Cephalonia Daytrip: Myrtos, Assos and Argostoli with Jen and Amy
30 September 2010 | Cephallonia, Greece
The sunshine couldn't have been brighter nor the air clearer on Thursday morning when we set off from St. Euphemia to tour Cephalonia. Driving the local winding roads we were surrounded by olive groves with ancient trees bursting with almost-ripe fruit. Not surprisingly, we were intrigued by a little hand painted "Olive Museum" sign where we learned about the town's century old system for olive oil production, saw relics of presses with their goat hair mats, giant wheels and ceramic jugs for oil storage. Most interesting were the recorded interviews with farmers and olive-press workers from the 1940's-1970's. Modern equipment has replaced the stone works, but it is still a laborious process to beat the olives from their trees and collect them for the co-op.
Continuing on an exciting stretch of the west coast road we soon arrived at Myrtos, one of Greece's most picture-perfect beaches. The white beach sand (actually very smooth round pebbles) and turquoise water are set between tall limestone cliffs - a real take-your-breath-away dramatic scene. Jen and Amy kept asking us "Really?" "Could you not have arranged a more amazing day?" "Oh yes ... just wait until you see the next stop!!"
...which was Assos, a tiny 'upmarket' village of whitewashed and pastel houses straddling the isthmus of a peninsula on which stands an immense 16th C. Venetian fortress. Wow! Lunch was superb with roasted Mediterranean vegetables and seafood risotto at a waterfront café. A wander around and 100 photos later, we set off towards Argostoli and, sadly, to its little airport for Jen's & Amy's flight to Athens. It was the end of a very special Ionian sailing holiday for us all, but happily for them, they had two more days to explore the Acropolis, Parthenon and Plaka ~ Oopah!