It helped that our arrival in Cephalonia (pronounced with a hard 'c'), the largest of the seven Greek islands in the Ionian Sea, was not until noon. 12pm to 10pm; that is a schedule anyone could be in favor of. It also helped (tremendously) that we had sun today...bright sun and a gentle breeze and a temperature warm enough to wear shorts. I wouldn't admit to my spirits being somewhat dampened after two days of rain and cold, but the weather today certainly perked me up and gave me hope that it wouldn't rain the entire time we're in the Mediterranean.
We moved clocks ahead another hour last night, which stole any thought we might have had about having successfully adjusted to European time. With nothing to get up for today, we shut off the alarm and slept in. I had had a restless night until about about 2am, and when the pool barracuda next door ran for about 20 minutes, I resorted to putting in some ear plugs and only then slept well. It was mid morning before we awoke, and we could see the island of Cephalonia in the distance when we went to the Panorama Buffet for a late breakfast. We entered the long harbor toward the town of Argostoli about 11am and by 12:25pm tender operations had begun.
Argostoli, on the island of Cephalonia, Greece
The ship's tours were mostly centered around visits to an underground lake or a deep cave. A deep cave on an island that was nearly wiped out by an earthquake in 1953. Oh yeah, sign claustrophobic me up for that one! With no specific plan, we held back until the first rush to the tenders had passed and then rode over Argostoli. We purchased beverages from a little store across the street from the tender dock and successfully used an ATM to get euros and, after exploring our options, decided to take about a 3 hour taxi tour around the island. We told driver Cosmos (don't you love it?) that we were most interested in scenery and some history of the island and he accommodated us well with both. He spoke perfect English and had an unlimited knowledge of the history, flora and fauna of the island he has lived on since birth.
Cosmos told us Greece has more than 2000 islands, though only about 220 of them are inhabited. This was our very first time in Greece and I am thrilled that we were on Cephalonia for our virgin visit. Cephalonia is a breathtakingly beautiful island, with views of the neighboring island of Ithaca and, in the far distance, mainland Greece. Cephalonia and Ithaca were the realm of Greek hero Odysseus. Homer's Odyssey specially mentions the village of Sami on Cephalonia. The Ionian islands are uniquely located between Italy and mainland Greece and were widely influenced by both cultures. Many residents of Crete were forced eastward to the Ionian islands by the warring Turks, and, in recent centuries, the Ionian islands were controlled by the French through Napolean's conquests and were a British Protectorate until 1864 when the Ionians joined the Kingdom of Gfeece.
Cosmos also filled us in on Greece's long and fractured relationship with the Turks, but the saddest point in its recent history came towards the end of World War II.
Most of the island's axis garrison was represented by the Italian 33rd Acqui Division of 9000 mountain infintry. An armistice signed on September 8, 1943 placed these soldiers in an awkward position, since the Italian forces had surrendered to the Allies and joined them. Their former German partners were sending reinforcements to the Ionian islands, and the Italian soldiers of the Acqui decided to fight rather than give up their weapons. They resisted German air and land assaults on the island for nine days, before agreeing to a truce. The survivors- 341 officers and 4750 soldiers- were then shot on Hitler's personal orders. Only 34 survived by pretending to be dead. The story of this incident was later told in the book and movie 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin'. The latter was filmed on Cephalonia near the village of Sami in 2001, so if you've seen the movie, you've seen Cephalonia. Cosmos told us his grandfather and other islanders tried to hide the Italian soldiers and devised a signaling system to alert them of approaching German troops.
Such sad history for such a beautiful place! Our very first stop was at a memorial to honor the dead. Cosmos told us that, every year, Italian dignitaries come to Cephalonia and a solemn ceremony is held to remember the dead and the bravery of the island's residents.
We continued around the island, viewing seascape after seascape and beautiful mountainsides running into clear turquoise water. We saw goats everywhere, in small herds mostly wearing bells around their necks. It sounded like a bell choir as they'd pick their way up the steep rocky mountainsides. Cosmos told us that visitors were enamored with them as with the beautiful scenery. I was too!
Still, the fishing villages, including Sami, were just as quaint and perfect as I might have imagined. The island is a popular vacation destination for Brits and Italians, and a laid-back holiday vibe is pervasive. The entire island smelled divine, a blend of eucalyptus and cedar and olive trees and wildly flowering bushes. Of course, I have lots of photos I will try to upload...sometime. This is getting dire. I probably have 30-40 photos to share at some point when I have time and WiFi simultaneously.
Myrta Beach
Goats with bells on. :-)
Fishing village of Sami
We returned to the ship around 5:30pm and went to dinner in the Club Restaurant (it was open seating tonight). It was tempting to eat on shore but our dinners on the Pacific Princess have been so amazing we don't want to miss even one. Once again we had some wonderful regional choices. I had seared tuna escabeche as a starter, Mediterranean seafood stew and an incredible Moroccan chicken tangine as an entree. We skipped dessert but headed back over to the island for a quick drink of Rombola, a crisp white wine from a local: grape, and some feta cheese.
Our first beautiful sunset!
The entertainment tonight was British singer and comedian Jo Little, but we are instead tucked into bed watching an Amazon Prime movie. Captain JP just made his welcome back on board announcement and said that tomorrow's weather should continue to be warmer and sunny. We've shaken the rain and cold for at least a little while. We have our first sea day tomorrow, and I am as thrilled about that as I am about the weather. It will be a brief chance to recharge a bit (and find things we know we packed that must be somewhere in this cabin) while preparing for the second half of this 12-night cruise. We are finally beginning to feel settled in. I've said in the past that, when it comes to traveling, we are slow learners, which is why we have to stay on board as long as we do. Still, we manage to have a lot of fun trying to find our footing.
Life is good. :-)
