Day 31 Cephalonia
Today we have taken up the one and only cruise ship docking position in the town of Argostoli, one of the three towns on Cephalonia which Jeanette tells me is the sixth largest Greek Island and I believe her because she goes to all the lectures and finds out all this stuff.
A pretty place which also appears to appeal to the rich and famous judging by all the giant yachts moored near us.
A walk into town along the seafront was a little disappointing. Everything looked pretty tacky and run down, and while the weather was warm, a strong wind was blasting in.
Jeanette noted an attractive laneway running inland so we walked along this out of the wind.
We had a late lunch here and pushed on inland where we came across a large treed square with lots of restaurants round its edges. It was a real transformation.
We explored around this area then tried a street which seemed to run in the approximate direction of the ship. This was a very pretty walk as the street was lined with Oleander bushes of all colours.
And we soon had visual confirmation we were heading in the right direction.
Jeanette had taken a short tour in the morning to two other towns on the island so I will let her tell you about that.
Jeanette writes: our drive to the north of the island was via a very steep, high road with sharp hairpin bends! Not pleasant in a very long bus, even with a very skilled driver – the sheer drop away from the road was super scary! But we were rewarded with spectacular scenery of turquoise water with islands and ragged coastline. First stop was Assos, a dear little village with a protected bay which was dotted with many large luxury yachts occupied by people living the dream. Little cafes dotted the water’s edge.
Next stop, we drove further north to Fiskardo, also a quaint but larger seaside village which attracts the yachts and other tourists too. Lots of cafes and touristy shops dotted the waterfront. These two villages were not affected by the magnitude 7 earthquake which ravaged Cephalonia in 1953 so their Venetian architecture has survived.
On the way back to the ship, we stopped for a photo of Mirtos Beach which has been voted the number one beach in all of Greece – and it has many, many beautiful beaches!
Hardys’ Travels 