Thursday, 4 July 2013

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 cafĂ©/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'





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