Exploring the Lixouri peninsular
Day Six – Sunday, 16 July
It’s 9am and Tom is still asleep. It was a hard day yesterday. My red back (snorkelling too long just under the surface of the sea) is feeling fine. The after sun seems to help. Thanks to Ellie for remembering it.
We explored the west of the island heading out through Argostoli and north along the coastal road to the turn for the Lixouri peninsula. It’s a strange mix of some small, picturesque communities and some large, barren areas with extensive quarrying and rocky hillsides. A
ll in all, it was probably one of the least satisfying mornings, although we did enjoy the wild west coast and the villages of Damoulianata, Rifi, Kaminarata and Chavdata. These four are all linked by a narrow mountain road that twists and falls through valleys and canyons. It was by far the nicest part of the journey.
We found the recommended Vatsa Bay, but we got there via a different road from the one on the map and by the time we had reached the end of that road we realised we were on the wrong side of a small river.
We continued along that road, which by now had become a track and emerged at Mantaainata from where we decided to head into the port of Lixouri for a meal. Lixouri and Argostoli one fought it out for the right to be named the capital of Kefalonia.
In our minds there was no contest. Lixouri is a shadow of Argostoli. It feels smaller and less important. The buildings are less impressive too. We had lunch at a restaurant in the square. It was okay, but not great.
Tom bought mixed grill but could only eat the lamb chop. I had a salad and chicken kebab, which Tom helped me with and some whitebait, which we shared. We decided that the morning had to be put down to an ‘experience’.
Tom said, earlier in the week, that it is wrong to try to edit out blemishes from the perfect photo and that places must be remembered as they really are. The visit to the Lixouri peninsular fits into that category.
We caught the car ferry back to save me from having to drive around the coast and spent half an hour catching up with the news in the Internet café. To brighten the day, I went out to find a sheltered beach where we could play water polo. Tom rested and played Patience on the computer and listened to his iPod.
I found a great cove. There was hardly any beach, just a great expanse of sand. To reach it, I had to climb down steps in the rocks. I had a swim, stopped by the supermarket, bought a ball and then collected Tom. We had a good hour messing about in the water, which by this time (about 17:00), had become as warm as a bath. We both wore T-shirts to prevent us getting burnt by the sun.
After a shower and change of clothes we headed in to Argostoli for dinner and ended up at the same place we had eaten on Wednesday, the Ainos restaurant (4*). I had grilled vegetable pasta and Tom had grilled chicken and we both cleaned our plates. An ice cream and half an hour online, with Tom playing Call of Duty and talking the Mike on MSN, followed before we headed home for another Ricky Gervais Podcast and bed. It turned out a good day in the end.
It’s 9am and Tom is still asleep. It was a hard day yesterday. My red back (snorkelling too long just under the surface of the sea) is feeling fine. The after sun seems to help. Thanks to Ellie for remembering it.
We explored the west of the island heading out through Argostoli and north along the coastal road to the turn for the Lixouri peninsula. It’s a strange mix of some small, picturesque communities and some large, barren areas with extensive quarrying and rocky hillsides. A
ll in all, it was probably one of the least satisfying mornings, although we did enjoy the wild west coast and the villages of Damoulianata, Rifi, Kaminarata and Chavdata. These four are all linked by a narrow mountain road that twists and falls through valleys and canyons. It was by far the nicest part of the journey.
We found the recommended Vatsa Bay, but we got there via a different road from the one on the map and by the time we had reached the end of that road we realised we were on the wrong side of a small river.
We continued along that road, which by now had become a track and emerged at Mantaainata from where we decided to head into the port of Lixouri for a meal. Lixouri and Argostoli one fought it out for the right to be named the capital of Kefalonia.
In our minds there was no contest. Lixouri is a shadow of Argostoli. It feels smaller and less important. The buildings are less impressive too. We had lunch at a restaurant in the square. It was okay, but not great.
Tom bought mixed grill but could only eat the lamb chop. I had a salad and chicken kebab, which Tom helped me with and some whitebait, which we shared. We decided that the morning had to be put down to an ‘experience’.
Tom said, earlier in the week, that it is wrong to try to edit out blemishes from the perfect photo and that places must be remembered as they really are. The visit to the Lixouri peninsular fits into that category.
We caught the car ferry back to save me from having to drive around the coast and spent half an hour catching up with the news in the Internet café. To brighten the day, I went out to find a sheltered beach where we could play water polo. Tom rested and played Patience on the computer and listened to his iPod.
I found a great cove. There was hardly any beach, just a great expanse of sand. To reach it, I had to climb down steps in the rocks. I had a swim, stopped by the supermarket, bought a ball and then collected Tom. We had a good hour messing about in the water, which by this time (about 17:00), had become as warm as a bath. We both wore T-shirts to prevent us getting burnt by the sun.
After a shower and change of clothes we headed in to Argostoli for dinner and ended up at the same place we had eaten on Wednesday, the Ainos restaurant (4*). I had grilled vegetable pasta and Tom had grilled chicken and we both cleaned our plates. An ice cream and half an hour online, with Tom playing Call of Duty and talking the Mike on MSN, followed before we headed home for another Ricky Gervais Podcast and bed. It turned out a good day in the end.
posted by BPRA @ 8:37 am
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