|
|
Trip Report #4-2001: The Southern Ionian IslandsFiled from Santorini, Greece36 20.3 N 025 26.22 ESeptember 15, 2001Yassos, family and friends:
Photo: Starboard Home stern-anchored and tied bow-to the quay, Sivota, Greece On our way to Ithaca, we stopped in Sivota , a charming little bay on the southeast corner of Levkas. Sivota is notable because it is the first place where we have had to drop a stern anchor and tie up bow-to the quay without the benefit of laid moorings. We are unable to drop our main anchor, back in and tie stern-to the quay, as most people do, because we have our Monitor windvane back there. We also have a stern pulpit with lots of gear affixed to it and no convenient place to climb through it or over it to get on and off the boat. Most of the harbors in Greece will require this type of mooring arrangement, so Tom has arranged our stern anchor in a position that is ready and fairly easy to deploy. At any rate, we accomplished the procedure with a minimum of bother and gave each other some high fives. Our main purpose in stopping at Ithaca was to see the ruins of the Palace of Odysseus. We were moored in the harbor at Frikes and from there it was a 2 km. walk up into the hills to Stavros to see the site. The ruins here, although not really much to see, date back to the 3rd millenium BC. While at Frikes, we met again (we originally met in Rocella Ionica, Italy) Goretti and Alan on Elissa IV.
Photo: Goretti and Alan Bagley, from the UK, on Elissa IV
Photo: The harbor at Frikes, Ithaca, with Elissa IV departing We continued on to the island of Cephalonia, which has been getting attention recently because it was the site of the filming of the movie, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". We tied bow-to the quay in the harbor at Fiscardo on the northeast end of the island. Fiscardo is the only town on the island that was not destroyed in the major earthquake in 1953, which devastated most of the Ionian islands. In Fiscardo, there are still so many of the graceful old Venetian buildings intact, adding to the charm of the harbor and town. The harbor is ringed with restaurants and boutiques as well as grocery and produce shops. We had dinner at a popular restaurant, called Tasso's . Tom had an interesting concoction of lamb roasted in parchment with an assortment of vegetables and herbs. I had a Greek Salad, which has become one of our mainstay menu selections here. It is such a simple dish and yet, when made with the ripest tomatoes and most delicious olives and the best Feta cheese, it is delicious! Tom has also become a devotee. Fiscardo is the only harbor, so far, where we have been asked by the customs officer to see our Transit Log. Tom took it to the office, had it reviewed and stamped and then paid 2000 drachmas ($5US). Potable water was available here, metered and provided by a group that was working on environmental and ecological issues on the island. The nominal charge for the water went to support their work. We rented a motorbike for a day while in Cephalonia and traveled over much of the island. The roads are unguarded, narrow, gravel in some places, and are high in the mountains with a long way down to the sea. Tom did a good job of keeping the motorbike on the road and keeping me fairly calm. The vistas from those heights were utterly beautiful. We saw several of the sites where the movie was filmed and the island is simply a photographer's dream, as anyone who has seen the film can attest.
Photo: Tom enjoys the view from a hill in Cephalonia
Photo: Road near the movie site at Sami, Cephalonia One of the extraordinary memories we have of the trip through the Cephalonian by-ways is the smell of wild thyme in the air. It was wonderful. We've had this experience before - that part of our memory of the area includes an olfactory memory: the eucalyptus in Ile de Cies, the maqui in Corsica, and the jasmine in Siracusa.
Photo: Site of scenes from "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", Sami, Cephalonia
Photo: Current residents on the movie location at Sami, Cephalonia
Photo: Peg overlooking the bay at Sami We moved from the harbor at Fiscardo and anchored in the bay south of Sami, again where many of the movie scenes were filmed.
Photo: Starboard Home anchored in the bay at Andisamos, Cephalonia It was here that we met Jeannie and Joe on the catamaran, Madrigal, a boat we had seen in Gibraltar, two years ago.
Photo: Jeannie and Joe on Madrigal, Andisamos Bay, Cephalonia We've really loved the Ionian islands and are now looking forward to making our way south and around the Peloponnese. Until then - yassos! 73s, 88s, and hugs all around Peg and Tom s/v Starboard Home
|
|
Grand Daughters' web pages: Anna's Home Page, Anastasia's Home Page Isabelle's Home Page
|
