Have Ithaka always in your mind...

 We took our lunch in the lovely port of Kioni.

From Ítaca

"I wish I had a boat like this. I would sail in those blue waters and stop here and there just for lunch, and then, leave again into the sea.",  I thought while sittting in the terrace  ;-)

After lunch and shopping at the local stores, my wish seemed to come true. ;-) We took a boat until Vathy, Ithaca's capital. This journey, our return voyage, was the most beautiful part of the trip.

We spotted these old windmills...

From Ítaca

...before arriving to a green colour water beach...

From Ítaca

...where the boat stopped so we could enjoy a bath...

From Ítaca

... how we regretted to have eaten so much at lunch...we couldn't go into the water...

 Around us some small boats like this one...

From Ítaca

Again I felt I was in Douro...

From Ítaca

because of this liaison between mountains and water...

From Ítaca

From Ítaca

Almost in Vathy, this beautiful chapel nearby the sea...

From Ítaca

I became in love by Ithaca, as you may have already noticed it ;-)
So, I leave you with this beautiful poem about this exquisite island. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :-)

Ithaca

When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long,
full of adventure, full of instruction.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - do not fear them:
such as these you will never find
as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare
emotion touch your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - you will not meet them
unless you carry them in your soul,
unless your soul raise them up before you.

Ask that your way be long.
At many a Summer dawn to enter
with what gratitude, what joy -
ports seen for the first time;
to stop at Phoenician trading centres,
and to buy good merchandise,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensuous perfumes of every kind,
sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can;
to visit many Egyptian cities,
to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

Have Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is what you are destined for.
But don't in the least hurry the journey.
Better it last for years,
so that when you reach the island you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She hasn't anything else to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you.
So wise you have become, of such experience,
that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean.

Constantine P. Cavafy

On our way to Stavros

On our departure to Stavros, we stopped by a gas station to take one more photo of Vathy.
Ithaca's capital seems like a lake, don't you think? :-)

From Ítaca

Again in the bus, we enjoyed very nice spots of the island. Look at this fishing boat. So fragile...

From Ítaca

One of the main economical activities: fish farms.

From Ítaca

For a couple of moments, the landscape reminded me of Douro, in Portugal...

From Ítaca

Meanwhile, we arrived in Stavros and we could taste its typical sweet: Rovani. At the town main square, you find a sign indicating where you can taste this traditional Greek dessert. Just delicious, specially with vanilla ice-cream. ;-)

From Ítaca

Vathy

Vathy, Ithaca's capital, one of the world's largest natural harbours.

From Ítaca

"Odysseus is leaving Ithaca with his army", I thought while watching these boats...
 ;-)

From Ítaca

Meanwhile, I was astonished with all those luxury yachts..."I'm in Monaco again", I thought...

From Ítaca

Nevertheless, what really caught my heart were the cats I saw there... :-)

From Ítaca

They were so cute!!!

From Ítaca

We found them nearby this lovely terrace...

From Ítaca

Another cosy terrace...However, we didn't sit down here for a coffee...

From Ítaca

Other pretty places were expecting  us...;-)

Arriving in Ithaca

Another trip we have done while in Kephalonia was to Ithaca, the island of Odysseus.

From Ítaca

This trip was also organized by Arke, our travel agency.

A taxi picked us up at the Hotel in Xi Beach to take us to Lixouri where we took a ferry to Argostoli, Kefalonia's capital. From there, we took a bus to Sami, located on the central east coast of the island. There, many buses with tourists, most of them Dutch and British, were waiting for their turn to get into the ferry to Ithaca.

A journey with outstanding panoramics...

From Ítaca

This sky, this sea...

From Ítaca

Everything so blue, so relaxing...

From Ítaca

I felt that everything was so exotic. All the means of transport we needed to take to get to Ithaca, the beauty of those islands and  specially the names of the towns: Lixouri, Argostoli, Sami. Poirot and all the exotic journeys he had done crossed my mind for a couple of minutes ;-)

After arriving in Ithaca, we left the ferry and climbed a bit to the place where we should wait for the bus and where I took the photo below.

From Ítaca

Drogarati Cave and Melissani Lake

Besides Myrtos, Assos and Fiskardo, we visited as well the Drogarati Cave where, we were told, Maria Callas has sung. Very, very pretty and the acustic is amazing!

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia - Gruta

Finally, the place I enjoyed the most: Melissani Lake.

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia - Lago

The cave features a sky-blue lake covered with stones.
The white colour from the rocks is stucco.

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia - Lago

The water is sooo cold!!! :-)) But this colour...oh... this colour...!! ;-)

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia - Lago

If you go to Kefalonia, don't miss this lake! ;-)

Fiskardo

After Assos and the beautiful panoramic sights in the mountains, we stopped at Fiskardo, a harbour village in the north of Kefalonia, to lunch and enjoy a walk by the sea.

The mountains we are seeing in this photo are from Ithaca, the beloved island of Odysseus...

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

Fiskardo has very pretty and colourful houses and restaurants...

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

...like this one where we had lunch, the Cafe Tselenti, a historical building owned by the Tselenti family since 1893. The food is absolutely delicious!

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

I love flowers, so Fiskardo was a kind of paradise for me...;-)

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

Fiskardo has cosy and lovely terraces, don't you think?

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

Many artists, like Madonna, Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg have already visited Fiskardo. In fact, Spielberg arrived to Kefalonia in the day we left the island, we were told.

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

Myrtos and Assos

On our first day at Kefalonia we had a meeting with Arke's travel agency operator about the sightseeing trips in the island.
We chose the trip through the North: Myrtos, Assos, Fiskardo, Melissani Lake and Drogarati Cave.

On the scheduled day, a taxi from Arke picked us up at the Hotel to take us to Lixouri. There, we got into a ferry to Argostoli, Kefalonia's capital, where a bus was waiting for us.

Myrtos Beach, our first stop, is one of the most photographed Greek beaches.
We only looked at it from above because it would be difficult to get there by bus.

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

The second stop was Assos, a small village with pretty Venetian style houses.

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

Very cosy, Assos offers enchanted corners and lovely terraces!

Some examples below :-)

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia -

Are you enjoying this trip? ;-)

Greece:Kefalonia

Last August, we went to Greece for two weeks. My health was not so good because of the lack of sun. The level of vitamine D was low, for example. The previous months in The Netherlands were very cold and rainy, except in May and some days in June. July and August  in Portugal were cold and rainy too, so we decided to go to Greece and buy an all-inclusive package in Arke travel agency. Destination: Kefalonia.

From Kefalonia - Praia

We stayed at Kefalonia Palace Hotel at Xi beach. We liked the hotel very much: clean, delicious food, friendly staff. However, I felt I hadn't leave The Netherlands. ;-)) Wherever I looked, I spotted a Dutch couple, with or without children.

From Kefalonia - Praia

We really needed this vacation, the so called dolce far niente:
shower, delicious breakfast, lay down on the yellow sand in a quiet spot, enjoy clean, blue and transparent waters,....

From Kefalonia - Praia

...and again, shower, delicious lunch, sleep, lay down on the sand, walk on the sunset (specially in the second week),...

From Kefalonia - Praia

From Kefalonia - Praia

...evening sea baths,...

From Kefalonia - Praia

...shower, delicious dinner, piña colada in the hotel terrace, sleep,...

From Kefalonia - Praia

On Friday, we had Greek dances. I danced too, of course ;-)

From Grécia 2011 - Kefalonia

However, during our stay in the island, we could see the signs of the economical crisis: unfinished buildings, bad road conditions, dump fields. We were also surprised with the people's low English level. After all, it's a very touristic island.

Nevertheless, there was this incredible sea, the warm sun and the Meditterranean landscape with fig trees. Again, like in my childhood, I went to pick some figs. A simple pleasure, but so great for me!