Cephalonia
We had such a lovely holiday..Cephalonia is a beautiful Greek
island, prettier than Corfu I thought.
We arrived on Sunday 14th Sept, to sunshine despite the weather
forecast suggesting thunderstorms. In fact this was the forecast
for the whole week we were going to be there so I was pleased
to see our room was large and comfortable and we had a sheltered
balcony with 2 chairs and a table. I'd brought the cards in
preparation. We also had a welcome basket of a bottle of local
wine - Robola, feta cheeses, tomatoes (best I've ever had)
fruit and bread. So that was lunch (well not the wine, we had
that on Monday night)
However despite the gloomy outlook we had 15 mins of rain on
Tuesday and perfect sunny weather the rest of the time.
There were about 15 rooms at our hotel, so nice and small and personal. Our balcony
overlooked the mountains and bay - although it was a 20 min walk to that beach.
We spent Sunday afternoon relaxing by the pool, In the evening we strolled 20
minutes the wrong direction towards where we thought the town was, only to be
rescued by 2 other people who told us we were on the way to the coast. On turning
around we found the town was only 10 minutes up the hill from our hotel, but
they took another road and we still beat them to the taverna. So much for buying
my Greek phrase book, we were staying in a fairly remote village with only 2
tavernas and a mini market, no other shops yet everyone we came across spoke
good English, and menus were printed in both languages. Food was good at both
restaurants and we had plenty of opportunity to try local dishes and ordinary
food as well.
Monday morning was time for our welcome meeting where someone from Tapestry holidays
told us about the island and what we could do while we were here. She also told
us the way to the town (pity we hadn't had that bit of info on Sunday night).
We then
spent the day by the pool. It was a bit cold but still peaceful
and relaxing. There was a girl at the pool who cooked snacks
and got you drinks during the
day, and after she left at 5pm, you just wrote what you took in a notebook
to pay at the end of the week.
The pool and cafe
Click to enlarge
Early evening we decided to go for a walk to the
beach. That was a disappointment. It took about 25 mins, all downhill, and was covered in seaweed when we got there. Oh well just
as well our pool is nice.
Then off to the other local taverna for dinner. There are cats everywhere in Greece, and one sat on my lap during dinner. It was quite
sweet.
We awoke to clouds on Tuesday and I expected the weather forecast to come
true, and it did rain while we had breakfast but stopped as quickly as it
began.
We had another lazy day by the pool, with a tennis game late in the afternoon.
Gavin
won 6-1. It was too hot to carry on so it was back to the pool. Then at 8pm
the hotel put a BBQ on for only 10 Euros each. It was a great night and we
meet 3
other couples and ended up going to bed at 2am, very worse for wear - blame
Gavin - the Ozo was his idea. 2 of the couples were also from London and
our age so
it was a great night.
Of course after such a big night we were glad to laze around again on Wednesday
and enjoyed the best weather so far of the holiday. I was already up to my
second book and feeling very rested. We had hired a car for Thursday through
to Saturday
as we had decided we'd be ready for some action by then. It was a very good
prediction, as we needed the rest at the beginning of the holiday. Anyway
our car arrived
on Wed night but we weren't keen to try out the curly narrow roads at night
especially as they drive on the right, so we went to the local taverna again
and had an
early night.
Up earlyish on Thursday we drove around the bottom of the island, a lovely
coastal road. A lot of the driving reminded me of the coromandel in terms
of windiness.
We found what we considered to be a real beach and spent some time swimming
there. The water is so clear that even when you're up to your waist you can
see your
feet. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not as I got scared of all
the fish swimming around my legs. They're a curious lot and don't seem to
care
that I'm a lot bigger than them.
We dried
off in the sun then continued to Skala for
lunch. Skala is a bit like Pauanui with the pine trees leading up to the
beach.
Scala street to beach
Click to enlarge
There was
an old roman ruin with mosaics on the floor that we visited
for free.
The beach was crowded as Skala is the second largest resort. There were
many choices for lunch, a whole street full. We briefly
looked at the shops then
continued to drive up the east coast.
We went
through a port village Poros that had a beautiful
bay, and then we turned away from the coast and drove through the
mountains to Sami.
This is
another port town but one of the bigger towns on the
island. It
was lovely just sitting at the harbour watching the activity and
looking across to the mountains.
Close by
is Antisamos the beach that was used
in Captain
Corelli's Mandolin. It's a white pebble beach, very comfortable
once you get settled in.
It was nearly 6pm so it was a bit cold for a swim, but lovely
to sit and watch what was going on around.
Me
on Anti-Samos beach
Click
to enlarge
Gavin amused
himself, and me with his pebble skimming ability.
Anti-Samos pebble beach
Click to enlarge
It didn't
look far to follow the east coast up to Agios Efemea
where the cast of the movie used to eat regularly.
It was set in a u shaped bay
and some lovely yachts were moored up. The sun set as we
enjoyed a drink. The cafe
the stars ate at has been renamed to Captain Corellis but
didn't look that good so we went to another taverna up the
road.
Agios
Efemea yachts
Click
to enlarge
It
was dark for our journey
home back
through the mountains. There aren't that many roads on
the island, but often they aren't sign posted or they are
but
only
from one way so you have to slow down and look
back
-
still we did very well and got back without getting
lost at all. We also got to see the castle lit up which
was an awesome
sight.
For Friday we planned to drive up the West
coast to the top of the island. We set off
and drove
through Argostoli,
which is the island's
capital.
They have
a bridge that is now a causeway as it dropped so much
during the 1950's earthquake that nearly flattened
the
whole island. It certainly
was
an experience driving
over it. The coastal road again reminded me of coromandel.
We
stopped at Myrtos Beach, which is the most
photographed beach in the Ionian
Islands, often on
the cover of travel brochures. It did look pretty from
high up on the cliff.
We didn't
drive down as it was a bit of a way and we had been
warned that it was a dangerous swimming spot, and
the lovely white
sandy looking
beach was
actually
shingle.
Myrtos bay
Click to enlarge
Fiscardo
at the tip was where we were heading for anyway. It's a great
fishing village, my favourite place on the island. Lots of yachts go
in there, including Madonna's. She wasn't there today though. After a
look around the shops we brought a picnic lunch - Gavin had his pocket knife with
him so we could get buns, and spread etc. Then we hired a motor boat and travelled
south along the coast to find our own private beach.
We thought we'd spotted one on Ithaca -
a neighbouring island very close to Fiscardo, up after
crossing the channel we found it was
taken, we travelled across the wave - it was a bit
windy and bumpy and finally found our own spot after
about
half an hour. It was
just magic.
The beach
was inaccessible by car, but we could see something
of a track, and there were
remains
of a building and dock there. It was about 50 metres
long and 10 metres deep, I suppose. We
had our lunch
and rested
for a bit.
As we were
close to the
cliffs the sun came over quite early so I wanted
to swim before it got too cold to
warm up again. The water was clear so I could see
the fish again, but I went out a
bit deeper and kept my feet off the bottom - so that
solved that problem. After half an hour
or so, we got
out and dried off,
but the sun was
almost gone.
We decided to go back in the boat and putter up the coast
again so we could be out in the sun. It was so different
to earlier - almost
like glass so it was lovely.
The motor boat had a little shelter thing to put up to
keep the worst of the sun off. I got to drive us back,
which was fun, a lot more
steering than a car
though. There were some nice houses and yachts on our trip
back.
Our
private beach
Click to
enlarge
After dropping
the boat back we enjoyed a drink in Fiscardo, and
headed back down the western
coast with the thought of stopping off at Assos,
which is on a pensulia. When we got there the sun was setting
and it didn't look as inviting
as people had
suggested so we continued on and watch the sun
go down
as we drove. It was lovely.
We made
it back to Argostoli for dinner and ate at
one of the island's best restaurants
with live music. Very nice eating and listening
to two old men playing their guitars and singing Greek
songs. Argostoli is like a real town
with a pedestrianised
shopping street and some nice looking shops.
Again we drove
home in the dark and managed without taking
any wrong turns.
Saturday was our last full day and we had use of
the car until 5pm, so we went back to Argostoli
for breakfast.
We
ended up
going to a
bakery
and then
walking
along the harbour; it was so hot though the
getting into the air-conditioned car seemed like a better
option than
walking
to far. The rough
guide I had talked about these sink holes that
were a geographical phemnominum.
The water
goes down
and finally in about the 60's they found out
that
it comes up on the other
side of the island. Well what a disappointment,
it looked like they'd tried to develop
the area and then let it completely run down.
We certainly didn't stop anything spectacular. Maybe
it needed to
be high tide or
something.
We drove
around the point and back to Spartia our little village.
On the way we drove
through the
Lassi area, the main beach resort on the
island. Looked pretty tacky and British so we were
glad we'd stayed
where we did.
We got back to
the hotel
quite early
- lunch time and spent the rest of the day
by the pool. It was so hot and lovely. We finished
off our tennis
game, and
at one
stage I got
4-0 up,
only to watch
it slip away - with the sun. You see I made
Gavin
look into the sun, so once it went down I
had no hope.
On Sunday we had to be out of our room by 10am,
so we had breakfast by the pool and stayed
there until
12.30
when the
coach came
to take us
to the airport.
It
was the hottest day yet so we were envious
of our new friends who were on a later flight.
I spent
some time
playing with
Josh, who
was going
to be
2 next
week.
He was really sweet and even Gavin joined
in a bit. His parents were really appreciative,
and
keep coming
to
get him to go
back to where
they were
sitting, but he kept
coming back to us. So I guess we were doing
something right.
So we were home again by Sunday evening and
ready for bed. It was a magic holiday so
relaxing and
on such
a beautiful
island
I feel
really
lucky
to have had
it.
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