Beach and cove hopping

Day Two - Wednesday, 12 July

Enetiko Taverna on a remote cove south of Lassi

After a slow breakfast we went down to the Pefonis car hire office to change our Suzuki from a Vitara (2*) to a smaller, but better, Suzuki Jimny (3*). It’s an excellent vehicle. The gears are much better and it is easier to handle. Also, a full tank of unleaded only cost €30 (£22). The Jimny was also €60 (£43) cheaper for the week, so we got a refund. In the end the car hire was costing us €400 (£300) for the week.

From the Pefonis office we heading south and found Long Beach as the south end of Lassi. We managed to get there before the crowds and had an hour in the crystal clear water. Tom had bought a fishing net but the fish were faster than he was and all he managed to catch was sand, rocks and seaweed.

While at Long Beach we had a plate of chips and drinks at the café and spotted a brochure for a day Sea Kayaking. We set off to find the bay mentioned in the brochure. An hour later, after a wonderful drive over hills and down to bays we ended up at a remote cove at the end of the lane from Koundourara to the sea.

Home-grown produce at the Enetiko Taverna

The restaurant was called Enetiko (4*) and it seemed to be run by a family. The main waiter, who appeared to be the owner, showed us the catch of the day, a fish we had never heard of. He offered chips made with his own home-grown potatoes and fried in his own olive oil. He then gave us bread with olive paste (presumably made from his own olive oil). This was to be a totally home-grown/caught meal. It was excellent. We shared the fish €18 (£15) and washed it down with bottled water.

After a swim in this small cover - a wonderful spot – Tom took on to navigate us over the island to the port of Sami on the east coast. Sami faces Ithaki and has a busy ferry traffic. We set off with a map that is really only a sketch of the islands and not an accurate representation of every road and village.

Tom did so well. We didn’t get lost and only did one u-turn as we headed across olive groves and vineyards heading north east to the fortress town of Kastro and down to the fertile valley where the monastery of Mihata sits regally in the centre of a vast plain surrounded by mountains. It is a wonderful spot.

At a place called Agios Gerasimos there is a new monastery (the old one is in ruins) and just across the road is the Robola Vineyard where they had wine tasting. The vineyard is run by the monks and has about a dozen varieties with top three created from the Robola grape, which, apparently, is special to this area. The woman was trying to sell us loads of wine, but I just tried one and bought one bottle as a present for Ellie.

From there we continued over the mountains past Mount Gioupari (1,125m) to the caves at Drogarati. These caves were only fenced off a hundred years ago. Before then, people used to picnic there. As a result, many of the stalagmites and stalactites had been damaged, some even used to make walls. Now it is floodlit with walkways and a guide watching all you do. There was a considerable temperature drop as we made our way down into the main chamber where, apparently, Maria Callas performed a concert some years back.

Andisimos Bay, south east from Sami

From Drogarati we headed into Sami and straight on to the small Andisimos Bay to the south of the town. This was a wonderful spot with a rocky coastline and deep water shelving away rapidly. We swam the length of the beach looking for showers but were out of luck.

We didn’t really explore Sami because we decided to head for another beach to the north of the town for a shower and again we couldn’t find showers. As we headed back over the mountains to Argostoli, my navigator fell asleep and left me to it waking up as we parked up on the sea front.

We wandered round this lovely town and settled down for a meal at the Ainos restaurant (4*), a high class Greek restaurant on the main square. This was the best meal so far. We shared a squid as a starter and then I had Kleftico and Tom had grilled Mediterranean Red Fish. We had a bit of a walk around before heading home along the coastal route, stopping to take some sunset snaps at the lighthouse.

After a shower we headed down to the village by foot. There is a cute path from our apartment to the village, although there are no lights so we took a torch for the journey home.

The Sirtaki Gardens Bar in Lassi

Tom took a fancy to the Sirtaki Gardens bar (‘looks like Epcot’) the previous evening, so we went there for a drink. I had a beer and Tom had a non-alcoholic cocktail called a ‘Tom Cocktail’ – which had grapefruit, pineapple, lemon, orange and a few other cocktail additions. His cocktail was €4.50 and my beer only €3. We staggered back knackered at 22:30 and were asleep in five minutes.