ARGOSTOLI. KEFALONIA

Right from the off, we knew today was going to be a hot one, with the sun rising on the starboard side, and shining full onto our balcony. By the time we were up and about, the ship had already made the small journey from where we’d dropped anchor for the night, rounded into the bay and been cleared for disembarkation at the Argostoli cruise terminal. After a leisurely breakfast, we were stepping ashore at a respectable 10am, or just gone.

Having stepped ashore, we turned right and followed the coastline… and instantly liked the place. Our route took us past a group of buildings that were clearly abandoned, and appeared to be a closed-down restaurant. It didn’t take much imagination to see how it might be restored and turned into a lovely home, complete with an adjacent art studio.

A little further on, we came to our first objective; Katavothres Sea Mills. It is here that the incoming tide disappears down a series of naturally occurring sinkholes, into caves that are below the sea level, only to reappear somewhere on the other side of the island. There isn’t a great deal to see other than a couple of small pools and a water wheel that was built to harness the power of the sinkholes, but it was a pleasant spot to visit.

We clearly weren’t the only people to think so; a small film crew with an industrial-sized camera were present at the same time as us, who seemed to be there to film a young couple. They sent up a drone to film the couple walking around the location, which made me wish I’d brought mine with me (I didn’t, because I figured there would be very few opportunities to fly it, although, as it happens, today would have been a perfect opportunity).

Beyond the sinkholes, the land curves back on itself. Here, we came upon a beach which would have been great to swim from (but we hadn’t brought our swimming gear with us), and a campsite. Beyond that was a small church hidden amongst the trees, and a narrow strip of land with a lighthouse (Agion Theodore) at the end of it. Terena the craft instructor and her husband Jerry were there, and we paused for a quick chat, a glug of water and some photos before retracing our steps as far as the campsite, from where a track leads up the modest hillside that runs behind Argostoli.

We loved it so much that Tracey pulled her phone out and started looking to see how much properties are on Kefalonia. Surprisingly, the prices weren’t that high, and it fed us with ideas…

The dusty track continued to wind its way up towards a ridge, from where the views were quite wonderful. Along the way, we passed some ruins of what seemed like a little church, and an Italian war memorial. Eventually, we reached a high viewpoint where we sat and ate some food we’d brought with us, relaxed and enjoyed the views before taking another track down into the town.

Back down in Argostoli, we bought giant ice creams before heading towards Bosset Bridge, a pedestrian walkway that essentially splits off the bottom section of the narrow bay. We walked as far as a memorial situated roughly halfway along it, where we took a few photos before turning back towards town, and the ship.

On our way, we came across a small crowd of people who were stood on the edge of the water looking out at something. At first we couldn’t tell what it was that had caught their attention, and I asked one of them what they were looking at. And then we saw them… several large turtles swimming around. In fact, they weren’t just swimming; they appeared to be playing, circling and deliberately running into each other, and generally having a good time. If I didn’t know any better I’d say they were showing off in front of the crowd.

It had been a hot, but very satisfying visit. In the end, we’d walked about 6 miles, and really taken to Argostoli and its surrounding landscape. Would we like to like here? Possibly… it certainly has a lot going for it… but today’s temperatures were around 25-26 degrees, positively cool compared to the 40-45 degrees that the island can generally expect to get in the height of summer. That’s when the doubt starts to creep in…

A large cold beer in ‘The Living Room’ on Deck 5 wrapped the day up nicely before headiing back to the cabin, where the balcony was now in the shade. We look forward to hopefully returning to Argostoli again sometime…