Vasilis Tsartsanis

I feel strongly that stories of people who try to help in any way should be shown to the world so here it goes. How one man made Greece a more welcoming place for refugees. Vasilis and his friends found out that a lot of things needed to be organized when it comes to helping refugees and they did it with simple things, like a car.

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Official

On Sunday afternoon the premises of the folklore and cultural organization were officially blessed by three! priests. Many people came to wish the board of the organization well and see the rooms where dance , music and art classes are held . Everything looked soo professional. We wish the organization well and hope they keep up the good work for a long time because many people have found a place where they can express their thoughts and feelings about history, folklore, art and music.

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Stuck

(photos from Mike)

Ferryboat Myrtidiotissa got stuck in the harbor entrance yesterday afternoon. The probable cause is the amount of sand/mud that has accumulated on the sea bottom. With strong winds the sand/mud moves more and more in the mouth of the harbor and boats can get stuck. At some point the harbor needs to be dug out. Skopelosnews remembers the harbor being dug out many years ago with machines like this on the photo below. Will that happen again soon? I fear for the summer with more ferryboats coming into the harbor.

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Everybody is involved

Due to the bad weather and the large amounts of snow, many businesses and houses were without telephone and internet for quite a while on Skopelos. Most telephone lines are connected via telephone poles in the air and when the pole is broken or has fallen down you are disconnected or the line can break and you have the same result. OTE has crews that put up poles and re-connect lines. They have been working in Alonissos and Skopelos for quite a while. When your house is situated on a hill you can imagine that the task to get reconnected is fairly difficult. You cannot leave and have to be there to give instructions to the crew and receive instructions.

Fotis and his colleague visited the Agios Konstantinos area yesterday. First they had to find the house and the broken telephone line, then they had to decide if am extra telephone pole would be put in and where. After this the pole had to be dragged up on the hill. By that time everybody was involved, home owners, visitors, dog and crew. These poles are heavy! The hole was dug, more than 1,5 meters deep. The pole was lifted by everybody in the hole and secured. Fotis climbed into the pole and connected the line, then got into the other pole and connected the line from there to the house. All is well. We have a landline and internet again. Thanks guys!

This post is the first one written from home again. I am not sure if I like it. It was different without the internet. Yesterday being on the Internet we almost burned the eggs on the stove. Forgot all about them!

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New Years cake and official opening

On Sunday the 29th of January at 17.00 hours the folklore and cultural organization of Skopelos town will cut the New Year’s cake and will also, officially, open their building where art classes and dance classes are being held. Everybody welcome.

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Two Greek films are nominated for an Oscar

Two Greek films were nominated for an Oscar on Tuesday. The film “The Lobster” written and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos has been nominated for best original screenplay in the 2017 and the documentary “4.1 Miles” by Greek director Daphne Matziaraki has been shortlisted for best short documentary.

<> on August 8, 2013 in Locarno, Switzerland.

In the black comedy “The Lobster” a single person has 45 days after a breakup to find a new partner, and if the new partner does not materialize, the single person will be turned into an animal.

Daphne Matziaraki has made a short documentary called 4.1 Miles which tells which tells the story of “a day in the life of a Greek coast guard captain called Kyriakos Papadopoulos on the Greek island of Lesvos, in the midst of the migrant crisis in Greece and how it impacts him personally”
Daphne says; “As a Greek filmmaker I felt there was something missing from the coverage. I wanted to make a film that would capture the strength and determination of the unknown heroes working tirelessly in an impossible situation,”

Daphne’s haunting but moving documentary you can see here; 4.1 miles documentary. Everybody should see it. It puts your feet on the ground again.

The Oscar ceremony is on February 26th, 2017.

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Re-opening

Skopelosnews does not (openly) promote businesses but when the only boat ticket office in Glossa re-opens we think it is worth a mention. Nikos Triandafillou his office will re-open again this Friday. Nikos his office provided for many years Hellenic Seaways tickets and information but as of Friday he will also sell tickets for the ANES company who have the following boats working in the Sporades; Proteus, Simi II and the Agios Nektarios.

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Dreary

I don’t know about you but we are already fed up with the winter. There is supposed to come some bad weather at the end of the week and I am not! looking forward to that. I have stocked up with groceries again and I have put bread, meat and vegetables in the deep freezer! I am even looking at recipes for simple “eatable” things made with flower etc. I am refusing to make my own bread 😉 I cannot image how it is in countries where the winter is so much longer. We are spoiled here!

Half the island is without telephone and internet connections because of broken telephone poles and telephone lines. The telephone companies “big crew” came yesterday from Alonissos where they had to repair a lot too and they are now , on Skopelos, attending to the more important things which are businesses. It is rather quiet at home and my son Panajotis even picked up a book for a second but then decided against it again and put it down! Friends of the children are donating free internet (4G) and they are happy again for a while.

The rumor that we might not have a ferryboat for a while traveling between Volos and the Sporades I find unbelievable. The island cannot do without a ferryboat because goods for supermarkets etc. have to come here too. I know that the shipping companies need passengers but being with a ferryboat is a first. We will see.

Easter this year falls on Sunday the 16th of April. Whether we will have lots of people over depends on the flights that will be scheduled

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Esclepion “official” opening and cutting of the New year’s cake

On Saturday the 28th of January at 13.00 hours the medical clinic Asclepion will hold an official opening ceremony and a cutting of the cake event. Everybody who wants to attend is welcome.
A speech will be held and there will be some surprises. Anybody who wants to help the people in Syria can donate money in the box that is available from Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

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Bits and pieces

There are not many cows on Skopelos but we spotted these two beauties in a olive grove. We took a drive over the island and spotted many broken trees and branches all over the island from the recent snowfall. A lot of people are pruning and burning the parts of the trees that broke of off but there is still a hell of a lot to do. Not everybody who owns land is on the island at the moment so a not so pleasant surprise will be waiting for them. We saw severals truck with firewood. When a tree is down you can go and cut it. Free wood.

Work on the water reservoir in Loutsa has started again. We spoke to a worker from there and he said that it will be able to hold rainwater after it is finished. We will believe it when we see it.

All in quiet in Panormos. A part of the central road was opened and work was done there for sewage and water provisions. The road need to be fixed though before the first tourists arrive.

A part of a ceiling in the elementary school in Skopelos fell down and the school was closed for a week until the ceiling was fixed and the engineers looked at the school and the various building issues there. For now a statement is given out by the engineers that the children can attend the school but in a meeting with the mayor, parents and the parent’s board it was decided that an engineer team from the province would come to the island and survey all the schools on the island. This should happen on a regular basis but is not done. Islands are the last on the list or responsibility is not taken for signing of on a survey like that.

Restaurants that are open in Skopelos are Ta Kymata/Angelos with live music on Saturday. Kyratso’s kitchen, Ampeliki. In Elios Vangelis. If anybody knows more about the restaurant situation please let us know.

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