
It is nice to visit a “new” beautiful place on Skopelos. I knew of its existence but I never visited the place. Monastery Kontronaki close to Skopelos town on the road to the Agia Marina spring and church.
Unfortunately this monastery opens once or twice a year for a couple of church services. My husband an me were lucky to go inside because some maintenance had to be carried out. The whole monastery was renovated in 2004.
On the grounds are a church, several offices, bedrooms, an open kitchen, storage areas and a beautiful garden. Everything is kept immaculate and the guardians of this monastery were busy for many days to get it ready for an annual feast.
In the meantime on Skopelos visitors are trickling in. Mainly by car from the mainland and via the two main airports in Greece. Up till now everybody gets tested at the airports and needs to go into quarantine for at least a day until the results are known. Then you can travel further but you have to leave details behind where you are going. From the first of July these protocols will probably change.
During the voyage by bus or boat you need to wear a mask and keep a safe distance from other travelers. Go earlier to the boat ticket office to fill out a form with your details. I have given the link in an earlier post.
This is the form you need to fill out when coming in via an airport.
Passengers arriving to Greece from specific countries are required to complete a COVID-19 Passenger Information Form.
The form must be filled out by passengers arriving from Albania, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Travelers from other non-EU countries will also have to fill out the form.
Passenger information form
At the moment the amount of new Covid 19 cases is fairly small but the Greek government is testing everywhere to make sure not a lot of new cases turn up. From the first of July a lot of visitors will be arriving via charter flights. Everybody needs to be careful and follow the instructions that are given. Anywhere that food is served you need to make sure that the staff wears masks and that the distance between chairs and tables is more than 1,5 meters.
Beaches like Milia have visitors but not so many and therefor it is possible to keep a distance from each other. We went yesterday afternoon and it was amazing staying there for a couple of hours. In other places where there are beach bars make sure the sunbeds are at a distance that you feel comfortable.
In one of the bigger supermarkets you will be given a paper with a number so there are not too many people in the supermarket. When the amount of people has been reached you wait outside until you are let in.
The other supermarkets are not so busy so everybody can go in but check out, in general, how many people are inside and take heed. The supermarkets will enforce the rule when it is necessary. Wait if you do not feel comfortable.
The Skopelos health center has a new office outside the health center where people can get tested if there is a suspicion that they have the corona virus. The office is there just in case. The last few days the minister for the protection of citizens is travelling to all the local airports in Greece to make sure all the health protocols are met by the employees of the airport and the airplane companies.
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