A few addenda: one of the delif=ghts of travelling to the Sporades is the short runway, with sea at each end,on Skiathos, with severe braking. It's a case of "adopt the brace position, put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye!. We'll have to face it again when we go to Lemno as there is usually a stop at Skiathos one way. The quiet village we stayed in had the island helipost but we only saw a couple of helicopters, no visible military presence on the island (unlike many others) except the usual low level flying by Greek airforce.
I said there was no live music: I had hopes when we went to the ouzerie Kamaki as there was a mandolin, bouzouki and guitar hanging up but on closer inspection they all lacked several strings.
The only time we decided to buy stamps from the Post Office rather than kiosk or shop it was closed for unspecified reason but it gave us a chance to admire a next of swifts under the eaves with a parent flying in to feed the chicks, so we checked their progress each time we went past! Finally they were on the telegraph wires, testing their wings.
Two of the family-run eateries in the village followed the usual pattern of the women doing all the work while the paterfamilias held court with his cronies. In the case of the cafe/pizza place two grandsone were waiters. The younger, about 14 took his duties seriously, the older one ,a bout 15, The Only Goth in the Village, more reluctantly, preferringto sit with grandad or his mates sharing teenage angst and communicating in grunts. Different from the beach kids I mentioned earlier who still enjoyed their days with no electronic toys in sight.

RtS