Odysseus' Ithaca

Our next port visited was a different Greek Island in the Ionian sea named Cephalonia or Kefalonia. I mentioned having read Homer's The Odyssey just before embarking on this trip, yet I had no idea that we would be anywhere near the place described. I enjoyed The Odyssey, and I was impressed by Odysseus' descriptions of his beloved Ithaca homeland. He noted its rocky scrub lands, not very suited to cultivation, its many goats and sheep, and its beauty. I took a tour, and imagine my surprise when told by the guide that Ithaca was the next island over across a short bay from Kefalonia. In the meantime I was enjoying the beauty of the island I was on. We went to the Dragorati Cave. As caverns go, it was fairly big, but not as large as Carlsbad or Mammoth. However, it had good acoustics, which was demonstrated by an enthusiastic opera-singing visitor. My mother didn't dare descend the hundred steps to go in the cave, but it was a relatively easy entrance and exit for me. The photos didn't turn out well, but I enjoy a cave anytime, whether it is at home or abroad. The second site on our tour was the Melissani Lake. This too was a cave, but in this case, the chamber was filled with water. Also, the roof was open to the air. It was closed, but the roof fell in following an earthquake, leaving the lake to be discovered, and a tourist attraction built. The lake was accessed by a sloping corridor that had been bored into the limestone. Once at the water, a large rowboat could be boarded with a Greek oarsman to steer you to the middle of the water and to the section of the cave that still had a roof and a very high ceiling. My mother was up to the sloping corridor, but not the boarding of the rowboat, so just Brianna and I rode out. It was a beautiful site with the very clear cerulean water below (very deep) and the arching ceiling above. The section of cave that still had its roof showed what the other section would have looked like, but I cannot imagine any one wanting to enter that expanse without the sunlight shining in! The water was a mix of salt and fresh, and was a cold ultrafiltrate of the island's rain water mixed with the ocean's input thirty kilometers away. No fish or sea-life lived in there because they had no way in, so the water stayed very clear. Neither of these caves were mentioned by Homer, but then we went on a scenic drive around the island, where we saw the rocky land with very few farms and tons of semi-wild goats. The goats were on and off the road, and we stopped by this overlook which not only allowed us to photograph the goats, but also the poppies and the amazing color of the coastal water. We saw this fantastic beach which was accessed only by a five kilometer long steep, winding, hairpin-filled, one-lane dirt road. The sandy beach was long, and very private, and the beautiful water... Lets just say that I never knew the true meaning of Azure before seeing this beach. It was the truest blue color of water, better than the caribbean, better than anything I had ever seen. This had to be one of my favorite spots on the planet. I would return any time! No wonder Odysseus was proud. On the way back, I just kept watching the coastline and the amazing water and beaches the whole way. Our tour guide then explained that no evidence of Odysseus' magnificent palace was discovered on Ithaca, the neighboring island. Rather, in the south of Kefalonia, the ruins of what must have been a large estate have been discovered. And it is proposed that Ithaca was once both of these islands, merged together. Only more recently have they been separated by the frequent earthquakes of this area, with the Ithaca title going to the smaller chunk of land to the east. I was so excited to hear that I had been exploring the very island of Odysseus' home.

Corfu

I have been putting off writing about Corfu for a while now. I want the travel blog to go in order of what I have seen, but I didn't want to write about this day until I had gathered my thoughts more and put into (better) words what I didn't like about this place. Corfu is one of the islands in the Ionian sea off the mainland of Greece. It has a lot of culture and history, and I had only just begun to delve into Greek history myself before the trip (mostly by finally reading the Odyssey). Could they have described the roastings of lambs' legs any more frequently in that book?!? But I digress...We arrived in Corfu Town and had to rush to get ready for our morning tour. We had Palaces of Corfu on our agenda which sounded spectacular, but the morning was met with gray, gloomy, windy, misty weather and our first view of Corfu Town was of this long strip of road that looked like anywhere else: car dealerships, commercial bakeries, tire stores, travel agencies. Oh sure, the writing was different (it was all Greek to me, HAR!), but it was very modern, over crowded, dirty, and distinctly lacking in culture or foreign-ness. The weather cleared slightly and we found ourselves one of at least seven busloads of people all going to see the Achilleion Palace. As Palaces go, well, I was underwhelmed. I shouldn't have been expecting Versailles, and it didn't even come close. Basically it was a large house with tall ceilings, the upstairs was closed off, the lower rooms were taller than they were wide, and were set up like a museum so that you saw pieces of art displayed. There were some nice architectural elements and some nice sculpture based on traditional Greek themes, but that was it. It was built by the Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria (wikipedia her for more info), wife of Franz Joseph, the 'Emperor of Sorrows', as her home away from hubby. Elisabeth liked to travel, and she liked to be thin and pretty, and she liked her Greek-themed art), and that was it. The garden was pretty, the overlook terrace view would have been stunning on a clear day. The statues and art were good. The Palace was also owned by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, a relative of Elisabeth.
What was more interesting than the palace, was the apparent love and respect of Elisabeth by the people of Corfu and the tour guide in particular. They adored her! She knew Greek and Greek myths "better than any of the bavarian greek queens" (but really, how many of them were there?!?) After the Palace, we went past a staircase (the Kaiser's Bridge) that went from the palace above to an elaborate stone dock on the coast. It was somewhat in ruins from the world war bombings, but gave a better feel for how wealthy and elaborate the palace was. We continued to a second palace-turned-into-museum, even less memorable than the first. And I was right there with my daughter, saying"When is this tour going to be over?" Which is unfair. After all, the weather was looking better, the lizards were out, and I even caught one. It was absolutely lovely, with teal beads by his head and a bright orange underside. We saw some ancient roman ruins (but had no time to explore them), and drove by two castles on the way back to the ship. We also saw Mouse Island and the tiny monastery nearby. It was near the airport and we got to see a plane land very close up. But, I really wanted to explore the ancient castles, the old one being from the 1200s and the new one from the 1400s. Plus there was a pretty park connecting the two and a monument to world war soldiers nearby. However, it would have been a long walk back to the ship. By the time I considered more touring, there wasn't quite enough time or money to go to the castles. So I was left with the feeling of having picked the wrong tour, and seeing the wrong part of the city. It was very frustrating, but I was still trying to find my explorer's groove. That zone where you feel comfortable taking on the challenge of going off on your own and seeing what you want to see, and of seeing a city so thoroughly that you could be the tour guide for someone else. Barcelona was that city for me, but I need another crack at Corfu.