Week 5 - Kefalonia

Monday 8 July (Day 76)

Antisamos

Tuesday 9 July (Day 77)

Antisamos

Wednesday 10 July (Day 78)

We had heard that Thursday was Aghia Efimia Day and there was to be celebrations in the evening so we decided to change ‘trip out Thursday’ to ‘trip out Wednesday’.  The Kefalonian peninsula was somewhere we hadn’t really been to before so we headed off to the sticky out bit on the western side of the island.  For some reason being on the peninsula is like being on another island.

After a good drive around we ended up at Xi beach.  Xi beach has lovely red sand (that got everywhere) and lots of shallow water to cool off in.  We then headed back up the peninsula to the town of Lixiouri (Kefalonia’s second largest) where we appeared to be the only people there, as this is fast approaching the busiest time of year it must be quite worrying for the islanders.

Thursday 11 July (Day 79)

After yet another day at Antisamos beach we went back to the cottage for something to eat before going back out again for Aghia Efimia Day.  We were treated to Greek dancing on the moll followed by bouzouki playing and fireworks.

Friday 12 July (Day 80)

Antisamos

Saturday 13 July (Day 81)

As we are coming home soon we thought we’d better smarten ourselves up and have haircuts.

Sunday 14 July (Day 82)

At Antisamos beach today we were befriended by a young lad (Andrea) who was fascinated by our Kindles.  After the beach we went straight to Familia in Sami for our evening meal.

Monday 15 July (Day 83)

Spent our last day at Antisamos beach before going to Pedrangelo’s for our last meal.  Spent a very pleasant evening chatting to Kevin and Joyce and then Russell and Amanda.  We said fond farewells to Pedrangelo, Leda and Paniotis.

Tuesday 16 July (Day 83)

Flying home and then waiting a few hours at Gatwick in order to get a cheaper train home.

Xi Beach

 Xi Beach

 Aghia Efimia Day

Week 4 - Kefalonia

The weather has been great this week so we have been spending lots of time on the beach, reading and swimming.

Monday 1 July (Day 69)

The couple who were staying in Polyanthi last week recommended we try Zola beach which is located on the peninsula that is home to Lixouri.  We have never really explored this area before as it is quite flat and has always been a bit of a trek for us when we have stayed at Trapezaki in the past.  We eventually found the beach at the end of a very bumpy gravel road and were pleased to see that not many other people had found it either.  Not as nice as Antisamos but does have the same lovely blue water of Myrtos so was well worth a visit.

Tuesday 2 July (Day 70)

Antisamos beach today

Wednesday 3 July (Day 71)

Antisamos beach again today.  Definitely getting busier as each week goes by.

Thursday 4 July (Day 72)

Today was ‘Trip Out Thursday’ and we had planned to go up to Fiscardo in the north of the island.  Dave and Marion had told us about a new road that goes over the mountain from Divivarta to Karia so we thought we would do that on the way.  The good news was that this section of road paid for by this municipality was beautifully smooth and contained a fantastic viewing area where we could see the topography of the whole valley.  The bad news was that once we left this municipality and entered the next the road petered out and became a gravel track but we could hear Dave’s voice in our heads saying ‘just keep going’ so we did and eventually we returned to civilisation in Karia.  We then continued our journey up to Fiscardo stopping at Dafnoudi beach for a swim.  The beach is beautiful but was quite a long way down through a forested path which meant that the effects of a cooling swim were negated by the climb back up to the car.  Fiscardo was as beautiful as ever and much busier than when we were there last October.   We stopped for a coffee and an ice cream (well it was a day out!) before making our way back down the coast road to the cottage.

Friday 5 July (Day 73)

After the exertions of yesterday we had a slow start today before heading down to Agia Efimia to do our weekend shop.  We spent the afternoon at Myrtos beach and went to Petrangelo’s for supper and a nice chat with Dave and Marion.

Saturday 6 July (Day 74)

Another beautiful day so naturally we set off for Antisamos beach.  On our back up the hill at the end of the day we spotted a young couple thumbing a lift so stopped to ask where they were going.  They were staying in Sami so we offered them a lift back up the very steep hill from the beach.  They were a young French couple who had come to Kefalonia via Lefkas and Ithaca and were just started a 2 week holiday here.  They spoke very good English and so we were able to have a nice chat with them before dropping them off at their studios and continuing our journey back to the cottage.

Sunday 7 Juy (Day 75)

Sunday has become clean the cottage day so after breakfast we set to with mop, bucket and broom and finished the job in no time at all albeit a little hot and sticky.  We had decided to try to watch the Wimbledon final in a bar in Agia Efimia so showered early and set off for somewhere with a television and beer on the menu.  There were several places showing the match but we settled on Dodoni’s café/bar and joined a group of like-minded individuals who just happened to be mostly Scottish.  The atmosphere was great (and the beer was only 1.50 euro a pint) but by the end of the third set our nerves were in tatters much to the amusement of the locals who were clearly baffled by our cries of joy and pain as the games unfolded.  Finally, it was all over and there was much to celebrate.  We will definitely remember where we were when Andy Murray became Wimbledon Champion!

Zola Beach

Dafnoudi Beach

 Dafnoudi Beach

Dafnoudi Beach

 Aghia Efimia

Week 3 - Kefalonia

Monday 24 June (Day 62)

We were really lazy today only managing to mooch around the cottage and make a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies.  We think this will be the last of the really hot weather that has been stifling Kefalonia for the last few days.  We have got quite friendly with the guy to owns the supermarket so much so that he shared the sad story of his relationship breakup with us today.  We sympathised with him and told him that the right girl will come along soon which seemed to cheer him up and he presented us with a large tub of ice cream in return!

Tuesday 25 June (Day 63)

As we did so little yesterday we decided that today would be exercise Tuesday.  The plan was to walk down into Aghia Efimia along the walking track to have a swim and lunch on the beach before walking back up the hill to the cottage later in the afternoon when it was a bit cooler. 

Just before we left the cottage we had a power cut which are quite common here so we thought nothing of it and set off for the beach as planned.  Sometime later  when we emerged from the beach and were about to walk back to the cottage we spotted Amanda sitting in café/bar Carena and went over to say hello.  It would appear that there had been a small fire in one of the electricity sub-stations and that they had given up waiting for the power to come back on after 2 hours and had retreated to Carena for a drink.  We joined them for coffee and enjoyed our first freddo cappuccinos (apparently frappe is so yesterday!) before politely refusing a lift back to the village completing our walk as intended.  Thankfully the power had been restored by the time we got back so no need to mop up puddles of ice cream from the fridge.

Wednesday 26 June (Day 64)

Today we decided to head to the beach at Anti Samos but it soon became very evident that the wind coming off the sea was quite brisk so although it was very comfortable sitting on the beach using an umbrella was out of the question.   Tracey was the hero of the hour, rescuing a little boy’s hat that had blown into the sea. 

Thursday 27 June (Day 65)

Thursdays have become ‘Trip Out Thursdays’ and today was no exception.  

On our first visit to Kefalonia 20 years ago we tried to drive up to the highest point on the island, Mount Aenos, but at that time you could only get about a third of the way up before the road ran out and was replaced by a very bumpy track which was definitely not suitable for hire cars.  We had heard that a new road had now been completed all the way up to the top so decided to have another go and we are so glad we did. 

The new road is amazing and takes you right to the top with stunning views over the whole island.  The mountain is a designated national park area and covered in dense pine forest.  It reminded us of some of the Canadian roads we have travelled in recent years and even had snow poles on the side to show where the road is in the winter.  Along the way up are stopping areas with benches to enable visitors to enjoy the views and we spent some time pinpointing locations and trying to spot the villas we have stayed in at Trapezaki on previous visits.  The benches are positioned right on the edge of the mountainside to maximise the views (Tracey’s mum would have loved it) and provided the perfect lunch spot.

Unfortunately it is still not possible to go over the top and down the other side unless you have a 4x4 but who knows in years to come…..

Friday 28 June (Day 66)

Another mooching day today with a trip down to Aghia Efimia in the afternoon for a swim and to do our weekend shopping.  This normally involves a visit to the butchers for a chicken as Saturday would not be complete without roast lemon chicken and potatoes with lemons from the garden.

Petrangelo had kontosouvli (marinated pork chunks) on the spit tonight which was delicious and we spent a very nice evening chatting to the local English residents and a lovely couple from Norfolk who are staying in Polyanthi Villa this week.

Saturday 29 June (Day 67)

Back to Antisamos beach today where the fish were amazing.  We took some bread into the water and were immediately surrounded by lots of different types of fish.  The bread did not last long but we spent a very happy few minutes standing in the water with the fish.

Sunday 30 June (Day 68) – Tracey’s ½ Birthday!

We spent the morning cleaning the cottage and then spent a very lazy afternoon reading in the garden under the olive tree.  We went down to Aghia Efimia for supper tonight and finished it off with cocktails and coffee as it was happy hour!

St Gerasimos (from Mt Aenos)

 Views from Mt Aenos

Our adopted cat 'Tikey'

Week 2 - Kefalonia

Monday 17^th June (Day 55)

A beautiful sunny day today so after a leisurely breakfast we set off for Anti Samos beach, stopping on the way to buy a beach umbrella so that we can stay on the beach even longer without frying.  The sea was incredibly calm and so snorkelling was most definitely on the agenda.   The fish even went for Tracey’s homemade bread which made watching them even easier.

Tuesday 18^th June (Day 56)

After such a great day at the beach yesterday we decided to repeat the experience today.  The sea was not quite as calm but still lovely.  It is definitely hotter this week so the purchase of an umbrella has proved to be a good one.

Wednesday 19^th June (Day 57)

It was a scorcher today so we mooched around the cottage during the day seeking patches of shade around the garden.  On one of Tracey’s forays around the garden she spotted that the fig tree was laden with enormous ripe fruit and so we decided to pick some (see picture below).  We may be eating figs for some time!  Tracey has turned some into compote and the rest we will eat fresh with our yogurt for breakfast – delicious.

In the late afternoon we decided to go down to Aghia Efimia for a swim to cool off.  Naturally this had to be followed by a beer in our favourite café/bar (Fior d’Armour) and an ice cream to bring back to the cottage.  Diet, what diet?

R.I.P Uncle Roy.

Thursday 20^th June (Day 58)

We were getting ferry withdrawal symptoms so decided to get the ferry from across to the island of Ithaca today.  We took the car over with us so that we could explore as much of the island as possible.

It was an early start for us which meant leaving the cottage at 7.30 to get to the boat in time for an 8.30 sailing.  We decided to forego breakfast and have something once we got to Ithaca and so went straight to the main town of Vathi once we had docked for breakfast by the sea.  We then headed off to explore the northern end of the island including the villages of Stavros, Frikes and Kioni. 

It is many years since we have visited Ithaca and we had forgotten just how pretty it is.  It is particularly notable that Homer and Odysseus came from Ithaca so we felt that a pilgrimage to visit their home island was appropriate given our own odysseys over the last year.

It was very hot today so we stopped for a swim on the way back to ferry in one of the beautiful little coves which sit just down from the road.  Unfortunately, what we failed to notice was that there seemed to a lot of jelly fish around and Tracey got zapped on the arm.  No damage though just a bit of a sting for a while.  The ferry was a little late arriving and the heat was quite oppressive, even too hot for the Greek ladies who were on a day trip.  At least they were well equipped with fans, we wimped out and sat in the air conditioned car and lounge.

We stopped for a late afternoon swim on the way back to the cottage.  Thankfully Kefalonia appears to be jelly fish free!

Friday 21^st June (Day 59)

We decided to go for an early morning swim this morning before doing our shopping for the weekend in Aghia Efimia.  After a very sultry night the sea was beautiful and cool and very refreshing.  We got chatting to one of the older residents who comes down to swim every morning on the advice of his doctor, he is 78!  He told us that although he was born on the island he left when he was 18 for New York and only returned 10 years ago.  We have since worked out that he must have been one of the 100,000 people who left Kefalonia following the devastating earthquake in August 1953.

We then returned to the cottage for brunch and to take cover during the hottest part of the day returning for a late afternoon swim to cool off before going out for something to eat.

We went to the local taverna for supper tonight and Petrangelo had roasted a whole goat on the spit so we felt that it would have been rude to have anything else so bravely ordered and had our first taste of goat.  In fact it was very tasty and very similar to roast lamb.  Amanda and Russell were at the taverna when we arrived so we joined them and enjoyed a very pleasant evening together consuming too much of the local wine until the wee small hours.

Saturday 22^nd June (Day 60)

After our late night last night we had a slow start to the day today but decided to go to Myrtos beach for a swim and a little time on the beach for seeking sanctuary back at the cottage once it got too hot in the afternoon.  The rest of the day was spent in the shade trying to escape the heat for a while.  We are so grateful for the air conditioning in the cottage!

Sunday 23^rd June (Day 61)

We cleaned the cottage this morning with the air conditioning going before heading out to Anti Samos beach in the afternoon.  We stayed on the beach until about 7.00 o’clock before retreating to the beachside bar for Mark to partake of a cooling mojito before we headed back into Sami for a healthy supper of sea bream at Adonis taverna.  The temperature is due to drop slightly next week which will be quite a relief for us Northern Europeans who are finding the 30+ temperatures a little hard to cope with.  There is certainly more of a breeze tonight so can but hope.

Fig Harvest

 Breakfast nap, Vathy, Ithaca

 Frikes, Ithaca

Kioni, Ithaca

 "Jellyfish" beach, Ithaca

 The first Odyssey

Ithaca

Week 1 - Kefalonia

Monday 10^th June (Day 48)

Today was designated as admin day so after breakfast on the terrace we put some washing on and then headed out to do some food shopping in Aghia Efimia, our nearest village.  The owner of the cottage had very kindly left us welcome pack including a bottle of Kefalonian wine so all we needed to do was buy some ingredients to make meals to go with it. 

Tracey also needed a haircut and had been told about a new salon that had recently opened in Aghia Efimia so she set off to investigate.  Once she had established that she could have her haircut immediately I headed off to a nearby café to await her return.  About 20 minutes later she returned sporting her new haircut which she was very pleased with but was a bit miffed that the young lady who owns the salon had asked if she qualified for the pensioner rate!  I made all the right noises and said she looked younger with her new haircut which seemed to pacify her as she ordered a frappe and a slice of cake!

The owner of the supermarket recognised us and gave us 5 eggs from his mother’s chickens, I cannot imagine Sainsbury’s doing that!

As the sky clouded over in the afternoon I taught Tracey how to play chess as the cottage has a chess board. 

Tuesday 11^th June (Day 49)

It was a cloudy and sometimes rainy day today so we spent the day mooching about the cottage reading and playing chess.  Despite earlier predictions we were unable to watch Pointless we were unable to do so as the internet does not work here.

Wednesday 12^th June (Day 50)

We awoke to cloud this morning and decided to investigate the walking path that we had discovered last time we were here and to walk from the village to the beach at Myrtos.  It was a fairly easy walk through the valley until we reached the very steep decent to the beach itself.  We didn’t quite make it all the way down as it is 4 km up on the way back but we did get over half way and got our first look at the beautiful bay.

Thursday 13^th June (Day 51)

We decided to walk the other end of the walking path today and walk into the Aghia Efimia which is about 4km from the cottage.  It is all downhill on the way there but unfortunately this means it is all uphill on the way back.

We sat by the sea and ate our lunch and read our books before consuming a fortifying cup of coffee to prepare us for the return journey.  We arrived back from our walk to find some delicious homemade apple cake had been left on the table for us by the owner of the cottage.

Tracey beat me at chess tonight – I appear to have created a monster!

Friday 14^th June (Day 52)

The weather is but improved today so it was off to Anti Samos beach for a swim.  It was much busier than when we were last here in October 2012 but still as beautiful and gave us a chance to do some snorkelling.

We went to the local taverna for supper tonight and Pedrangelo had cooked a whole roast lamb on the spit so we could no more than order two portions and get stuck in.

Saturday 15^th June (Day 53)

We decided to go to Myrtos by car today for a swim.  Being a Saturday it was quite busy but I guess nothing compared to how it will be in July and August.  When the wind is in the right direction the waves can be quite impressive here and today was no exception.  It was then back to the cottage to pack our things for our move to Kalivaki cottage tomorrow.  This is the cottage we stayed in last year and we are there for 4 weeks this year until our return to the UK on 16^th July.

For the animal lovers amongst you we seem to have inherited a cat with this cottage.  We have called him Winky as he only seems to have one eye but an uncanny knack of knowing when a tin of tuna has been opened.

Sunday 16^th June (Day 54)

We were packed, breakfasted and ready to move by 11.00 but as the other cottage was not going to be ready until 2.00pm we headed off to Aghia Efimia to wait by the sea and enjoy the view.  If only all experiences of moving house could be so relaxing!

We arrived back at the new cottage (Kalivaki) at about 2.30pm and it felt great to be back.  Katerina (the owner) had provided us with yet another welcome pack so no need to go shopping for a couple of days. 

When we were here last year we adopted a cat and her kitten and we wondered if they would still be around this year.  Sure enough, just as we were leaving to go to the tavern for our supper, the kitten arrived at the front door but minus her mum.  We fed her some Friskies and gave her some water to drink but she was very nervous of us.  She does not appear to have grown much in 6 months and we are not sure what has happened to Mum but maybe we can fatten her up over the next few weeks.

Kitchen View (Polyanthi Cottage)

Two Hops to Kefalonia

Sunday 9 June (Day 47)

After  our last breakfast in the Aegean the hotel owner kindly gave us a lift to the airport.  Naxos airport isn’t an international airport and only deals with one flight a day.  We took a set close to the door and watched people check in.  There was a set of scales close by and most men weighed their luggage and then weighed themselves out of curiosity (me included), not one woman did this!

The flight from Naxos to Athens took just 30 minutes, just enough time for a quick drink before landing.  At Athens airport we went to the international food court where we chose Greek cuisine!!

The flight from Athens to Kefalonia took 50 minutes, we arrived just before a Thomas Cook flight so we managed to pick up our hire car before the queues formed.

It is great to be back in the village of Makriotika and to meet up with friends from last year.

I’m afraid there won’t be many blog updates over the next few weeks as it might become quite boring.  We will probably just be doing the following:

Sunny days = beach, probably either Myrtos or Antisamos

Cloudy days = walking

Rainy days = watching Pointless

P.S.  We’ve had many questions asking why we’ve missed out Crete.  We were intending to visit the island but we thought it was just too much hassle to get there, move from port to port once we were there and we have been there before anyway.

 View from the kitchen

Lost in Translation

Saturday 8 June (Day 46)

We were awoken this morning at seven thirty by frantic knocking on our room door.  I opened it to find Yorta saying “Mister, Miister, breakfast, breakfast”.  We traipsed upstairs for our breakfast which was brought to us at great haste.  We were a bit confused because the ferry didn’t leave until twenty to ten. 

While I was leisurely sipping my coffee Yorta pointed to her watch and the sea and said “Mister, Mister,Scopelitis, Scopelitis”!!  Oh, we thought, perhaps the ferry is leaving early, after all Yorta must know because there are only two ferries that call here and she has the benefit of local knowledge.

We hurried through our breakfast and went to get our cases.  Yorta and her sister-in-law threw them into the back of the car and we sped off, it was now ten past eight.  As we approached the sea Yorta ground to a halt raised her hands and said “where is Scopelitis”?  I showed her our tickets which had the departure time of 09:40 at which she put her head in hands and said “Octo, Octo”.  She obviously thought the ferry was leaving at eight.  She offered to take us back but as we like to be early we said carry on.  Yorta was very apologetic but we found it highly amusing and it did explain why she was so confused by our casual approach to breakfast.

The Scopelitis departed right on time and we arrived in Naxos at midday.  After we were settled into our hotel we went for a walk.  Tracey spotted a barbers so I popped in for a trim.  It’s much easier for us men, he grabbed the top of my hair and said “scissor”? and the back of my hair and said “machine”?  I nodded and off he went.  He did a very good job for 8 euros.

When we left Naxos Town a couple of weeks ago it felt like a small village but now it feels like a big city.  There was even more of the old town that we hadn’t seen before.  After a evening meal we treated ourselves to some ice cream, three scoops – cherry, Ferrero rocher and tiramisu, Scrummy!

Heath Robinson Crusoe

Tuesday 4 June (Day 42)

Today we took the road up the middle of the island to the highest point on Koufonissia (113m) where we had a great view of the surrounding islands of Amorgos, Naxos, Keros, Donousa, Schinoussa and Kato (lower) Koufonissia. 

We then went back to Portes Beach for  a swim before going to the restaurant Gastronautis.  I had scorpion fish which Tracey declared to be an ugly critter but was told by the waitress that he just ‘had an opinion’ (I think this means he had an attitude).

Wednesday 5 June (Day 43)

The ferry Blue Star Paros arrives (from Athens) in the Small Cyclades in the early hours of the morning and we are now getting used to it waking us up.  We were awoken early this morning by the arrival of some new guests.  At breakfast the owners mum looked a little blurry eyed so we tried to ask her what time she went to pick up the new guests.  However, she took this to mean that we needed to know the times of the Blue Star Paros ferry on Friday and she indicated that we should come to reception after breakfast for the answer.  Oh dear! 

We decided to try and avoid further confusion and sneak off for our walk but she spotted us and called us over.  Fortunately, one of the new guests is an American whose parents are Greek and he speaks both languages fluently.  We were straightened out the confusion and took the opportunity to make arrangements for our departure on the ferry on Saturday.

We walked along the coast as far as we could enjoying the fantastic scenery on the way before making our way back inland along a ‘footpath’ that was more like a goat track when you could find it at all.  As we had just started along the path we noticed a large bird sitting on a wall and approached it carefully so that I could take a photograph.  It was a strange looking bird and seemed unable to fly so we concluded that it must be the last surviving dodo but on further investigation it now appears to have been a guinea fowl.  Oh well, so much for our future as zoologists.

On returning to room I remembered that I wanted to take a photograph of where we are staying so returned back outside to take one.  I was immediately accosted by the owners mum (Yota) who asked if we wanted coffee.  I declined her offer as Tracey was in the process of making tea and she then insisted on me partaking of some local raki and bringing some back for Tracey who by this stage was wondering how many pictures I was taking.

Thursday 6 June (Day 44)

 As the weather was so nice today we went to Fanos beach and were lucky enough to bag one of the few spots under a tree.  We spent the day being very lazy only managing a swim and a saunter up to the beach café for a coffee late in the afternoon.

We decided to go a bit further afield for our supper tonight and went to a fish tavern on the other side of town.  We were given menus but told that there really was not much point in looking at them and that it would be better to simply go into the kitchen to see what they had.  We eventually chose some sardines wrapped in vine leaves, calamari (squid), baked vegetables and some lemon potatoes – delicious!

Friday 7 June (Day 45)

We spoke to the young American couple at breakfast this morning and discovered that they had eloped and got married on Santorini just a week or so ago.  This cannot have been easy as they are both from large Greek families who enjoy nothing better than a ‘big fat Greek wedding’.   The wife starts med school in the fall so they are enjoying an extended honeymoon in the Greek islands and visiting some of their extended family.

We went to the beach again today and had only been there a short while before it started to rain.  Using some bamboo sticks and a towel we were able to construct a rudimentary shelter but by the time we had finished it the sun had come back out so we converted it to a sunshade – genius!  Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me so there is no photographic evidence. 

Tomorrow we take the ferry back to Naxos and stay their one night before getting our flight to Athens and then on to Kefalonia for the next 5 weeks.  Here’s hoping for a smooth crossing and an even smoother flight on a very small prop engine aircraft.

View from the top

 More photos of rocks

 Portes House

 Guinea fowl (or dodo)

 A Scorpion fish