Goodbye For Now!

Hello!!

I have now been home for just about two weeks, and I am finally back on the “American” schedule. I miss Skiathos for sure and I will definitely be planning a visit back, hopefully within a couple of summers!

I wanted to take the time and thank everyone who helped me during this amazing experience. First, thank you to Dimitris Ioannidis, who arranged the Sister City internship; Demetra Paparounas, who helped us while we were in Skiathos; the Armamentos family who took me in as their own and brought me to the beaches, dinner and helped me out with anything I needed; all the friends and the people at the local cafes that we met and had a chance to get to know; Yiayia Nina who provided the house for us and the Mayor/Town of Skiathos for taking care of Tori and me and helping to make this internship possible.

I will definitely miss Skiathos and will always remember my summer there. Thank you also to everyone who read this blog and made the views over 2,600!! It means a lot!

Roula and I at Koukounaries beach.

Roula, Panos and I at lunch on my last day.

Dimitri and Phillip.

Until next time!!

Stephanie

The Sea—Despina Vandi

Check out Despina Vandi's (a famous Greek singer) music video, which features Skiathos' beaches! Tori and I had actually been to all of the beaches that are shown in the video...

Stephanie

Yiayia Nina

Before ending this blog, I have to tell you about the one and only, Yiayia Nina, a very sweet 74 year old. She lived right below us and owned the house we lived in during our stay in Skiathos. Talk about a caring person and an AMAZING cook. Tori and I would come back from touring certain sites of the island and a full cooked meal was waiting for us in our kitchen. Each and every meal she brought us was mouthwatering good and every single time our plates were licked clean. Before leaving Skiathos, I had coffee with her many times. We took the opportunity to learn about her history and where she was from. Yiayia Nina was born and raised in Skiathos, Greece. She grew up with her five siblings, two were boys and the other three were girls. Over twenty years ago, she moved to the house she currently lives in on Agios Fanourios. All of her siblings are married and also live in Skiathos, except one who lives in Volos. As she grew up, she went to school but she never finished so she does not have her diploma. When she was older, she got married and had two daughters, Maria and Zina. Maria works at the mayor’s office. Both sisters work at their villas called Syraina’s Studios, which is a short walk from bus stop 18. When my parents came to visit me, we stopped by to see the villas. These studios are in a quiet area on their own and not too far from the local beach, Troulos. The daughters are all about pleasing their visitors. Visit their website http://www.syrainastudios.gr/ to see for yourself!

One of our last nights together.

Yiayia Nina and I enjoying coffee and looking at the amazing view from her balcony.

Yiayia Nina cooking Tori and I dinner.

One of the meals she cooked us.

I will always remember Yiayia Nina as my grandmother away from home, my Skiathos yiayia!

Stephanie

Tris Ierarches Church

On my way home from the Corner Café, I decided to make a quick detour to what we've been referring to as the “big church next to Rock n’ Roll bar” hoping that maybe it would finally be open. Unfortunately, it was closed today but I found some interesting information.

The church, which is right above the port next to the maxilaria is called Tris Ierarches or The Church of the Three Hierarchs. It is the main church of Skiathos and is dedicated to St. Vasilios (Cappadokia bishop), St. Grigorious (Constantinople bishop/theologian), and St Ioannis Chrisostomos. Tris Ierarches was constructed in 1846 and has been the main church of Skiathos for 150 years. The church is the home of many religious artifacts and icons, the most famous of which is Panagia Iconistria (the miraculous icon found swinging at Kounistria around 1650).

Father Adamantios (Papadiamantis’s father) was the priest of the church at one point and both Papadiamantis and Moraitidis were active members of the church.

The three patriarchs above church entrance.

Tris Ierarches still follows the ancient tradition of the Kollyvades – the group of monks from Mt. Athos led by Fr. Niphon (founder of Evangelistria).

We are not leaving just yet so stay posted!

-Victoria

Mandraki Beach

Hello!!

Yesterday, my friend Jenny and I visited Mandraki beach, which is near Agia Eleni and Elias beach (I've talked about them in previous posts). To get there, we drove on newly dug up dirt roads with amazing views. The beach was very quiet, the water was the warmest I've experienced here and there was a place where you could get food if you'd like.  Here are some pictures so you can see for yourself...

The entrance to the beach.

On a side note, be careful of the bees! They are everywhere and I was even stung by one yesterday. A kind man had come up and gave me some ointment that made it feel better instantly. I'll definitely have to get back to you on what it was called!!

Talk soon!

Stephanie

Some New Places....

Meating Point Grill House 
This is a very good restaurant that is located in the back roads of Papadiamantis street. Tori and I always walked by it during our stay here and it was busy every time. We decided to try it out for ourselves the other night and it was REALLY good! We ordered a Crete salad and tzatziki, and I also ordered mini hamburgers and Tori ordered chicken filet. I would 100% recommend coming here. Our favorite was the salad because it had a big piece of toasted bread at the bottom and then it was topped with tomatoes, feta, olives and capers. It kind of reminded me of a tomatoe bruschetta. 

Me at the Meating Point Grill House.

Our Crete salad and tzatziki.

Mini hamburgers and fries that I ordered.

Fregio
All I can say is yum! This is a place where you can get ice cream, sweets, frozen yogurt, gelato, coffee and much more. It is located on the port, so when you visit you definitely can’t miss it. It is always busy and the people that work there are friendly. They have different flavors of ice cream to choose from and my favorite is Snickers. The price point is perfect as well not any more than you would pay back home!

Fregio. 

Some of the selections you can choose from.

Some more ice cream!

Stephanie

Common Greek Words

Hi Everyone!!

Tori and I thought it would be a good idea if we gave you an English to Greek translation on some popular Greek words that could be helpful if you visited Greece...


Hello/Goodbye—γειά σου (yia sou)
Thank You—ευχαριστώ (evharisto)
How are you?—τι κάνετε; (ti kanete;)
I’m well— είμαι καλά (emai kala)

What are you doing?—τι κάνεις; (ti kaneis;)
Sorry/Excuse Me—συγνώμη (signomi)
Mom—μαμά (mama)
Dad—μπαμπάς (mpampas)
Sister—αδελφή (adelfi)
Brother—αδελφός (adelfos)
Grandfather—παππούς (papous)
Grandmother—γιαγιά (yiayia)
Bus—λεωφορείο (leforio)
Car—αυτοκίνητο (autokinito)
Outside Convenience Store/Kiosk—περίπτερο (periptero)
Beach—παραλία (paralia)
Water—νερό (nero)
Greek Iced Coffee—φραπέ (frappe)
Greek Salad—χωριάτικη σαλάτα (horiatiki salata)
Cucumber & Yogurt Dip—τζατζίκι (tzatziki)
Cheese Pie—τυρόπιτα (tiropita)
Ice Cream—παγωτό (pagoto)
Pita filled with pork or chicken with tomato, tzatiki, onion and others—γύρο (gyro)


It's already our last week staying in Skiathos, so look for our updates before we leave!!

Stephanie