Followers

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Kefalonia Part 1 ......


Ok y'all it's time to bore you with the holiday photos!

First of all the above picture is actually a photograph MWM took late at night of the moon on the sea on the beach road just near out hotel - isn't it beautiful!

We had a really early start to our holiday being picked up by taxi at 3.30 a.m. on Thursday 17th July for a 6 a.m. flight out of Manchester. We'd had about an hour's sleep but were raring to go. I'd packed everything except the kitchen sink and an umbrella but we weighed the luggage to make sure we wouldn't have to pay excess baggage, (the airports are really strict on luggage now), and off we went.

Our flight didn't actually take off until 6.25 a.m. but made up the half hour delay so we landed in Kefalonia spot on time. We were off the plane and on the bus on our way to the resort of Skala within 30 mins which is excellent for a Greek airport I can tell you.

The ride across the mountains and through the little windy streets of the villages in a huge coach is quite an hairaising one I can tell you, the coach drivers deserve a medal! The scenery was spectacular though so we didn't dwell too much on the sheer drops at the side of the mountain roads. The journey took about one and half hours with the drop offs at varioius hotels but it meant that we got to see the other hotels and were happy with our choice once we got there.

We stayed at the Aeolos Beach Hotel in Skala which is set up quite a steep hill about a twenty minute walk from the centre of Skala itself. You'll see from the slide show the magnificent views we had from the balcony and the pool area and it was really peaceful compared to the busling resort during the day.




The rooms are huge, with a power shower, comfortable beds, very clean and well maintained. The pool and it's surroundings are beautiful, with wonderful views and there are more than enough sunbeds and umbrellas even when the hotel is full. The staff at the hotel are friendly helpful - Angela is a charming and helpful manager, she is helped by Lisa, who always has a cheery good morning/afternoon and a lovely smile. Kat organises breakfast and cooks at lunchtime - her BLT's are to die for! Evo (the handyman) apparently was an Olympic weight lifter, which is believable when you see him lift two 20kg suitcases and run up and down stairs with them as though they were two bags of sugar! Michael, the barman, is friendly and mixes great drinks, we asked for our favourite - Ouzo, topped up with sprite and a dash of Grenadine - he said Ouzo Specials will now but put on the cocktail menu!

The hotel is about a 20 minute walk into the centre of Skala but we enjoyed it - a nice way to work up an appetite and walk off your evening meal. The hill up to the hotel is a bit of a killer though - not for the infirm, though saying that I didn't have a problem even though I had a knee replacement 16 months ago, I managed it with no problem apart from getting out of breath! We suggested they install an oxygen station half way up the hill. If you don't mind a walk it's the ideal location, if you turn left at the bottom of the hill instead of right into Skala centre, there are some great restaurants that way too - that would be a long walk if you staying in the centre though so we were ideally situated for a variety of restaurants. All the restaurants are good and we got 10% discount when dining at the Hotel's Restaurant, Aeolos, on the beach road. There was a Chinese and Italian restaurant which were a nice change from Greek food.

If you hover your cursor over the slides below it will show the description of the photo.




Hope you enjoyed your introduction to Skala, more soon.

40 comments:

Dumdad said...

Mmmm, the Ouzo Special sounds interesting!

Queenie said...

Looks wonderful, wish I could have been there. Whats in a ouzo-special, and will MWM mix me one when I come up?????

Pam said...

sounds like a great trip...you're lucky! i so want to go to greece. there's tons of places i would like to go and most of them involve going to your side of the world LOL

stinky asked me once if i wouldn't like to travel to each state...i said, hell, no! i need to go to europe! LOL

Elaine Denning said...

I'd like to go to each state, Ciara! Even one would be nice :)

It looks like a beautiful place Ak. That moon over the water shot is perfect! Can't wait for the next installment (where we get to find out exactly how many Ouzos you had!)

Akelamalu said...

Ouzo specials are just fabulous Dumdad and I should know I had plenty! :

Queenie, are you still asleep? I wrote what's in an Ouzo Special, and you already tried one here, you said it was too sweet for you! Tut, tut! ;)


Ah now Ciara, you want to come to this side of the world and we want to come to your side! Perhaps a house swap when I retire would make things easier eh?


LOL I can tell you now MissU we almost drank Kefalonia dry of Ouzo! I've got a bottle here which I intend to open sometime over the weekend, want to join me? :)

Marshall Family said...

wow, that IS a beautiful photo! I have never seen one like it before!

Elaine Denning said...

Ohmygod. If only. I would LOVE to visit! One day, eh?

Akelamalu said...

I'll pass your appreciation on to MWM Emmie, thankyou. :)

Miss U, if you find yourself coming 'oop north' give me a shout, hopefully we can share an Ouzo Special. :)

buffalodick said...

Nice post- looked beautiful where you stayed!

Smalltown RN said...

wow...that all looks so lovely...one day I will make it to Greece...so many places to see so little time...love your slide show.....

Mimi Lenox said...

I told you I was in the suitcase....thanks for letting me out to swim in the pool. I just saw the first set of photos at top. These are gorgeous! You two look relaxed and happy. I love the church picture. Did you get any inside? Awesome place. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

It was a little cramped in there but I made it....

Pappy said...

Great Blog. Thanks for coming by and visiting at Pappy's Balderdash today. Come back anytime and stay as long as you like. Pappy

Raven said...

Wow! Looks like a glorious place. Glad you had a great vacation.

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

amazing place, thanks for letting me see it! can't wait for more...

smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Flowerpot said...

looks fab Ak. Particularly as I sit here looking out at the unceasing rain! When will it ever stop?

storyteller said...

Yes the moon shot is beautiful!!! I enjoyed looking at the nifty slide show of your vacation photos too. Guess I’ll need to learn to do this thing myself one of these days … but not today.
Hugs and blessings,

Shrinky said...

Oh wow, certainly looks like you had a wonderful time there, and you have really got me in the mood for our holiday in Greece (just over a week to go)!!

Thanks for sharing, and welcome back.

cathy said...

UNBELIEVABLE! We were both in the Ionian Islands at the same time, We went to Lefkada for 10 days for a much needed break.

That drink sounds similar to a "Jellybean" - Pernod,lemonade and grenedine or blackcurrant.
I used to drink them when I was a disco diva, LOL.

Jonah K. Haslap said...

MWM...I had to Googled that one. I found the following list:

MWM Married White Male
MWM Maximum Weight Matching (algorithm)
MWM Men Without Mercy (Alfred Döblin novel)
MWM Midwest Mafia (band)
MWM Midwest Monster (band)
MWM Mobilization With Movement (physical therapy technique)
MWM Modified Wolff Model (microwaves)
MWM ModWheelMood (band)
MWM Moodwheelmood (band)
MWM Morris Water Maze (neuroscience)
MWM Motif Window Manager (Linux window manager)
MWM Motor-Werke Mannheim
MWM Motoren Werke Mannheim AG
MWM Multi Wavelength Meter
MWM Multi-Fractal Wavelet Model
MWM Music with Meaning
MWM Microsoft Windows Mobile

So I'm assuming you were referring to a "Married White Male" and not to a "Midwest Monster" or "Modified Wolff Model" -- though with you Brits, anything is possible.

Pictures are lovely, as are you for stopping by my blog. Please return often. I am an Anglophile. I even dated a British guy once. He had nice teeth, though. You look like you have nice teeth also.

Oh, I ramble too.

Anonymous said...

Hooray!! At long last I can leave a comment!!
I am jealous of you going to Greece - haven't been for a couple of years and it's getting to me - 'specially after seeing Mamma Mia!!

belleek

Akelamalu said...

It was Buff! :)

I hope you make it to Greece RN, you won't be disappointed it's beautiful.

Ha ha, if I'd known you were hiding in the suitcase Mimi I'd have had you join us for a drink!

Glad you enjoyed your visit Pappy :)

It is a lovely place Raven and we had a great time. :)

There's plenty more to see Bee, I hope you won't get bored!

Oh Flowerpot I know what you mean, it hasn't stopped raining since we got back! :(

Thanks Storyteller. The slide shows are really easy to do, otherwise there wouldn't be any on my blog!

Oh lucky you with a hol in Greece to look forward to Shrinky, I don't feel as though I've been away now!

Gosh Cathy you were right next door we could have met up somewhere! Never heard of a 'Jellybean' but I think I'd like it! :)

Ah sorry Jonah MWM = My Wonderful Man. Thanks for stopping by I'll certainly be visiting you again. :)

Ah you made it Belle! x

cathy said...

You're too quick.
I've only just added the pics.

Dianne said...

the view from the bar would keep me there for last call ;)

and all the shots of the town!

great stuff lady

Anndi said...

Wonderful pictures! I long to see the sea my Papou saw as a child.

Thank you for sharing your holiday memories.

Pam said...

now ake-how am i sposed to meet you & mwm if we house swap? LOL trust me, you would not want to stay where i live. you would want to swap w someone who has a house in san francisco for northern cali and san diego for southern cali. :)

Krimo said...

Sounds like a great trip!
I love Kefalonia. We stayed in Argostoli itself a few years ago. And I read Captain Corelli's poem at a friend's wedding:
"Love is a temporary madness.
It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides.
And when it subsides you have to make a decision.
You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.
Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion.
That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

It brought a few tears...

Linda said...

I really, really like that first picture at the top of your post with the moon reflecting off of the water - very, very nice. My compliments to your MWM!

Sounds like you had a wonderful time, wish I could have stowed away!

Ron said...

OMG Akelamalu...I felt like I just took the vacation with you!

BEAUTIFUL photos!!!

Ever since I was a child, and I saw my first photograph of Greece, I immediately felt drawn there.

After seeing these photos...now I NEED to go there.

ooooh...never drank OUZO, but I hear it's wonderfully lethal!

HA!

Thanks for a wonderful post, dear lady!

Enjoyed it.

Elaine Denning said...

Blogger is being really strange. I came back to comment on todays post and it's gone. Where is it? My comments are disappearing too!

Akelamalu said...

I came back Cathy LOL

It was a wonderful view Dianne without a doubt. :)

Your father is Greek Anndi? Oh you must go then it's beautiful.

I was thinking more of a base for you to go to Europe Ciara cos you wouldn't want to spend much time in my hometown either!

That's a beautiful poem Krimo and I'm sure you recited it perfectly being the romantic that you are. ;)

I'll tell him Linda, he'll be really chuffed! Sorry there wouldn't have been room for you i the case apparently Mimi was in there! :)

Oh Ron you really must go! Perhaps you could come to England (we could meet) and then you could go on to Greece. You would love Ouzo, it's such refreshing (but heady) drink with sprite (lemonade). We could smash a few plates and dance to Zorba!

Oh Sorry MissU the post that was up earlier was meant to post tomorrow (Friday 55)so I took it down. Did you comment on it? It will be back up tomorrow.

Queenie said...

Its my medication!!!!

Pam said...

since i already commented on your 55...i just wanted to come by and let you know that i'm up now. i figured i would do it early since lots of peeps are brits or east coasters LOL

Robin said...

so glad you're back and i wasn't jealous in the least (the most maybe, but not the least!). the pictures are great.....it looks lovely, warm, sunny, beautiful, fun, peaceful, exotic and you both look great!

(thanks for stopping by and yes, i will be back......i hope sooner than later)

MarmiteToasty said...

I LOVE looking at peoples holiday snaps lol does that make me a saddo? lol

I also love greece and the islands..... spent many a summer on the islands back in the day :)

It looks like you picked a great place.... hope ya came back all relaxed and refreshed......

x

Akelamalu said...

That's what I put it down to Queenie;)

Sorry about the confusion with the 55 Ciara x

Ah Robin nice to see you, please don't stay away too long honey and I'm happy you enjoyed the hol pics x

If' you're sad then so am I Marmie, cos I love looking at other people's holiday pics as well. The Greek Islands are just the best aren't they? :)

CG said...

Sounds beautiful!! I missed you!

Akelamalu said...

It was CG and I missed you too! x

Travis Cody said...

The photographs are wonderful. I've never been to Europe.

Seeker said...

Lovely pictures! Kefalonia is the most beautiful place on earth!!!!!!!

Akelamalu said...

Thanks Trav, I've never been to America, but it's on my 'to visit' list. :)

I take it that you've been to Kefalonia Seeker? Thanks for dropping by. :)