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Monday 11 August 2008

Kefalonia Part 2.......




Apart from sunbathing, reading, sleeping, eating and drinking, we didn't do a lot on the first week of our holiday. However we booked a boat trip round the neighbouring island of Ithaca for the second Friday we were there.

We were picked up by coach at 8 a.m. and taken to the little harbour at Agia Efimia, where much of Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed. In fact there's a taverna called Captain Correlli's there though we didn't have time to call in for refreshments.

We boarded the boat, The Ithaca Princess, and set sail towards the narrow strait between Kefalonia and Ithaca, which for the most part is between 3 and 5 kilometres wide. Approaching the strait storm clouds were gathering, the water became rather choppy and it began to rain - not a good start to a boat trip! Thankfully we hadn't opted to sit on the sundeck because all the people up there were asked to come down to the lower decks until we got through the strait. The captain promised the sun would reappear then. Do you remember the scene in 'Jason and the Argonauts' where they were sailing through the 'clashing rocks' well it was a bit like that! (See the 'storm clouds' picture on the slide show). Anyway the captain was right, once through the strait we left the storm behind and emerged into bright sunshine.


Neolithic finds in the north of Ithaca date it's earliest inhabitation back to at least 3000 BC. According to it's infamous mythology, the island was named after either Ithacus , son of the sea-god 'Poseidon' or Ithacis, the son of a Kephalonia king who settled there. It is said to be the home of Odysseus and reached it's peak around 1000 BC, which seems to correspond with Homer's writing of the much disputed Odyssey . Archaeological finds from this period have been used to support the reading of this epic as a literal description of historic events and can be seen in Vathi's Archaeological Museum.


Our first stop was in one of the beautiful bays for a short swim-stop. MWM doesn't swim and I seemed to have got something in my eye, which was watering mercilesly, so I gave swimming a miss and just enjoyed the scenery. (see 'swimstop' on the slideshow)


We set sail again to the village of Kioni where we docked for about forty-five minutes, giving us enough time to walk round the village, have an ice-cream and take some photographs. On the 20th of July, the inhabitants of the lovely village of Kioni, reach the small church of Agios Elias (built on the rocks by the sea) with their little fishing boats to attend the holy service and celebrate the feast of the saint with a huge feast back in Kioni, full of live traditional music, dances, tasty food and excellent wine. (see 'Sailor's Chapel' Kioni on the slideshow). Of course we missed it!

Setting sail once more for the capital of Ithaca, Vathi, we marvelled at how green yet mountainous the island is and enjoyed the running commentary given by the three guides on the boat. They gave us lots of historical information about Ithaca, none of which I can remember, but it was all very interesting if you want to read up on it here.

Sailing into Vathi we saw the seaplane taking off for one of its twice daily flights to Argostoli (Kefalonia's capital). Vathi is very picturesque and we had two hours there, enough time to have a delicious Greek salad, local bread and a beer for lunch in one of the harbour tavernas (see lunch in Vathi on the slideshow) before exploring the pretty cobbled streets.


Leaving Vathi we sailed round to yet another bay for a swim-stop, I chickened out again opting to bag one of the seats on the sundeck to catch some rays whilst it's occupants were swimming. The sail back to Agia Efimia was a lot smoother than the sail out. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 7 p.m. - a long day but a very enjoyable one, time to get showered and changed and out to dinner.





Tune in for Kefalonia part 3 soon.

34 comments:

Pam said...

beautiful pics, ake....that is def one of my dream trips. did you have a gyro or kabob for me? LOL can't wait to see part 3 :) xo

buffalodick said...

Nice pictures with good information about the area!

KB said...

wow, amazing pics!

G-Man said...

Ake...
I love your slide show!!!
And a bathing suit pic would have made this series PERFECT!!!...G

Elaine Denning said...

I love the slideshow. The more pics I see, the more envious I get. I would LOVE a holiday right now!

CG said...

I'm enjoying your holidat stories.Shame you had to miss the swim!

Queenie said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the trip and the photos are great. Hate to say this I am really envious....

Dianne said...

You could write for a travel magazine!

I'm a bit envious too :) but so glad you had such a wonderful time.

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

beautiful place! thanks for showing it to me...

smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Akelamalu said...

No kebabs Ciara but we had Stifado, Moussaka, Kleftico etc. etc. and of course Ouzo!

Cheers Buff glad you enjoyed them.

Thanks KB :)

Oh g-man a pic of me in a bathing suit is not a pretty site believe me!

You deserve a holiday Miss U, I do hope you get one honey. x

Swimming is not my strong point CG, well not in the sea anyway, so I have to really push myself to do it.

I know you're not going to get a holiday before your op Queenie but I'm sure once you've recovered there'll be no stopping you. :)

I don't think I'm that good Dianne but thank you anyway. x

I'm pleased you've enjoyed it Bee :)

Jeff B said...

Thanks for sharing the views with us, they are beautiful.

Gledwood said...

o wow ~ top pic ~ that sea is AMAZING!!!

Gledwood said...

Are the waters of the Aegean/Mediterranean (which one is it?) swimmable temperature this time of year?

I hope you had lots of lovely Ooozo (or however you spell it...)

;->...

maryt/theteach said...

How wonderful your vacation sounds Akelamalu! Lovely picture of a lovely swimming place! :)

bindhiya said...

What a beautiful place!!!
Thanks for uploading slide show... am really enjoying your vacation.. :))

bindi

Anonymous said...

Just catching up - looks beautiful. Great slideshow.

G-Man said...

Ake....
You still got it baby!!!!!
Trust me....G

Travis Cody said...

I couldn't see the slide show, but you describe it beautifully and I did get the picture in my head from the Jason & the Argonauts reference.

Robin said...

myGod, how beautiful!! i've always wanted to visit greece, now you've got me dreaming about it again!

you're so lucky and i'm so glad you had such a wonderful trip.

MarmiteToasty said...

love love love love, love em........

Im gonna hunt me boxes for the photos from when I was in the greek islands, they will be funny cos we didnt have a digital camera back then lol....... and I was young and had my whole life infront of me then....... if only I had know aye....

Fanks for sharing ya holiday snaps.... ya know I love it lol

x

MarmiteToasty said...

know=know ...... cant type for toffee this morning..... just off to the hospital again, so Im forgiven for shit typos :)

x

Akelamalu said...

Thanks Jeff

It's in the Ionion Gleds and there were plenty of people swimming, though we only dipped our toes!

It was a lovely place Teach, we really enjoyed it.

I'm please you enjoyed the slide show Bindi x

Thanks Citizen :)

You know how to made a middleaged woman happy g-man, thankyou. x

Oh I'm sorry you couldn't see the slide show Trav :(

You really must visit Greece if you get the chance Robin, you won't be disappointed. :)

Oh you must root them out Marmie and post them, I love looking at old holiday photos!

Akelamalu said...

Trav if you click on 'view all images' you will be able to view the slide show.

Flowerpot said...

looks really wonderful Ak - glad you had such a great time.

Gledwood said...

do you think the Odessie really was written by a blind poet called Homer? or d'you think that is just a legend to put an author's name to a piece of traditional narrative verse..??

Akelamalu said...

It was and we did Flowerpot, thanks honey. x

I believe in Fairies Gleds, what do you think? :)

Raven said...

Wow! Looks like a glorious trip! So much pretty scenery.

Deb said...

Thanks for visiting me today - I am so glad that I visited your blog. There is so much to see plus I LOVE the music. I actually did take my shoes off, sat back and sang along with these oldies but goodies! Your vacation seems as if it was perfect. I will be back for a longer visit soon. Take care.

Linda said...

I just can't believe how blue the water is over there! Truly beautiful and I bet you didn't want to leave at all.

Such beautiful pictures!

Unknown said...

Wow! I’m electrified by your holiday! (Wish I were there)

Akelamalu said...

It was Raven :)

I'm so pleased you enjoyed your first visit here Debbie I hope you'll call in again. :)

Oh yes the water is truly blue and turquoise Linda, I want to live somewhere like that!

You would love it there Nick. :)

storyteller said...

Taking time to REST and RELAX during the first week as you read, sunbathed, ate, drank, and slept makes sense to me. Seems like you could have had better weather for the boat trip the second Friday. I’m glad the captain was right and the sun finally came out. Sorry you missed the swim … but a walk around the village and ice cream sounded great. How sad to miss the huge feast with excellent wine and ‘traditional entertainment’ … but perhaps you’ll catch it another time? Your photos are marvelous!
Hugs and blessings,

Akelamalu said...

The first week of R&R set us up just right for the boat trip Storyteller and thanks fully the storm didn't last too long. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, I am so jealous!