Posts
Sea cave, LefkadaMAY 25
Lefkada is the fourth largest island in the Ionians. It's joined to the mainland by a causeway over a narrow isthmus. Lefkada has ten sattelite islets which include Skorpios, burial place and former home of the ill-fated Onassis family. It's a forested mountainous islands, also fertile and wel-watered with cotton fields, olive groves, vineyards and farm areas. This is my third trip here and we are heading to Vassiliki on the southern tip. My first visit here I camped near the famous wind-wurfing beach at Vassiliki and took seeral boat tours around to the outlying islands including Skorpios. This time our main aim is to get to Cape Lefkada)known as "Sappho's Leap" where the poet Sappho tragically lept to her death in the 6th C BC near the sanctuary of Apollo which once stood on the Cape.
MAY 26 VASSILIKI AND A DAY TRIP TO KEFALONIA
Again, we were stymied in our plans and weren't able to get a boat to Sappho's Leap or the beach we had planned to spend a day at. Instead we decided on a day trip by ferry over to Fiskardo on Kefalonia. It was my third visit there -- a pleasant little port, mainly a tourist attraction and yacht harbour. It used to be the hide-away haunt of a famous pirate after whom it is named. There is a Venetian castle ruin and lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour and we intended to explore it but the day was hot and we weren't properly shod for tromping up the stony pathway. We opted instead to sit at a quay-side taverna and sip ouzo with yummy marinated octopus appetizer. (The Greeks never serve ouzo without the accompaniment of munchies).
At least Ingrid got a glimpse of Cape Lefkada from the ferry, though a distant one. The sea here is an impossibly bright teal colour, very clear and beautiful though tonight, with a wind blowing up you could see Homer's 'wine dark sea' . And, by the way, we passed by Ithaaka, Odyseeus' island with is very close to Kefalonia. (and, Kefalonia is the island made famous by Louis de Berniere's "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". It's an Island I like very much and will certain return there again and again.)
We are back in Vassiliki now for our last evening here. We've been staying in a brand new hotel for only 40 Euro a night including breakfast. Pensions are cheaper but we opted to grab the first lodgings we came upon and, just like in Parga, lucked out. Prices here are so much cheaper than Venice, including the food and wine. A bottle of good red for only 3.50 euro. So we've been enjoying lots of it and ouzo too.
Tomorrow we catch the bus up to Lefkada town and hopefully make the connections to the Athens bus, probably arriving in Athens in the early evening. We're both quite looking forward to it. We'll spend a few days there, do our laundry and we're off to Mykonos for a few days.
NEXT: Athens news.
Lefkada is the fourth largest island in the Ionians. It's joined to the mainland by a causeway over a narrow isthmus. Lefkada has ten sattelite islets which include Skorpios, burial place and former home of the ill-fated Onassis family. It's a forested mountainous islands, also fertile and wel-watered with cotton fields, olive groves, vineyards and farm areas. This is my third trip here and we are heading to Vassiliki on the southern tip. My first visit here I camped near the famous wind-wurfing beach at Vassiliki and took seeral boat tours around to the outlying islands including Skorpios. This time our main aim is to get to Cape Lefkada)known as "Sappho's Leap" where the poet Sappho tragically lept to her death in the 6th C BC near the sanctuary of Apollo which once stood on the Cape.
MAY 26 VASSILIKI AND A DAY TRIP TO KEFALONIA
Again, we were stymied in our plans and weren't able to get a boat to Sappho's Leap or the beach we had planned to spend a day at. Instead we decided on a day trip by ferry over to Fiskardo on Kefalonia. It was my third visit there -- a pleasant little port, mainly a tourist attraction and yacht harbour. It used to be the hide-away haunt of a famous pirate after whom it is named. There is a Venetian castle ruin and lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour and we intended to explore it but the day was hot and we weren't properly shod for tromping up the stony pathway. We opted instead to sit at a quay-side taverna and sip ouzo with yummy marinated octopus appetizer. (The Greeks never serve ouzo without the accompaniment of munchies).
At least Ingrid got a glimpse of Cape Lefkada from the ferry, though a distant one. The sea here is an impossibly bright teal colour, very clear and beautiful though tonight, with a wind blowing up you could see Homer's 'wine dark sea' . And, by the way, we passed by Ithaaka, Odyseeus' island with is very close to Kefalonia. (and, Kefalonia is the island made famous by Louis de Berniere's "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". It's an Island I like very much and will certain return there again and again.)
We are back in Vassiliki now for our last evening here. We've been staying in a brand new hotel for only 40 Euro a night including breakfast. Pensions are cheaper but we opted to grab the first lodgings we came upon and, just like in Parga, lucked out. Prices here are so much cheaper than Venice, including the food and wine. A bottle of good red for only 3.50 euro. So we've been enjoying lots of it and ouzo too.
Tomorrow we catch the bus up to Lefkada town and hopefully make the connections to the Athens bus, probably arriving in Athens in the early evening. We're both quite looking forward to it. We'll spend a few days there, do our laundry and we're off to Mykonos for a few days.
NEXT: Athens news.
No comments:
Post a Comment