Impressions of Greece

We were in Greece for just one short week, far too short for this beautiful country.  We arrived in Kefallonia early one morning and stood off in a glassy sea until daybreak before entering the picturesque gulf of Argostoli.  

Now, instead of seeing Genoese forts as we saw all over Sardinia and Sicily and Corsica, we saw little churches on the headlands, perhaps a better use of the land.  The lighthouse at the head of the bay is built as an ancient Greek temple, a thalos.  We knew that we were in Greece.

 For the first time during our travels we needed to drop anchor and reverse back onto the quay to tie up, not an easy feat with our Island Packet that does NOT like to reverse!  Now however, we are becoming much more skilled at this manoeuvre. We tied up in Argostoli, on the town quay and found everything we needed close at hand – yacht chandler, supermarket etc. 

The Greeks are so friendly.  Everyone has been so helpful and kind, at the restaurant when the waiters serve you food they wish you “good appetite”, when they serve alcohol they wish you “good health” and whenever you say “Thank you” they wish you  “Remain well”.   The Ionian islands where we sailed are still unspoilt.  They are surprisingly green, and have high hills with little villas dotted about the slopes, built among cypress and olive trees.  The villages are small, with very few modern buildings, have winding narrow roads and often an old Roman ruin nearby to walk to. 

At Agia Efimia on Kefallonia, we went for a walk out of the village. We met a lady moving rocks about outside her property on the outskirts of town and stopped to ask directions. We were invited into her home and had a lovely cup of Greek coffee and a chat with her and her sister.  The financial crisis has hit Greece very hard. Greece’s major source of income is tourism but we saw few tourists, especially on the more remote islands.  There was also always plenty of space for us to tie up on the quays, which means that the charter boat industry must also be suffering.  On Ithaca, Odysseus’ island, the ferry from the mainland has stopped running and this has made the problem even worse for them.  They have tried to keep  their capital, Vathi,  unspoilt.  I saw some photos from the 1920’s and it still looks exactly the same! 

There are lots of beautiful little bays and fjords in these isles, with lovely, peaceful (and still) anchorages.  

Each has a little village or, if nothing else, a restaurant at the head of the bay, so there is always somewhere to stock up and get a meal of delicious “home cooked’ food.  Most of these restaurants are family run and “Mamma” is usually the cook in the kitchen.

Kerkyra (Corfu) is Unesco Heritage listed.  The old town is very beautiful, with marble cobbles.  It is on a peninsula, with an Old Fort at one end and a New Fort at the other. The older one is still being used by the navy.  We wandered the little streets and the many parks surrounding the old town.  It also has a working moat, now used to harbour little fishing boats.   Here we did see many tourists.  The town is bustling and the restaurants are full.  Dinner time here is around 10pm. and goes on till late – just about till dawn!  Even with all the tourists, the friendliness we have found was not lacking here either. We checked out of Greece early in the morning (after a chat with the customs officer)  and as we left Kerkyra, knowing that we would certainly be back,  the large Customs launch came speeding past.  They saw me on the front deck and gave me a farewell toot and handwave.