stays that way - happy with that.

Go down for breakfast around half nine and it's nice to see Elaine moving so much easier. So, what to do today, after our think tank session of throwing various ideas into the pot we

eventually decide on... some more sunbathing...!!! I persevere in the glorious sunshine until lunchtime, but then have to give in and leave Elaine to it and go back to our room for a bit of a siesta as this ear is so uncomfortable.

After her lunch and a little more sun worship, Elaine comes up to the room and after freshening up we get the local bus into Skiathos town so I can go to a pharmacist to hopefully get some ear drops to sort out this blocked ear. We also want to book one of the various boat trips that are on offer around the old harbour as well as locate the restaurant that Carol & Elaine recommended that is right on the waterfront.

By the time we get off the bus in town it is around four o'clock, and still swelteringly hot, so we're melting by the time

we locate one of the pharmacies... and it's closed, so we wander along the main strip and find another one... and that's closed too... arrrrgh...!!! Fortunately they are about to reopen and I get my ear drops, please let them work!

Next task was to track down the restaurant that Carol & Elaine recommended to us, and the directions were pretty straight forward; left along the waterfront from the bus terminal and it's the one with the blue frontage and blue tables & chairs... hang on though, aren't nearly all Greek tavernas painted blue...??? Luckily for us we find it easily, as on this occasion it was the only one with blue decor out of the half dozen or so establishments along the waterfront. Turns out that the girls steered us right, unlike the others on this strip, Ta Kymata was more like your typical Greek taverna, and though the food was of a more rustic presentation it was every bit as good as our meals last night, and a fair bit cheaper. Again we enjoyed good food, good service from the attentive waiter and felt nice and relaxed in the shade while watching the little fishes fight over the bread we threw in for them.

Unfortunately we couldn't stay here all evening so had to venture out into the full

blast of the late afternoon sun, and it was still quite a blast let me tell you! Strolling passed the new harbour we were a little envious of some of the amazing vessels moored up at the main quay and wondered what exciting places their owners must have visited. A little further on and we arrived by the old harbour where all the boat owners tempted us with their various cruises. There were quite a few different trips to choose from and we finally opted for the one that took in the Mamma Mia church on Skopelos, Blue Cave, Skopelos town and back to Skiathos for Elalia beach; and we booked it for Saturday in a couple of days time in the hope that my ear will have cleared up by then.

By now the sun was setting and the light rapidly fading, so we made our way a little further along the quay to hitch a ride on

the water taxi back to the hotel. We'd been told that it was nice to do this at this time of the day as the views along the way we're not to be missed... and they were right, a very pleasant way to end the day! But the day hadn't quite ended for us just yet, as we talked ourselves into having a naughty little latte at the Kanapitsa Cafe, which is rather conveniently right by the water taxi drop off on the beach!!! I have to mention at this point that we did not have any coffee at the Ta Kymata restaurant in town.

There was no rush as we knew we had that uphill walk to the hotel to come, but couldn't stay all night and had to bite the bullet and just go for it...!!! I applied my ear drops as soon as I returned to the hotel, and prayed to whomsoever was listening to please let them work!