The last two days Anita and I have been on a Greek Island adventure! Despite the non-
beachy weather we decided that Anita HAD to see a Greek Island since she traveled
alllll the way out here. Without any planning we decided to be spontaneous and just do it. The closest, and easiest island to get to from
Patra is
Kefallonia. It is a good sized island just west of the mainland and I had heard wonderful things about it, so we decided to go there. I had been avoiding driving here in Greece for pretty obvious reasons but it was determined that in order to really get the best experience from the island we would need a car. Brian generously offered us the car for the two days, and for my first experience behind the wheel in Greece, I drove him to practice. We knew we had to get on a ferry to
Kefallonia, but we weren't sure which one. We also weren't sure exactly where we should stay, so with ignorance on our side I drove us towards the port around noon, having heard a rumor that ferries leave for
Kefallonia around this time. We found a travel agency that sold us our tickets and we drove towards the enormous ships that set sail daily. These ferries are not the ones I had always pictured ferries to be. From my experience ferries were the small chug boats that might take you from NY to Staten Island. Despite my insistence that these giant ships must be cruise liners, they in fact are the vessels that ship people, and vehicles, from one island to another. I had never driven a car onto a boat before, but the belly of the ship opened up and I did just that. The ferry ride to the island was very enjoyable. It was a beautiful day and we sat on the top level taking in the beautiful scenery. Minus the smoke from the ship's chimneys billowing in our faces it was an enjoyable 2+ hours. We learned that the capitol of
Kefallonia is
Argostoli and that we should stay there, so once we departed the ferry with our car we headed straight for the
Argostoli signs. We had anticipated the drive to be somewhat scary, knowing the tendencies of Greek drivers and Greek roads, but I think I handled it fine and after a quick gas break and to blow up our flat front tire we made it to
Argostoli.
Argostoli is a beautiful sight to drive into from the mountains. It is a small town that sits in a bay. Once you arrive into the city it is not all that impressive so we checked into the first hotel we found that looked suitable, happy they had an available room last minute and decided that we needed to find a beach, since that is why you go to the Greek islands. We drove about 10min. and found our first Greek Isle beach. It was getting later in the day and it is late in the season so there were only a few people there, who left shortly after we got there. We did not mind and we relaxed on the beach chairs and settled in until the beach boy started stacking the chairs. Afterwards we decided to walk around the town, have dinner and look in some shops and then hit the sack. The next day we were on a mission to find the beach we had heard so much about. It is called
Myrtos Beach and it was in the Lonely Planet Greece book I have (thank you Leonor & Francisco) with a picture, and it looked like every beach you imagine to be on an Greek island. We drove about 45min. and it started to rain. The drive was beautiful though, up into the mountains, along the coast, Anita said it reminded her of driving in Hawaii. We did find the beach and it was everything we had imagined. The water is this perfect
turquoise/royal blue color. Since it was sprinkling there was just one other couple taking pictures, so it felt like our own private island. These pictures above were taken here. The water, despite the complaints of the Greeks, was warm to us Californian standards, and we stuck our feet in. Once we got our fill we headed back in the car to
Sami, the part town where you get the ferry back to
Patra, and
incidentally the town where Captain
Corelli's Mandolin was filmed. We had about 4 hours until the ferry arrived so we decided to check out one of the many caves that is mentioned in all of the travel guides. It is not a massive cave but big enough to hold concerts, which also
incidentally have been damaging the stalagmites that call this cave home. It was still an impressive sight, and we were glad we were able to fit it in. After the cave we headed back into town for a long, large lunch of Pizza and wine and we waited for our ferry home. The ferry home was much less enjoyable then the one there because of the rain and we had to sit inside the boat with the smokers and nagging children, but we survived. We got home and I safely got us to my apartment in one piece. I am now a confident Greek driver.
The last two days Anita and I have been on a Greek Island adventure! Despite the non-beachy weather we decided that Anita HAD to see a Greek Island since she traveled alllll the way out here. Without any planning we decided to be spontaneous and just do it. The closest, and easiest island to get to from Patra is Kefallonia. It is a good sized island just west of the mainland and I had heard wonderful things about it, so we decided to go there. I had been avoiding driving here in Greece for pretty obvious reasons but it was determined that in order to really get the best experience from the island we would need a car. Brian generously offered us the car for the two days, and for my first experience behind the wheel in Greece, I drove him to practice. We knew we had to get on a ferry to Kefallonia, but we weren't sure which one. We also weren't sure exactly where we should stay, so with ignorance on our side I drove us towards the port around noon, having heard a rumor that ferries leave for Kefallonia around this time. We found a travel agency that sold us our tickets and we drove towards the enormous ships that set sail daily. These ferries are not the ones I had always pictured ferries to be. From my experience ferries were the small chug boats that might take you from NY to Staten Island. Despite my insistence that these giant ships must be cruise liners, they in fact are the vessels that ship people, and vehicles, from one island to another. I had never driven a car onto a boat before, but the belly of the ship opened up and I did just that. The ferry ride to the island was very enjoyable. It was a beautiful day and we sat on the top level taking in the beautiful scenery. Minus the smoke from the ship's chimneys billowing in our faces it was an enjoyable 2+ hours. We learned that the capitol of Kefallonia is Argostoli and that we should stay there, so once we departed the ferry with our car we headed straight for the Argostoli signs. We had anticipated the drive to be somewhat scary, knowing the tendencies of Greek drivers and Greek roads, but I think I handled it fine and after a quick gas break and to blow up our flat front tire we made it to Argostoli. Argostoli is a beautiful sight to drive into from the mountains. It is a small town that sits in a bay. Once you arrive into the city it is not all that impressive so we checked into the first hotel we found that looked suitable, happy they had an available room last minute and decided that we needed to find a beach, since that is why you go to the Greek islands. We drove about 10min. and found our first Greek Isle beach. It was getting later in the day and it is late in the season so there were only a few people there, who left shortly after we got there. We did not mind and we relaxed on the beach chairs and settled in until the beach boy started stacking the chairs. Afterwards we decided to walk around the town, have dinner and look in some shops and then hit the sack. The next day we were on a mission to find the beach we had heard so much about. It is called Myrtos Beach and it was in the Lonely Planet Greece book I have (thank you Leonor & Francisco) with a picture, and it looked like every beach you imagine to be on an Greek island. We drove about 45min. and it started to rain. The drive was beautiful though, up into the mountains, along the coast, Anita said it reminded her of driving in Hawaii. We did find the beach and it was everything we had imagined. The water is this perfect turquoise/royal blue color. Since it was sprinkling there was just one other couple taking pictures, so it felt like our own private island. These pictures above were taken here. The water, despite the complaints of the Greeks, was warm to us Californian standards, and we stuck our feet in. Once we got our fill we headed back in the car to Sami, the part town where you get the ferry back to Patra, and incidentally the town where Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed. We had about 4 hours until the ferry arrived so we decided to check out one of the many caves that is mentioned in all of the travel guides. It is not a massive cave but big enough to hold concerts, which also incidentally have been damaging the stalagmites that call this cave home. It was still an impressive sight, and we were glad we were able to fit it in. After the cave we headed back into town for a long, large lunch of Pizza and wine and we waited for our ferry home. The ferry home was much less enjoyable then the one there because of the rain and we had to sit inside the boat with the smokers and nagging children, but we survived. We got home and I safely got us to my apartment in one piece. I am now a confident Greek driver.
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