Day 34

To Argostoli, Kefalonia

The lake was not open when we were ready to leave so I’m sorry, no report on what I assume are spectacular views.

We were on Kefalonia to meet up with Gareth’s brother in law Vasilis and his family. They live in Argostoli, where if you are lucky and early enough in the day, you can see turtles swimming in the harbour .

On the drive we took in the typical med island scenes of craggy nook hills, green landscapes interspersed with Cypress trees. I don’t know what it is about them but they are so pretty, sticking out, reaching up to the sky randomly amongst olive groves and fruit trees, you are instantly somewhere hot and steamy!

Finding a great spot for the van by the sports stadium, we walked off towards the harbour. Like everywhere else we have been so far, they are still waking up for the summer season and gardens and hedgerows are being mowed and pruned to show the town off at it’s best.

In the late 1800’s a bridge was built across the water to enable better access to Argostoli town. It is now closed to motorised traffic and provides a lovely walk across the bay, especially for turtle spotting. This has turned part of the waterway into a lagoon where you can hire pleasure boats and pedalos in the summer. There are plenty of fish here too, of all different sizes, the water is so clear it’s not hard to spot them.

We stopped for a coffee and then without trying too hard we started to spot the turtles . I was so excited I blurted out ‘turtle, turtle’ in a high pitched squeaky voice , sorry Gareth.

Walking on the bridge we spotted a couple of them locked in what we can only think is a mating embrace. On our way back over the bridge we could still see them !!

After all that excitement we found ourselves drifting through the pedestrian shopping area and found another place for a snack and drink. This time we were hiding from the sun as it had got quite hot. The buildings here are all neat and fairly new due to a devastating earthquake in 1953 which flattened most of Kefalonia I think.

Soon it was time to go and meet Gareth’s brother in law. He was still at work so his new wife greeted us. They live just a couple of roads up from the harbour! What a perfect spot. It was a pleasure to meet Angela and little VV (short for Voula) and then for me to meet Vass. He and Gareth had a lot of catching up to do while Meg and I were entertained by VV and looked after by Angela.

We were provided with a delicious dinner and a HUGE slice of watermelon for pudding – still have some in the fridge for later . It was very calm outside of their house and so we stayed in the van and had a lovely sleep.

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