Skiathos Town (Part Two)
At the right of the Bourtzi (the sea in front of you), on the terraces of the traditional taverns, pizzerias, cafés of the old port, the waiters are trying to attract some clients. Many are tourist traps, some are worth a visit. The old port, where cars are forbidden, has kept a picturesque charm thanks to the colorful fishing boats, called "Matoula", "Dimitris" or "Maria", swaying gently along the quay on crystal clear waters.
At a short distance from the Bourtzi, near the quay where the Flying Cats accost, every summer some impressive yachts drop anchor under the admiring glaze of the holidaymakers. The rumor runs fast and the names of some celebrities circulate all over the island, wrongly or rightly ... Each year, American actors, pop stars or Greek TV presenters , ship owners or singers, which photos adorn the restaurants that have had the honor of a brief visit, just feed the local tabloids. This summer, David Hasselhof, Tommy Hilfiger, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russel and Philip Green have chosen Skiathos to spend a few hours or days.
After your drink at the Bourtzi and your stroll in the old harbour, you can walk along the marina where private yachts alternate with sailboats and rental boats. At the end of it, you will find some very nice restaurants, where you can eat traditional “mezedes” accompanied with a small bottle of ouzo or “tsipouro” and admire the Aegean Sea, almost with your feet in the water... Woaw, it’s now past midnight and you have noticed that the human flood passing by has considerably increased. Time to go to the “Skiathos nightlife strip”: all the nightclubs and bars, which begin to live after midnight and where a motley crowd squeezes up until the wee hours of the morning.
Let’s end our touristic tour with Papadiamantis Street. It goes through the town, perpendicularly to the sea and ends in front of the commercial port. This is the place for shopping: souvenir shops, clothing stores, fake (many) or authentic (few), jewellery stores and some restaurants, with tables interspersed among the almost ceaseless procession of tourists who walk Papadiamantis Street until closing time of shops (about midnight in summer). If a if a sudden need for culture takes hold of you, follow the signs for the Papadiamantis Museum. To know a little bit more about this Greek writer, born and dead in Skiathos, I invite you to read another article I wrote about him. Read part 3... or, if not yet, read part 1
