Monday 17th 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 18th 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 19th 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 20th 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 21st 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 22nd 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 23rd 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
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