Dublin, June 2008

Hardly had we arrived back from Denver before we found ourselves busy packing and heading for Dublin Airport once again. This time we were going to fly to Skiathos, an island off the coast of Greece. Here's McBear and Roger in Dublin Airport waiting to border our plane from the Canadian carrier, XL.

Click each photo to enlarge

Having landed in Skiathos International Airport, Roger - and in particular McBear - wanted to have a photo taken with the aircraft as a background.

Skiathos, June 2008

Skiathos airport has a small terminal building and control tower. McBear thought the control tower looked cute.
"How can a control tower be cute?" Roger was teasing.
"Roger, unless you're into aviation, you wouldn't understand..."
We were 7 TA members travelling: McBear, Roger, Angus, the Pin bros., Olivia and Irving. But then Roger asked:
"Come to think of it, shouldn't Tom be here...?
McBear started thinking.
"Good Lord, you're right! Tom wasn't with us, even though he was actually on our owners' proposed list...It's a disaster!!! I'll have to contact the bears at home."

We would be staying at Elizabeth Studios, a small resort in Agia Paraskevi on the south coast. Entering the apartment, Olivia had a look around.
"It's fairly basic, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah, I suppose so" McBear replied "In some catalogues it is actually classified as a 2 star..."
Unfortunately Roger heard us talking.
"WHAT?!?! TWO STARS???? I have put up with a lot over the years, but this: Two stars! HAH! NEVER!!!"

Skiathos, June 2008

McBear tried to calm down Roger.
"Listen, two stars only means that there won't be amenities like laundry facilities, tennis court or things like that...!"
But Roger refused to go inside. He was sitting outside and nothing could move him.
We gathered the group and held a crisis meeting to discuss what to do. Then McBear said:
"I have thought out a plan. "I'll carry it out tonight..."

At bedtime, McBear opened the window.
"I hope you're okay out there" he called out to Roger. "Just to let you know that we're going to sleep now."
"Okay!" a voice came from the dark.
"Oh, one more thing" McBear added: "We're in a subtropical area, so the spiders here are much bigger. And more active at night..."
As McBear closed the window he thought he could hear Roger mumbling:
"Much bigger...? Active a night...?"
The plan seemed to work. Just after we'd gone to sleep, we heard the main door squeaking and next morning we found Roger sleeping in the bed! Phew!

We spent the first day at the swimming pool at the resort. Irving had brought his deck chair, and the Pin bros. shared another chair. Being a polar bear, Roger was grasping for air as the temperature reached 35 degrees.

Skiathos, June 2008

To cool down, Roger went to the swimming pool to sit on an air matress floating on the water. The wind took off and Roger went to sea! He was blissful.
"Careful now!" Olivia warned.
Later that day McBear went into an internet cafe. He brought back bad news:
"There was an email from Bamse: Tom's gone missing! He's devastated having been forgotten and he has left the house. It's a disaster! I'll stay in touch with the bears at home."

Next morning we went to Skiathos, the main town on Skiathos the island. Here we are at the harbour front. After the photo had been taken, McBear went to an internet cafe to get news from home. There was an email from Bamse that Tom had come back: He had been sitting in the garden. Although he was sad he was at least safe and sound. We had a discussion about humans and their responsibilities...

Skiathos, June 2008

The Greeks are famous for their culture of sailing. Here we are looking at lots of sail boats in Skiathos' harbour.

In the evening, we went down to Agia Paraskevi to enjoy the beach. The sea was calm.

Skiathos, June 2008

Nearby was some lovely sunbeds belonging to the five star Princess Hotel. Suddenly we found Roger lying on top of one of the sunbeds.
"Hey, you can't do that!" McBear gave out. "Those beds are only for use of the guests of the Princess Hotel! But we are not guests..."
"But I am not a common bear!" Roger pointed out, "I am born with the sun on the Royal star, Regulus, in my birth chart! If anybody is entitled to the joy and pleaures of these beds, I am!"

Next morning McBear and Roger wanted to go to Skiathos airport. Before the holiday, McBear had surfed the internet and learned that starting and landing aircrafts is a special feature of Skiathos, so he wanted to study it himself. We had to walk all the way from Elizabeth Studios to the bus stop at the main road.
"Phew! It's hot and dusty!" Roger was moaning.

Skiathos, June 2008

On the way we passed the terminal building. On a gate was a sign.
"It's impossible to read the Greek signs!" Roger sighed. "In Wales we had to learn impossible place names and now we're facing impossible letters! Well, I suppose we could learn..."
"Indeed!" McBear agreed.

When we reached the end of the runway, there was another big sign written in Greek.
"Wonder what it says..." McBear said of curiosity.
"It says something about danger from the blast from starting aircraft so people are adviced to stay away." Roger replied.
McBear was stunned: "How on Earth did you know...?"
"Well, it's elementary" Roger was teasing. "If you look to the right there is another sign written in English and it reads: "Danger from aircraft blast. Please keep away!"
"Very funny!" McBear said.

Skiathos, June 2008

Just as we were discussing the signs, an aircraft made a low pass over our heads and landed on the runway only a hundred feet away. Suddenly, a strong turbulent wind hit us and we nearly tumbled down from the wall.
"Wowww! Cool!" McBear said excited.

A little later an aircraft from the Lithuanian Airlines took off. McBear was excited.
"This is cool, but it's no wonder they advice people to keep away. There's no space for a safety zone between the runway and public road and since the runway is short, aircraft must land in Thessaloniki to fuel...! Let's take the sign serious and leave..."

Skiathos, June 2008

Next day we went from Skiathos town up the mountains. We were heading for Panorama; a lovely cafe and restaurant. We stopped several places to let our human gasp for air. The road was steep and due to the heat we were in doubt whether to carry on or to spare our human. But then Roger said:
"Ah! He's fit; he can take it!"
Okay, so we decided to move on!

While the other TA's were studying the menu, McBear and Roger went out on the balcony to admire the panoramic view of Skiathos.
"Can you see the small island furthest away to the right?" Roger asked. "It's said that the Beatles wanted to build a recording studio there, but the Greeks didn't like men with long hear and since then nobody has lived on the island!"
"Okay." McBear replied. "So maybe it's time for Bearlife to build a studio..."

Skiathos, June 2008

The view was fantastic along the mountain road and we stopped many times to have our photo taken.

After 7 miles of walking in the heat, McBear and Roger got off the bag to have their photo taken and to prove that you don't need to go to Arizona to get dusty roads and great sceneries; even a small tourist island like Skiathos has it...

Skiathos, June 2008

Next day we rented a car so we could get around and visit more of the island. McBear said it was a Smart Car Cabriolet. He was very excited and said the car was cool!

We went to Koukounaries to see the famous beach. Koukounaries is said to be one of the finest beaches in Europe.

Skiathos, June 2008

McBear and Roger went down on the beach to have a closer look. It sure was a lovely place - and very crowded.

Then we went to the opposite side of Skiathos to have our photo taken on an other lovely beach, Xanemo. McBear said, he had decided to put a Smart Car on his wish list for next Christmas...
"It's been a GREAT week. Pity we have to start packing tonight..."

Skiathos, June 2008

Returning to Dublin, we met Tom at the entrance. Roger gave him a big hug as a consolation. Tom of course was unhappy he had been forgotten, but he became blissful when we told him that our humans had decided to make Tom a senior member of the Travelling Bears from now on...