Colors of Skopelos Island - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Despite the fact that tourism is developing on Skopelos, it is still a quiet place. The atmosphere on the island is so relaxing that even straight workaholics forget about their work and all the problems and enjoy their holidays. It is caused by the fact that Greek people believe that the most important thing is to make the most of life. Greeks never work hard and it is not important for them to earn money. They will never waste their time and energy to climb the career ladder.

Locals have a strange attitude to money in general. They can’t be called thrifty people. If a Greek gets a large sum of money, he will immediately waste it or he will spend it on an evening in a tavern or useless things. In short, local inhabitants are bad investors, they don’t keep large sums of money in banks. Siesta is an essential part of the Greek lifestyle. All public places are closed during the period from 2 to 5. Don’t plan anything during this period of time. Greeks prefer not to solve their problems, they sleep at home or sunbathe on a beach during siesta. This break is a perfect chance to gain strength to finish the working day.

All of the taverns are full of people after the working day. It is customed here to gather around the table with family and friends in a favourite tavern. People have a meal and drink local alcohol under folk music and traditional dances. However, locals love to cook, especially men, who even visit culinary clubs. Women have started to attend such classes only in recent times. But men are not always leaders in their families, but they always deny this fact. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Locals live with their parents up to thirty and create their own family late. Elderly people are highly respected here. It is important to say that Greeks love to teach people and give morals. It is getting worse with age. Greek men love to flirt with local and foreign women, they are even not embarrassed by the presence of their wife or girlfriend. But don’t take it seriously, it is just a couple of innocent compliments.

Remember that some of the common gestures have their own meaning on Skopelos and in Greece. For example, when Greeks want to say «no», they raise their eyebrows and their whole head upwards, while softly clicking with their tongue. It means «no». When locals signal to somebody to join them, they extend their arms with their palms facing downwards. Greeks touch or pat the lower lip with the index finger when they want to say something. If you want to show neglect to a person, just pretend that you are brushing off the dust of the lapel of the jacket. Greek people put a palm to their chest to say «thank you».

During a conversation Greeks raise their voice without a reason, they use a lot of hand movements, touch and interrupt each other. It is customed here to greet everybody by kissing in both cheeks. Greeks shake hands only at first meeting. If a Greek didn’t ask to call him by the first name, you should politely call him by the second name. Moreover, it is customed here to greet everyone entering a public place. Remember that Greeks are patriots and they can't stand when foreigners criticize their government. However, they like to criticize their leaders. Despite the fact that local citizens enjoy drinking local alcohol, you will hardly meet drunk people on the streets. This is because invariable behaviour is a disgrace for Greeks and for people who come to the country. They believe that drunk people are ridiculous and miserable. So if you don’t want to be condemned by locals, try to control yourself.