Today was a full day at Skiros, one of the islands in the Sporades. The island only has two school buses so we had to wait for the school children to arrive at school until the buses were free for our use. The island also only has two settlements, the harbor town Linaria and the town at the northern tip, Skyros. Skyros town itself is like going backwards in time. Everything is relaxed and people have time to spend an hour at any of the many cafes, to talk and enjoy life. The streets are narrow (see the photograph) and cars have to stay outside. Some of us walked all the way up to the monastery and had a gorgeous view over the town and the Aegean Sea.

About ten Eleonora's falcons gave the keen birders among us a nice show. This bird species is unique to the Mediterranean, and breeds only on isolated islands. It nests in colonies and the breeding starts late. This is because they catch migratory land birds on their way to Africa in the fall, August-September.

The afternoon was relaxed. People had the opportunity to walk in the port town, stay at a nice sheltered beach or even stay on board. Since departure was not until 10 o'clock, some of us took the chance to have dinner ashore at one of the many local restaurants. This is always a good way to enjoy the local flavor and get near the local culture. Usually it is in the evenings around a good dinner you talk about the important things in life.

Just before sailing we had an after-dinner recap and were able to ask questions of our local Greek guides about anything concerning Greece. It is a great advantage to have the guides on board during our whole stay in Greece.