Kefalonia, Greece 18th June - 2nd July 2000

A fortnight on the Ionian island of Kefalonia, with Pat Wilson, Mike Bentley, and Owen Stewart.

Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian islands - with its smaller sister Ithaca, it lies off the west coast of Greece, sandwiched betwwen Lefkada to the north, and Zakinthos to the south. A green, mountainous island (its highest peak, Ainos, reaches 1628m, and is surrounded by a national park with trees unique to the island, inhabited by wild horses), it slopes rapidly into the sea on all sides, with many stunning sand or pebble beaches on the shore. The central valleys are covered in Robola grape vines - source of the excellent (by Greek standards) white Robola wines. A feature unique to the island are the 'sink-holes' around the Argostoli peninsula - where sea water flows into underground channels - re-emerging kilometres away as fresh water off the east coast, and in the Melissani cave. The island has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and invaded by numerous foreign forces (Romans, Turks, French, Venetians and even the British, have had a hand in the island's history). In 1953 the island was hit by a devastating earthquake, which levelled all but a handful of buildings (these remain in Fiskardo in the far north), which gives the island a rather 'recently-built' look, with ruins of pre-1953 buildings left standing amongst the new houses. We spent two weeks in the holiday resort of Lassi, a half hour walk over the hill away from the capital Argostoli.

Places to go, things to see

There are plenty of coach tours available from local travel agents, and these are a good way of getting a quick overview of the island before hiring a car and investigating in detail. Because of the mountainous nature of the island, some of the roads twist and turn wildly, and can be daunting to the inexperienced driver - but well worth the effort of tackling. Assuming a start in Argostoli it is quite easy to make the following tours in a day:

Paliké peninsular: North out of Argostoli, via Farsa (where Louis de Bernières found inspiration for "Captain Corelli's Mandolin"), and west onto the peninsular, to the main town of Lixouri, to the west are many small mountain villages well worth exploring, and the beaches of Petani in the north, and Xi (with its red sand) in the south. Return to Argostoli on the ferry from Lixouri - every hour from 7:00 to 23:00 - 1000 Drachma per car and 300 Drachma per person.

Northern Island: North out of Argostoli to Myrtos beach (the most photographed one in Greece) - very beautiful, but pebbly, with strong sea currents, north again to Assos, with its castle ruins and pretty village, north again to Fiskardo at the northern tip of the island, with its postcard pretty harbour, and one or two buildings which survived the '53 quake. Retrace steps home.

Central Island: East out of Argostoli to Valsamata where the Ag. Gerasimou monastery is well worth a visit, the saint is kept in the small church there, and lucky pilgrims can kiss his feet. A new church is in the process of being decorated, and the new paintings are impressive to see. If saints don't appeal, then the Robola co-operative winery is nearby, where visitors can taste (and buy) the wines. North to the Drogarati Cave - impressive limestone formations, marred a little by most of the stalactites being broken off. North again to the Melissani lake - an underground lake fed from the sink-holes near Argostoli, whose roof fell-in some time ago, giving impressive views of the lake floor from the small boats on which visitors are given a tour. East to Sami, where ferries leave for Ithaca and the mainland, and finally to the beautiful beach at Antisamos. Retrace route to Argostoli.

Melissani Lake

Drogarati Cave

Southern Island: East out of Argostoli and a quick detour to the end of the metalled road up mount Ainos, where on a good day you can see all the Ionian islands, and the mainland. Then east to Poros, which has a good bathing beach, south to Skala, where, as the name implies, there is an excellent, very long beach, and also the ruins of a Roman Villa, with well preserved mosaics. West to Mavrata, and the Metaxas winery, for a tour and a little tasting. West to the Castle of St. George at Kastro (unfortunately closed for refurbishment at present), and back to Argostoli.

Roman Mosaic, Skala

Metaxas Winery, Mavrata

Ithaca: After getting to Sami, take the ferry to Pissaetos on Ithaca - base for Homer's Odyssey - and a few more recent celebrities (Madonna was there when we were visiting). Over to the east Vathi has a beautiful bay, and plenty of tavernas. To the north in Stavros is an archaeological museum, with many local finds, and in the far north is Frikes, with a few pre-'53 buildings, and an excellent bay.

Vathi, Ithaca

Church in Stavros, Ithaca

From Lassi it is well worth taking the 2-3 hour panoramic walk around the peninsula to Argostoli, taking in the St. Theodron lighthouse (and church), and the Katavores waterwheel which is powered by one of the 'sink-hole' inlets.

Just above Lassi is a small church dedicated to Ag. Gerasimou, housing one of the small caves he used to live in.

In Argostoli, the newly re-opened Archaeological Museum is worth a visit, but even better value is the Folk Museum (housed beneath the Library), which is crammed full of historical dress, artefacts, documents, and many pre and post-'53 earthquake pictures.

Beaches

There is an enormous range of beaches on the island - sand (grey, brown, red), pebble (large, small, white, grey), and shingle. Some have slowly shelving waters, some have huge cliffs behind, and some are only accessible by boat.

A few to look at are:
Lassi: Makris Gialos (Long Beach), and Platis Gialos (Wide Beach) - brown sand, very popular, crowded in high season. Kalamia (our favourite beach) grey sand, slowly shelving sea, caves to explore.
Myrtos: Beatiful white pebbles, strong sea currents, little shade or facilities.
Petani: White sand & pebbles, very beautiful, good facilities.
Skala: Brown sand, very long and quiet, sloping shore, good facilities.
Poros: Brown sand, 'Town' beach, small, but handy for tavernas.
Antisamos: White pebbles, good sea, very pretty, minimum facilities.

Kalamia, Lassi

Antisamos

Skala

Myrtos

Wartime Argostoli set Palagia's village set

Corelliland The island had been invaded by Hollywood, who were filming "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" starring Nicolas Cage and John Hurt until the end of August 2000. Locals (and even tourists) were being taken-on as extras for 15,000 Drachma (about £30) a day to take part in the film set in wartime Kefalonia. The crew had erected a number of sets around Sami. One in the centre of the town itself re-created wartime Argostoli (complete with the still existing statue of P. Valianos in the central square), and we witnessed (from afar) some of the destruction being wrought on the set (machine-guns, fire and smoke). Just outside Sami there was a re-creation of Palagia's village, and at one time there was a wartime army camp at Antisamos. Those islanders not offended by the tone of the original book seemed to have got the film bug, and were keen to preserve some of these sets - but they were to be pulled-down at the end of filming, before the winter weather wreaked havoc on the flimsy constructions.