As soon as we landed onshore on Skopelos I waited in a café while Mom hunted for a room and only managed to find a room in a partially constructed hotel! As we unpacked the entire family of the hotel manager was watching us! There is no door for our room and instead there is bedspread hung over the entrance and the cement is raw and there are no tiles on the floor. There are no beds just two cots. The balcony is unfinished. We are paying $2 a night. I got locked in the bathroom too. A broken lock I think. Some girls staying at the hotel wanted to break the glass but I managed to fiddle around and get out after 15 minutes of being trapped. Mom thought this was funny but not me. We had a shower and headed out for dinner. We had beef and rice and some stuffed tomatoes. Mom reported a surly waiter to the owner. We have given some thought about heading to Israel next.
August 6, 1970: Woke up at 6:30 to a horde of buzzing flies and the priest ringing the bells of the church across the street. I got up before Mom and bought some canned tuna and bread for breakfast. Sure beats mackerel! We went swimming at a beach called Stafilos about 5 kms away. Beautiful clear water and little pebbles instead of sand. Before we had dinner we checked the shipping office about how to get to Istanbul from Piraeus. We had squid and after dinner went to a café and had a pastry to celebrate Mom’s birthday which was on August 2. We went to a discotheque and I got the courage to ask a girl to dance I was the best dancer and she was the worst. We were home at midnight. I had fun!