Happiest of Christmases everybody

 I have been very quiet on my blog lately, mainly because I have other projects on the go. I do intend to make more regular posts, it's just a case of finding time! Anyway, I couldn't let Christmas go by without wishing everyone peace and blessings for Christmas and all things wonderful in 2024. It is the afternoon of Christmas Day here in New Zealand and soon my family will arrive for Christmas dinner.  I am looking forward to it. 

This beautiful tree is a Pohutukawa, known as the New Zealand Christmas tree because they always bloom at Christmas time. This year they are particularly magnificent which usually signals a long hot summer.  Let's hope!

Tree decorated, table set, food in the oven.  Family times are the best of times.

Wherever you are and whatever your religion the Christmas message is a universal one, it is a message of peace, love and hope.  I sincerely hope these all are part of your life in the coming year.

Kefalonia, Greece (Part 2) - A day trip around the island

 Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian islands at 780 square kilometres, it is also sparsely populated with only 34,000 residents. We were keen to have a tour of the island and see some of its treasures so as a family of nine without cars the best thing to do was to hire a van and driver to take us. Our van was spacious and air conditioned and since we had it to ourselves everyone had a window seat. It was perfect for sightseeing and our driver was polite and friendly albeit with very limited English. Fair enough, though, we had worse than limited Greek.

Kefalonia's coastline

Our tour took us out from Agostoli and around a spectacular coastline, sometimes climbing high above the sea on a narrow winding road, much to the consternation of a couple of our family who have a fear of heights.  I don't though and loved it.  The island is mountainous, barren and mostly devoid of people and the views of the coastline and sea are just everything you imagine a Greek island to be.

Myrtos Beach

Our first stop was at the absolutely glorious Myrtos Beach with its white sand and improbably turquoise water. It is said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We spent a few minutes taking photos and admiring the view before driving across the island to the astonishing Melissani Cave, also known as the cave of the nymphs. Entrance to the cave is down a dark corridor hewn from the stone and at the end of it an incredible sight awaits.  We had never seen anything like it and were entranced.  It is easy to see why the cave is the subject of myths and legends.  It is said that the God Pan was indifferent to Melissanthi's love and with a broken heart she threw herself in the lake, hence the cave's name.

The magical Melissani Cave

Visitors board a small boat and are rowed around the two chambers of the cave.  The first chamber has an opening to the sky due to an earthquake several centuries ago.  The sunlight shafts through onto water that has to be seen to be believed, sometimes blue, sometimes azure, sometimes turquoise.  The sunlight on the water gives the cave a magical quality making it iridescent at times.  We could not stop oohing and aahing.  We are all well travelled but agreed we had never seen anything like it.  The second chamber of the cave is dark and contains stalactites, moss and algae. We were rowed around both chambers.  It was a wonderful experience.

Enjoying a wine tasting at Robola Winery

Robola vineyard with a view to the Church of St Gerasimos

Too soon it was time to leave so back into the van, through the pretty village of Sami and on to a wine tasting at Robola Winery.  Robola Wines are the wines of Kefalonia and the vineyard is set in a fertile valley dotted with villages, farms, orchards and vineyards. Our wine tasting was generous with an offering of eight different wines accompanied by a platter of cheese, bread and the tastiest of tomatoes. It was  relaxing and pleasant sitting in the shade sipping wine, (soft drinks for the children), and  talking about the beauty we had seen so far.  

St Gerasimos with the tomb of the saint on the right

The winery is adjacent to a Greek Orthodox convent, which was our next stop.  It is a site of pilgrimage for Greeks as it houses the remains of  St Gerasimos the patron saint of Kefalonia. We were keen to visit and were all respectably dressed but I have to say we were not made to feel welcome with some of the nuns actually very rude, literally pushing people aside.  It was puzzling, they have a souvenir shop at the entrance with a nun behind the counter so they clearly like the money tourists bring in but I got the feeling they accept visitors only in a "needs must" kind of way.  Despite that the church is worth a look, it is rich with iconography  an enormous silver chandelier and a silver casket holding the remains of the saint, so we enjoyed looking and left fairly quickly. Interestingly I went and looked at Trip Advisor reviews of the convent and it appears other people have had the same unpleasant experience we did.

That was our final stop on our tour so it was back to our hotel all absolutely delighted with our day and so pleased to have seen some of the treasures of Kefalonia.