Goodbye Amy!

Amy left this morning.  We had a great visit with her and it was awesome to see her grow more confident in travelling.  We got as far as Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian islands, and Ithaka, a smaller less inhabited just a mile or so away.  It is beautiful here, as always, but I have to say that of all the Greek Islands, the Ionian are by far the prettiest and most fun to sail.  First, most tourists and charter boats head east from Athens to the Cyclades.  Yes, they are charming with their pretty white houses, but otherwise the Cyclades are barren, rocky, dry, and they lie directly in the path of the howling meltimi winds that come down from the north all summer long.  While you might be able to sail from Athens to Crete in about 4 days, it might literally take you 4 weeks to return, pounding miserably into the wind and waves.  The Dodecanese, the islands nearest to Turkey, are less dry and barren and beautiful in their own right.  They are less travelled, for sure, but it feels disconnected from Greece and a little more like Turkey.

The Ionian islands, though, are green and mountainous and big, but small enough to cover from end to end in a day or so (either by land or sea).  I would describe the mountains as ‘tight’, so that as you come around a valley another is staring you right in the face.  In some of the valleys, I feel like I could be in Bavaria or somewhere much further north.  Lush greenery is something we haven’t enjoyed in months.   Green hills and valleys are not something that you would think of when you think of Greece.   As I write this, I am looking up between a valley, filled with conifers, that leads down to a beach maybe 20 years long.  It is cool and misty today, and the water is calm.  It is so peaceful. 

Friday we took a long walk out of town to an underground lake (Melissina Lake).  Really amazing.  There is an underground river that flows across the island…25 km long.  It was only discovered within th last 50 years or so.  It was known for a long time that water flowed into a bay, but not back out.  Then some geologists dyed the water in the bay and it came out of the other side of the island, in this underground lake, then out to the ocean.  This lake is about 39 meters deep in some places, yet you can see the bottom.  The water is of course, Tidy Bowl blue.  You go in to the cave, the top has caved in many millennia ago, and the light shines down into this sapphire blue water.  It is stunning.  For 7 euros, you can get in a little boat and have a guy paddle you around and follow a short stretch of the river which eventually disappears back underground toward the sea.  The ancient Greeks thought it was a sacred place (I have to agree), but their story is that it is a place where a nymph drowned herself after being spurned by Pan.  I would say she picked a choice spot.

Yesterday we scootered to a little town called Assos (snicker snicker) and to a nearby beach.  Assos, despite its unfortunate name, was a stunning little village on the corner of an aquamarine bay.  Just a place to stop for lunch and watch the waves.  We spent some time at the beach, reputed to be the most beautiful on the island, but really, how can one choose one over another.  This one was at the base of a sheer white stone cliff, and the beach was a mixture of sand and marble stones.  The water is a bit chilly for me to go in without my wetsuit, but we got out of the sun under an umbrella and then the kids and I wandered down to a cave on the beach.  There are lots of these little swim-through openings that provide a nice cool retreat from the sun.  Even though the air was cool when we were riding our bikes, it was plenty hot on the beach.  I can’t imagine how scorchingly hot it must be mid-summer! 

Today we said our goodbyes to Amy.  It feels much quieter on the boat now, and we will miss her!  We had fun sharing our adventures with her, hopefully it will be the start of many more.  We just said our goodbyes to Amy and had a super wonderful visit.  We all had loads of fun.  She opted to take the less expensive but more adventurous option to get back to Athens, which was a ferry and a bus rather than a plane.  At the bus station this morning she already chatted up a nice family who is also taking the bus to Athens and they seemed to be willing to help her out. They said the trip to Athens was very easy, and that her hotel is in a great location.  She should get to Athens around 2 or 3 pm today.

She has a hotel reservation in a safe area in Athens near the Acropolis ( where we were before ) and should get a chance to meander about a bit.  We also advised her to re-check with the hotel on safety tips regarding the area (where to go/avoid, etc).  She has been practicing her 'guarded' look, too, so as not to look like a tourist fresh off the bus.    I think she feels sufficiently cautious but not overwhelmed with anxiety and eager to make her way to the hotel and then the airport.  Tomorrow (Monday) she will get up early and metro to the airport.  We let her be our lead on the metro when we were in Athens so that she can now confidently navigate the metro system.     It will be a new adventure for her, but we're sure she will do just fine.  Yesterday whle driving her motorbike yesterday, she navigated us through the roads of Kefalonia, just like a native.

We saw the Parthenon, Delphi, running, swimming, hiking up to a castle in Navpaktos, souvenir shopping, her bikeride adventure in Missalonghi (LOL), secluded coves and beachfires, trying new foods, and motorbiking around this beautiful island...it was a great vacation (for us, too). 

We are almost into our last two weeks of travel.  The thought of leaving this all literally makes me feel sick to my stomach.  This year has gone by so fast and it has been so incredibly rich with experiences.  I don’t know how I will possibly respond when people ask me how it was.  It was great? Difficult? Life-changing? Challenging?  Fun?  I don’t know…it is all of it.   All I can say is I cant wait until we do this again.

Next time, though, we will definitely have a washing machine.  I am wearing something right now that stinks so bad I have to go change.

Comments

[The "Greecy" Amy :)]

I miss you guys!!!

What an AMAZING time!! - I don't want to go home tomorrow - maybe I will visit again in two weeks and we can all go for another year! Lol, dreams must visit reality once in a while, right?