Love Among The Ruins - The Ghost Towns of Kefalonia

Kalimera! If you've ever read Louis de Bernières masterpiece, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, you'll know about the Ionian earthquake that devastated Kefalonia on 12th August 1953. It  measured 7.36 on the Richter Scale and destroyed almost every house on the island. While six hundred people died, the economic impact of the earthquake was devastating. 100,000 residents left the island to live elsewhere, leaving only 25,000 residents on the island.  The survivors who stayed began the task of rebuilding, aided by remittances from those who had made a new life elsewhere. (REF)

As a consequence, throughout Kefalonia's interior you'll find ghost towns, the remnants of these ancient mountain villages destroyed in a single day. Keen to see the original village of Skala, we followed part of the Kefalonia Trail, identified by a series of blue and white paint markers which enable visitors to walk the length of the island through landscapes completely untouched by mass tourism. These markers are really easy to spot and, combined with some handy signposts, even idiots with no sense of direction like Jon & I can manage to follow without falling off the edge of a cliff or getting lost in a forest.

These trails allow walkers to experience a variety of landscapes and terrains, from dirt tracks weaving between silvery olive trees, verdant orange groves and dense forest to rocky cliffs and ancient donkey paths. 

The heady scent of wild thyme and mint reminded us of Corfu.

Oh yeah, don't be tempted the follow the markers with a blue rectangle with a cross over the top, that means You're Going The Wrong Way...ask us how we found that out! 

Wandering amongst the ruins, where so many lives were lost, was a reminder of the fragility of life and how we need to make our every moment count. The walk took us around four hours from start to finish but it's something that will stay with us forever.

 

By our standards, our week on Kefalonia was rather lazy - a couple of long walks, a wander around a Roman villa and a hike up to an Ancient Greek temple. We spent most of our time on the beach, swimming (me), reading and basking in the sunshine until gone 6.30pm. For breakfast we bought locally grown fruit and Greek yoghurt, which we ate outside on the terrace and for our lunch we shared a Greek salad and bread accompanied with a large draught beer in a shady taverna.

After showers we'd enjoy a shop-bought sundowner on the terrace - beer, rum & cola or Aperol Spritz if we were feeling fancy, before wandering into Skala old town (a five minute walk from our apartment) for a beer in one of the handful of bars which were open, all of which brought complimentary snacks out with the drinks. 

We ate dinner wherever looked nice - we don't pay any heed to online reviews, preferring to trust our instincts over the advice of a stranger. We didn't come across any laminated menus with photos of the food and chips didn't come with everything, the food was all authentic, freshly made & absolutely gorgeous. We'd either share a selection of mezzes or, if Jon hankered for something meaty, there was plenty of choice for me, the minced mushroom moussaka deserves a special mention as does Jon's Kefalonian meat pie which he says was worth the price of plane fare alone! 

To accompany dinner, we shared a carafe of the house wine (Greek red is more like a rose, refreshingly light and doesn't go straight to your head). All the tavernas we ate at gave us complimentary after-dinner drinks, everything from ouzo, Greek brandy, a locally made cinnamon and clove liquor and our personal favourite, Mastika. Afterwards we'd treat ourselves to a cocktail or have a drink back on our terrace. 

Although our holiday included a whopping 20kg check-in baggage allowance plus a 10kg carry-on, we travelled with hand luggage only enabling us to check-in online and head straight to security when we arrived at the airport. 

If you love your clothes, it's never a problem to wear them on repeat. 

We'll be staying on Corfu for 17 nights in September and we'll probably take even less!

We found the holiday on the TUI website under their Last Minute Holidays & Late Deals section and paid £238 per person for a package that included flights, transfers, accomodation and a ridiculous amount of luggage. 

We stayed at the family-run Marietta Studios and Rooms, one of TUI's Small and Friendly choices. Our self catering studio had a double bed (quite the rarity in Greece!), a kitchenette, an attached bathroom and a terrace with mountain views. For an additional charge you could have aircon (something we both hate). The bins were emptied daily and the rooms cleaned and linen changed every three days. The Marietta also had a swimming pool, a bar/cafeteria and sunbeds but, even though the other guests were mostly lovely, sitting around a pool with a load of Brits isn't our thing.

That's the view from our terrace, aren't those traditional roof tiles gorgeous? 

Flying time from Birmingham: 3 hours 15 minutes

Time Difference: +2 hours

Our combined daily spend for the entire stay averaged at £55 - that's for airport parking (we needed to be at BHX for 4.30am, hours before the first train leaves Walsall station), all our food and drink, a couple of pairs of sunglasses, admission to the Roman villa, sandwiches at the airport on the way back and several gins on the plane. We walked everywhere, drank the tap water and lay on our towels on the sand on beach (the daily hire charge for 2 x sunbeds and an umbrella is €15).

We loved Skala, it was quiet, felt authentically Greek and in May wasn't overwhelmingly touristy. Although it gets a lot busier when the season gets properly underway, we've been told that Kefalonia isn't a party island. 

You think we got a bargain? You can book a 7 night stay at Marietta leaving from London Stansted tomorrow for £180 (HERE)

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

Escape To Skala: Our Week On Kefalonia

Kalispera! We're back from beautiful Kefalonia, one of the Ionian islands off Greece's west coast, somewhere I'd longed to visit ever since reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin in 1994.

Our home for the week was the village of Skala, on the south of the island. It was built in 1956 to replace the original village which was destroyed by the devastating Ionian earthquake of 1953. The name Skala originates from the Greek word for stairs, so-named as the original village was built on the cliffs to keep it safe from pirate attacks and appeared to ascend as if on stairs. 

Up until the onset of tourism in the late 20th century, Skala was a farming community and most of the 850 residents still have fields and smallholdings where they grow vegetables, olives, lemons, walnuts, oranges, almonds and figs. 

Herds of goats, sheep and cows freely roam the surrounding hillsides and colourful beehives are dotted around the hillsides producing Kefalonia's famous thyme scented honey. The area is also known for its excellent wine producing vineyards.

As you know, we can't bear those bland, purpose-built resorts painted in every shade of fashionable grey preferring something with a bit of character that reflects the country we're visiting. Despite Skala being one of the most popular destinations for holiday makers on the island, we arrived on one of the first international flights of the season so the Greek inhabitants far outnumbered the tourists. There were only a handful of tavernas and bars open and the beach sunbeds & umbrellas were still chained up (although, by the time we left they were all out and ready for the onslaught).

If you've never visited Greece in the springtime then you really should. The roses & geraniums are blooming madly, the trees are laden with oranges and lemons and the fields awash with wildflowers and blood red poppies. Most days the temperatures crept up to around 26°C and there was only one evening when we needed a jacket. 

These are Homer's Steps, which we'd use every day to access the beach. In Homer's The Odyssey, he describes Odysseus as being the King of Ithiki, for centuries believed to be the Ionian Island of Ithaka, Kefalonia's near neighbour. However, scholars have now come to the conclusion that Ancient Ithiki bears little geomorphic resemblance to Ithaka and believe that the island which the legendary Greek king once ruled may actually have been Kefalonia. 

I was hoping I'd get to wear my co-ord and I did! It was warm enough to wear it three times while we were away and it got lots of love from several Greek women who told me that they loved my unique style. The eagle-eyed amongst you might notice that I didn't pack these ridiculously oversized Hermes sunglasses when I'd shared the contents of my cabin bag, I bought them when I was there (wait till you see the other pair, they make these look quite restrained.)

Just like in our garden, the hotel tortoises were out of hibernation!

Skala had a huge cat population, you'll find them in bars, restaurants, on the beach and even wandering up and down the aisles in the minimarket.

This is where you'd find us most days...the photos I took on my phone marked them as having been taken on the neighbouring island of Zakynthos (the land mass you can see in the distance). The water temperature in May is around 18°C, chilly when you wade in but once you're immersed it's absolutely magical. I loved swimming to the rock you can see in the distance, scrambling up it and waving at Jon.

Skala's beach has been awarded with the Blue Flag for its cleanliness and water quality. What's the water like? I asked one of the locals. Only crazy people go in the sea at this time of year, he told me. I swam twice a day, every day...says it all, really! Jon hates cold water but put his big boy pants on and "enjoyed" a fifteen minute swim on his last day.

It wasn't until I'd booked our trip that I'd realised that our visit coincided with Orthodox Easter, a massively important event to Greek Christians. On Good Friday we followed the procession of the Epitafios from the village church. 

On Holy Saturday we watched as pots were flung from the church tower. It's a tradition that dates back to Ancient Greece where the Greeks would throw out their old clay planters and plant seeds in new pots to mark the arrival of Spring. 

And on Easter Sunday, families gathered on long tables in the tavernas and feasted on spit roasted lambs, cooked on open fires in the village square.

The Church of St George was built in 1812 and was a 4km walk from our accommodation. Are we the only ones who, when we pass long grass like this, we always trail our hands through it and hum the theme to Gladiator?

This Doric temple, dedicated to the god Apollo, dates from the 6th century BC – early 4th century BC (Archaic period) and was discovered by archeologist Spyridon Marinatos who excavated the site in 1960, it is unique on Kefalonia as it is the only site found from this period. I can't tell you how much of a thrill I get from placing my hands on those ancient columns we encounter on our travels around Greece.  If only they could talk.....

We continued our walk, passing through landscapes untouched for centuries.

Eventually reaching Limenia Beach on the outskirts of Poros, 10km from our starting point. With no buses (the island's bus service is notoriously poor) and utterly famished, we stuck out our thumbs and hitched a ride back to Skala with a kind young German couple who'd decided that we weren't a pair of psychopaths. 

Closer to home, on the edge of Skala village and on the track down to the beach, lies the remains of a rural Roman Villa believed to be constructed during the 2nd or 3rd century AD for a prosperous Roman resident and is the most important site of Roman origin in Kefalonia.

The ruins of six spaces have been revealed, including the courtyard, and on the floor there are some incredibly beautiful mosaics. One of them depicts a man who is about to sacrifice a bull on an altar. It is thought that the villa was destroyed by fire centuries ago and in early Christian times, a church was constructed on top of the remains. The owner of the land accidentally discovered the existence of the villa, and subsequently, excavations began in 1957.

Admission to the villa (including a useful leaflet) is just €3 but opening hours are quite erratic so check first if you're travelling from elsewhere on the island. 

Thanks for reading, part 2 coming up very soon!

Apologies for not answering your messages on my Winterbourne post and for being so behind on blog visits. Wandering around Kefalonia has reignited my love of gardening (and for being outside all day) and I've done little else since I got home. I promise to catch up this week.