Herring Gulls - the true seagulls

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To many people all the birds seen near the sea are "seagulls". Actually there are many different kind of birds who make their living from the sea. There are shags, eagles, sea doves, and a host of others. 

This, however, is a true seagull, a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), one of the most familiar seaside bird on both Skopelos coasts and inland areas. For the so-called seagull is just as apt to follow a tractor and pick up grasshoppers on a farm as it is to pick up clams and crabs from a beach. 

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Weather and Weather Forecast

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TODAY'S WEATHER IN REAL-TIME  Click below for full 7-day weather forecasts.  Weather in Skopelos   WEATHER DURING TOURIST SEASON  The tourist season is usually defined as May to October, with sunny and dry weather and clear skies.  A cool and soothing breeze accompanies the rising heat during August.  Being mountainous, the island offers many sheltered beaches, no matter which direction the wind blows. For example, you can try southerly beaches when there is a northerly wind or vice versa.  For those of you who enjoy big 'ocean' waves and surfing, try the northern beaches on a north wind day. WEATHER DURING OFF SEASON  The climate is usually rainy from November to February, but not continuously. There will always be sunny days in between the rainy ones, so one is never bored.  March is unpredictable - although you can expect about 7 hours of sunshine a day, rather less rain and the average temperature can occasionally rise to 18°C (65°F) or h...
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Skopelos beaches

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Skopelos is an unspoiled jewel in the Aegean Sea, with mountain slopes bedecked in dense greenery carpeting down to fine beaches and limpid waters. Despite being small, Skopelos beaches are varied and aplenty: find olive trees and plum orchards and clumps of pines by the sea’s edge, composed of slender pebbled shores or white bays, caves and coves, plus curious rock formations. (tip) Make sure to pack snorkeling goggles for swimming with curious marine life, especially around the cragged rocks. Spot the occasional turtle and fish of all stripes! The most popular of Skopelos beaches lie on the more wind-sheltered west coast, home to stretches of white shingle and pebbles backed by bars and taverns. On the flip side, the eastern shoreline is peppered with smaller and more peaceful beaches, almost always deserted. Likewise, those in the north are wilder with no facilities. Keep in mind that as a Greek island, strong Meltemi (dry and seasonal) winds can affect some of Skopelos’s beaches in...
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Traditional Costumes of Skopelos

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These old handmade costumes are preserved in the Folklore Museum of Skopelos, which is located in the center of the town. The costume with the black top and the embroidered flowers was the wedding gown of local women. 
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How to get to Skopelos

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from Skiathos  The quickest way to reach Skopelos is to take a return flight to Skiathos, our nearest island. It’s a five-minute taxi ride from Skiathos airport to the harbour, where there are regular crossings by ferry to local port of Glossa or main port of Skopelos town. From mainland Greece you can reach Skopelos by ferry from 3 ports:  Mandoudi  Volos  Thessaloniki   ⚓️ The port of Mantoudi in Evia is the closest one to Athens, approximately 2 hours by car.  ⚓️   If you’re in Northern Greece, Thessaloniki and Volos are the most convenient ports to Skopelos. 
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Today's sunset

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Watching a sunset in person cannot be captured in a photograph. And although the feelings it creates can't be described in words either, there are so many quotes written by famous and anonymous about this magical time. Here are three quotes we've collected from the thousands that have been said and written.  “Soon it got dusk, a grapy dusk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves and long melon fields; the sun the color of pressed grapes, slashed with burgandy red, the fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries.” ― Jack Kerouac, On the Road  “A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.” ― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath  “And yet day and night meet fleetingly at twilight and dawn," he said, lowering his vo...
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the Skopelitian American chef Cat Cora

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Both of her families - her family in Jackson, Mississippi, and her family on the island of Skopelos in Greece - share a love of good food, a passion for gathering around a table for long conversations with family and friends, and a generosity of spirit that reaches from the Aegean Sea to the American South. Her dad, Spiros, born in the Missisipi Delta two months after his parents left Skopelos, has the warmth and fun-loving appetite of a Greek and the humor and charm of a Southern gentleman. In 2005, Cat Cora made television history on Food Network’s Iron Chef America as the first and only female Iron Chef, and in November 2006 Bon Appetit Magazine bestowed her with their Teacher of the Year Award, an award she calls, “the greatest recognition she could achieve as a chef”.  Cat Cora's Kitchen Favourite Meals for Family and Friends The dinners of her childhood inspired her to write this book, to pass along the idea that good cooking can spring from modest budgets. Greek home cooking...
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The lighthouse on the island of Psathoura

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A 19th century Monument, first operated in 1895. It is located on the northern side of the uninhabited island of Psathoura, which belongs to the Marine Park of Alonissos Northern Sporades. This impressive circular tower was built from 1893 to 1895 by Skopelian stonemasons who used the island's local dark volcanic stones for its construction and is one of the tallest lighthouses in the Aegean Sea.  Type of construction : Circular Year of construction : 1895 Height : 28.90 metres - Focus : 40 Coordinates : 39°N30, 24°E11 Signal : a white flash of 1 sec / 10 sec Illumination Range : 17 nautical miles In 2001 it was characterized as a monument for historic preservation by the Ministry of Culture.  The Psathoura lighthouse belongs to the Lighthouse Network of Magnesia consisting of five stone lighthouses; the lighthouse on Trikeri, the lighthouse of “Gourouni” on Skopelos, the lighthouse on Psathoura, the lighthouse "Argyronisiou" and the lighthouse of “Repi” on Skiathos.  Psa...
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Marc Held - the architect

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Marc Held is both architect and designer. The full range of this creative work is remarkable - everything from small spoons to entire factories, with houses, cars, ski outfits, porcelain and furniture in between. Although Marc’s studio was based in Paris for a long time, his work has been commissioned and sold all over the world. A number of his creations are exhibited in museums of contemporary art, and some of the rarer pieces - always supposing one is lucky enough to find them - feature in major public auctions. Today, one of Marc Held’s main preoccupations is the relationship between traditional and modern architecture. Marc Held’s principal residence is now in Skopelos island, which has become his second homeland. Marc Held's book "SKOPELOS, the landscapes and the vernacular architecture of an Aegean island" was published in 3 languages. English, French and Greek. It is a 211 page hardcover book (size: 25cm x 25cm) and is available for sale in local stores of Skopelo...
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snapshots, updates & other small things from Skopelos island in Greece