The period since my last post, has been filled with horrible events like the brutal killing of mr. George Floyd and the ongoing news about the corona epidemic which still takes a lot of lives. Because of the corona epidemic and the various new rules and regulations I have a slight problem to get a grip. Some things don’t seem real.
We have to get on with our lives though, out there and here on Skopelos. We have to start or continue working, finding solutions for daily problems and take charge. But nothing will be the same ever.
I want to be ready for probable clients and not have awkward situations in my workspace so I have masks, gloves, anti septic gel and various kinds of paper in my office.
Do I shake hands when I meet clients? Do I greet them with a mask on? etc. etc. I don’t know, I will have to wait and see. I try to be careful when I go into a shop, if I see many people I wait. If I go to a coffee place I look if tables are apart and I see that a lot of businesses have plexiglas installed on counters for protection. Staff works with gloves and masks.
On Skopelos most businesses that cater for visitors are open and trying to make a living. So far we mostly see locals in the bars and sometimes in the restaurants and their presence is very welcome. Because of the long weekend coming up we also saw Greeks from the mainland arriving today and hopefully they will spend some money here.
Beach bar Glysteri has officially opened today. We saw waiters with gloves and beds and umbrellas with the approved distance between them. Kastani beach has opened also but no sign of a beach bar on Milia except for the kantina truck at the beginning of the beach. Milia beach has been cleaned except for the area around the beach bar and that is a shame , big pieces of glass lying around and rubbish too.
I visited Amarandos after a long time and the green sprouts that I saw between the burned trees, give me hope. In a couple of years small trees will cover the hills. The sense of mystery there is gone though but I hope it will come back slowly slowly.
In one week more international flights can go into Athens and Thessaloniki airport. I hear about a lot of cancelled flights and that is a shame because the companies don’t always return money but give vouchers and if your flight is cancelled many times you might get fed up and don’t want to go anymore to Greece and that is a shame and a loss for many.
Boat itineraries are updated slowly slowly and so far we have two ferry boats and one flying dolphin (Erato started today) sailing in the Sporades. From Volos and Mantoudi they sail. These itineraries will not show sailing dates very far ahead. It has never been like that but I hope we will have a good schedule for the (hopefully) busier summer months.
We have to remain hopeful that some kind of tourist season will take place. At the moment we take it week by week and that is the best thing to do, I think.
skopelosnews 
Daphne – I am in the UK. Please do not be concerned with what you see in the news. The media are exaggerating the issue. I have friends working in hospitals and they say there are now very few people in hospital with CV19 and I know no one in my town who is ill.
I am also in the UK and I wish that our government had been as strict as Greece were in the handling of the pandemic (only now are we bringing in a regulation to isolate incoming air travelers) and that so many adults, who have acted like
more like unruly children in not accepting the restrictions and who should have known better, behaved more responsibly. My wife and I are very upset that we will now not be able to celebrate our wedding anniversary on 20 June as we have celebrated it many times in the past years on our beloved Skopelos with our friends at Ouzeri Taverna Gialos, especially as it will be our 50th year together. We wish all business whether accommodation providers, shops, eating establishments, vehicle hire providers, excursion organisers and everyone as successful a season as possible in these unusual times.
We hope common sense prevails. It is a tough time, but with collective efforts, we the world, will prevail❗
We miss our island, and our many friends, but we are at a crossroads in many aspects at this time, the future will be bright,
And
we will dance again🙏
❤️🇬🇷
Alekos🇨🇦
Thank you for letting us still feel linked to the island, by your updates and pictures. We hope the season will be as good as possible, and sincerely hope we may be able to get there later in the year xx
Hello Daphne. As you know Clive and I should have been with you all today. We miss you terribly and we know how bad this is for the Island but …. As I am a key/care home worker and am just recovering from a really bad dose of Covid I advise you all to keep vigilant and to do everything you can to prevent it infecting the Island. As Alekos said we will dance again…….just not too soon. Xxxx
I second Amy’s post to you and Skopelos and Greece’s population.
Also, I’m not sure that 50000 deaths in the UK (we now account for one eighth of world Covid mortalities and yesterdays mortalities outnumbered the whole of the EU’s mortalities!) is down to ‘the media exaggerating the issue’ ! Infections may have abated here for now thanks to lockdown but this could change swiftly now that people have started mixing more.
As a nurse I can assure you there is no exaggeration about the seriousness of the illness. I have friends and colleagues who have been seriously ill with it, some have taken over a month to two months to recover enough to return to work, many fellow nurses have died. Our team have seen first hand the effects of the illness and the swift deaths it has brought to many in their own homes and the anguish this has brought to their loved ones as their lives have been snuffed out before their time. We should all be taking every precaution we can to limit and slow down spread, and keep going with physical distancing, wearing face masks, not shaking hands, scrupulous hand hygiene, until more advances are made with new drug therapies to mitigate Covid’s worst effects on people. We simply cannot afford NOT to do this.
Sorry to hear you have been badly affected by Covid Amy.We have had a case in our family in the north and several cases in my mother in law’s care home and know of many others.
We live in sleepy Somerset with the lowest incidence in the uk but even in our very small hamlet we have had two very serious cases with people only in their 50″s.
Now we hear that we have a sudden rise of cases in our area and so my message to all would be that ‘its not over til the fat lady sings’
Just think how devastating it would be if any of us, possibly being asymptomatic, took the disease to our precious Skopelos!
Long cauchemar à multiples facettes : maladie, deuils, perte de revenus, éloignement des gens, conditions de vie intenables….Nous aussi nous avons envie de revenir à Skopelos. Mais depuis la Belgique, en voiture, ce n’est pas possible. D’habitude, cest ainsi que nous voyageons. Et avec un ferry, tant de promiscuité ! Avion ? Surtout pas. Et puis, nous avons un chien. Skopelos a été épargnée. Ce serait si terrible si monsieur Covid s’invitait !
Merci à Daphné pour son petit mot au sujet de George Floyd.
Nous avons tous envie et besoin d’un monde meilleur.
Je rêve de l’année prochaine.
D’ici là, j’espère que, tous, nous veillerons sur nous et sur les autres, avec nos moyens, petits ou grands…
Thank you Daphne for keeping everyone up to date with how beautiful Skopelos is coping in these difficult times. We should be with you now, our 25th visit, and miss it terribly, but it is important to keep it safe and Covid free.
We are booked to come for two weeks in September and hope that that will be possible, but if not we’ll transfer to next year.
We hope you manage to have the best possible season in spite of everything and we are keeping fingers crossed for September.
Linda and Dewi
Hello from Norway.
Definitely not giving up on Greece and Skopelos, But sadly not this year. I got my ticket canselled, and I`m definitely saving the vocheur for a trip back to Your Lovely Island.
I work in a small healthinstitution, and has to be available if we get the covid 19 inside of the house.
I hope You all keep Your heads over the water through this season: and looks forward to the futuring seasons.
Thank You for sharing the life on the Island with us🌞.
Monica
Hello Daphne
I can’t add much to what’s already been said but we’ve reluctantly resigned ourselves to staying put in the UK this year. Covid-19 will be a problem for a long time yet and the risks of sitting on a plane for over four hours are just not worth taking as far as we’re concerned. I suspect not many of our Greek friends read your wonderful blog but we wish them all well anyway.
Hello Lisa – keep those words of wisdom coming. We hope to see you (and the wild asparagus) next Spring.
Keep safe all!
Sally (& Martin)