Days 17 & 18 Kefalonia
We took a spot along the city dock amidst the many other yachts in the harbor of Agia Efimia, it’s free to tie up and the dock master is quite friendly and helpful. First order of business was to find some wifi; we chose the café directly behind us figuring we would be able to pick up their signal onboard once we had the password. Reliable internet has been a problem on this trip; coupled with the fact that since I had never been to any of these places, nor likely to return, my priority was to see the many fascinating sights at each landfall. Much to my delight the wifi was super fast and I was able to post my long overdue trip reports and also upload a ton of photos.
There was no set plan so I followed Dan and Ems example and rented a motor scooter for the day; it was an absolutely brilliant idea as I set off on my own to see what is billed as one of the most beautiful islands in Greece. I had forgotten to ask the guy at the rental shop to orient me on the map and first wound up at a dead end; but soon I got my bearings and headed across the mountain behind the town.



My first stop was a small restaurant, where I had a beer and gyro; the waitress showed me my location on the map and explained where each of the four crossroads at the intersection led to. I headed off to the other side of the island and was rewarded with views that can only be described as stunning; at one point I was stopping every 500 metres for a photo of the rugged and beautiful landscape.



Rugged mountains drop down to azure seas

I decided I would go to the town of Lixouri, on a peninsula on the east side of the island. The roads were narrow and winding, but I took my time and gave the tour busses and trucks I passed a wide berth. I went past farmlands and forested areas, this island is much lusher than some of the others; the signs weren’t too difficult to decipher as they are written in English letters as well as Greek.
I stopped at each major crossroad to get my bearings; and soon found myself headed down a steep road to the coastal highway.



Once I reached the town I headed for the coast and was happy to see that there were many cafes and restaurants to choose from. I walked around a bit checking out the menus, and then stopped at the pavilion where the nearby restaurants had tables set up; I chose a spot under a large shade tree with a good view and enjoyed a cigar and a cup of cappuccino.



I still had some internet to finish and since all of the restaurants had wifi, I chose based on the menu offerings. They were all very tempting, advertising local products and dishes; I found one that had cuttlefish on the menu, something I’ve wanted to try for some time now.



The waitress let me pick my table and showed me the many dishes they had. I opted for a starter of sardines in oil and a half order of fava beans to accompany my meal. The small sardines were split down the middle and rested in a bath of extra virgin olive oil; they were mild and very fresh tasting. The fava beans were creamy and a perfect contrast to my grilled cuttlefish which came with a small salad; a cold local beer to wash it all down rounded things out nicely.
Back on my scooter, I gave up on my original plan of continuing along the coast out of deference to my ever increasingly sore back side and took the road across the mountain back to Agia Efimia. Now there is a town on the other side of the bay called Sami, so naturally I headed that way to see it; there were many yachts and day tripper boats in the harbor along with the numerous restaurants and cafes that seem to be common everywhere.





I stopped for a couple beers from one of the small restaurants, sitting at their tables alongside the main dock. Before heading back to the boat I picked up some ouzo at a grocery store and bread from one of the small bakeries.
Once I turned the scooter back in, Dan, Em, Peter and I went for dinner at a restaurant Peter had spotted during his stroll through the town; he’s been pretty good at finding out of the way places and we have a lot of faith in his judgment. We were not disappointed as the food was very good; we tried the local specialty, Kefalonia meat pie and also the locally prepared rabbit, which many of the restaurants had on offer. It was ouzo and wine in the cockpit as the streets came alive with people on this Saturday night.



Day 18



We went for a full English breakfast at one of the restaurants down the street, and then cast off our docklines and headed north to the town of Fiskardo. There was a short detour at a small bay along the way for lunch and some swimming. It was a pretty little spot, crystal clear water surrounded by tree covered slopes. The water here was warmer than any of the other places we had been and I could have soaked in it all day long.



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Skyelark at anchor in the bay

Underway again we motored up the coast for half an hour and found ourselves a suitable spot just beyond the last building on the bay. The water is very deep here so we set 90 metres of chain out and tied our stern line to a tree ashore, following the example of those already there.

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Dan took us ashore with the dingy and we searched out wifi, available everywhere, and some ice cold beers. It was a busy place with a constant parade of tourist walking along the boardwalk stopping in the many shops and cafes. I noticed on across the bay, a place called Nicolas Taverna, spelled the same way as my sons name so I went over there for some ouzo and to take a photo of the sign. The drinks were served with a mezze plate of cheese, olives, tomato and cucumber as is common in these parts.
I headed back over to the appointed meeting place for the last dingy run back to the boat; a man who runs a boat rental service asked that I wait by the dock where some yachts were moored as he was expecting some boats to be returned shortly and said “they don’t know how to drive them”. I asked is that why they have so many fenders on them after looking around and seeing each one decked out front to rear with the rubber bumpers.
Back on board we were treated to a special dinner cooked up by Pete, chicken with mustard sauce, rice and fried zucchini. Once again it was ouzo and wine in the cockpit as we prepared to bid goodbye to Greece; tomorrow we will begin our two day sail to Sicily.

Incredible. I love Greece and sailing but these pictures are breathtaking. What a wonderful trip.
Congratulations.
irina

Fabulous as usual.

Thanks again,

Scott

How fabulous are your adventures! I want to be you when I grow up.

So So enjoying your reports! I hope to make it Greece next year, if the travel Gods are with me.

The islands of Greece just got added to the bucket list. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />