Prika/Προικα

It is a custom in Greece and on Skopelos to give a woman when she gets married, a dowry. In Greek it is called Προίκα. Prika can consist of an apartment, a house etc. but there are usually also a lot of handmade embroidered tablecloths, towels, sheets etc. that a mother, grandmother and other family members make.

The family of the bride take great pride in showing the prika off on the day of the wedding. The embroidered pieces take ages to make. Many women sit in their shops or on the street at night and work on a piece.

This is Mrs. Kiritsi. She has a shop with hand made sweets in the center of Skopelos town. Her daughters are married but she has granddaughters and there is time to finish this tablecloth….

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Land registry

Many regions in Greece, including Skopelos, have not been mapped out officially and Greece has been trying to get the official mapping and registration of property done the last 15 years. The Hellenic Cadastre is the organization that takes care of the mapping and registration.

Some areas in Greece like Alonissos and Skiathos have been done and soon it is Skopelos it’s turn. Below is a little bit of the history of the Hellenic Cadastre before I will begin to explain what we need to do.

The Hellenic Cadastre is a unified and constantly updated system of information that records the legal, technical and other additional details about real estate properties and the rights on them. This information is kept under the responsibility and guarantee of the State.

The Hellenic Cadastre:
-Records all deeds that establish, transfer, change or abolish rights on properties on a real property-centered basis.
-Guarantees all legal details it records, since every deed is registered only after its lawfulness has been checked, meaning that no deed is registered if the person who transfers the property is not the person that the cadastre shows to be the beneficiary.
-Records the geographical description (shape, location and size) of the property too.

What will happen on Skopelos

An Hellenic cadastre office will be set up in Skopelos and all properties can be registered there. The founding of this office will probably happen in October.

What the owners of those properties need to do is have an outline (topography) of their properties so the exact size can be registered. They also need to prove that the property is theirs. This proof you can get in the land registry office on Skopelos. They also need to fill in an application. At the moment the Hellenic cadastre office has not been set up yet but as soon as it has been set up I will go there and find out exactly what papers are needed.

You have to register within a couple of months but to map out the whole island will take longer. You have to do it though otherwise there is a chance you will eventually (after seven years) lose your property. I know that a lot of foreign home owners are not here on the island to be able to register their property but they can have help from engineers/lawyers/people with a power of attorney to do the job. I am sure they will have enough time to register anyway. I will keep you posted.

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Walk Old Klima-Loutraki

Ok I admit it. I am not a great hiker. If I don’t know how long the walk is, how difficult it is and where the point to start is and the point where we end don’t count me in. I don’t have the nerve. I am constantly promoting the walks you can do on Skopelos but I haven’t walked a lot of them I must admit. This year I have been taking some time of work and gingerly have made some small walks with some friends that were visiting the island. This is one of them and probably very well known by many of you.

Start Old Klima.
What we did was drive with two cars to Loutraki harbor and park one car in the carpark there. Then we drove with one car up to Old Klima and parked that car there near the entrance of the village. This way we had a car waiting for us at the end of the walk. You can also take the bus if you want.

Walk into the village and follow the main street. This street will bring you to a very small square with a stone path leading down.

Keep following this path. It will wind down and then up. You will pass a small cemetary and then the back of a church. Follow the path until you see the front of the church.

There is a covered resting area with stone seats and a table. The view is amazing.

To the left of the resting area is a path. It is from stone, start following it down.
The views from this stone path towards Loutraki are unbelievable.

The path slowly winds down towards Loutraki and the sea. When you are almost down near the sea you will have a choice to go right or left. Take the right turn (see photo) and walk towards Loutraki.

You can visit some remains of the roman baths near the sea or you can have a well deserved drink in one of the cafe’s in Loutraki. We walked for about an hour. Wear sensible shoes.

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Stone

This small church lies on the crossroad between Anania and Karya and the road that leads down to Elios. It is a quick way to get to the other side of the island if you want/need to go to Elios, Klima, Glossa or Loutraki etc. They say that in this area the patron saint of Skopelos Riginos sat down on a stone and that the little church was built around it. Most churches are not open all the time so only goats use the land around the church to rest in the shade. The church is surrounded by big trees.

This goat herd might be part of the big herd that belonged to Pandelis Karvelis. It’s station is close to this church. I once ate traganas with him with fresh milk from his goats. The weather was really bad. It was raining and we saw lightning. We took shelter under a makeshift roof and were surrounded by goats. I will never forget it. The milk and oats were put in a big pan that was standing on a wood fire. A couple of people around the fire and waiting for the milk and oats to cook.

We were a little bit impatient but also glad to relax and see the milk slowly get to a boil, the oats cooked and asking ourselves; will this taste good? It was gorgeous! Pandelis unfortunately is no longer with us but for many he lives on.

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Looking for a sunset

Looking for a sunset on Sunday. Armenopetra was the beach.

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Over Blue Aegean Waters

This book was published about three years ago. Available on Amazon.

Over Blue Aegean Waters
A Fifty Year Romance with the Greek Island of Skopelos

Shortly after marrying into a Greek-American family the author was indoctrinated into Greek life through stories, old maps, property descriptions and learning Greek.
Within a few years, he was traveling to Greece following Dad’s entreats to “show face and protect the property” and speaking “goat Greek.”
Inheriting the family house, a so-called “hovel”, nearly became a Greek tragedy.

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All SIFFY Films

This is the link to all SIFFY films of 2018. The theme for the kids was philotimo. It means love of honor. Do something for somebody without asking/wanting something in return. Being good, going all the way for somebody that needs help.

All SIFFY 2018 films

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