Keeping Busy Around Sami

Sunday, September 22, 2024
Sami, Greece
So, I was sitting on beautiful Antisamos Beach today, looking across at Ithaca, and I was thinking that, a few months ago, I couldn't even spell Kefalonia--or is it Cephalonia, I guess I still can't spell it.  What I guess I should say is that I had never heard of it!  Anyway, I'm getting way ahead of myself.  We have been busy over the last few days.  
Friday morning, we got in the car and headed up the coast about 10 km to Agia Effimia to check out this small town.  It is much smaller than Sami and is quite picturesque.  It does seem to get a lot of tour buses stopping there.  
Then we headed back to Sami for lunch and headed out on foot to try to find the Acropolis of Ancient Sami and its adjacent castle.  We soon realized that there wasn't a shortcut to get there by foot, as we had thought there was, and doubled back to pick up the car and take the winding 5 km road around and up the hills to it.  It was a disappointment when we got there.  There really wasn't a lot to see, at least that we could find.  Mostly just lots of piles of stone, some of which seemed to be in the shape of long destroyed structures.  On the way back, we took a detour to go and have a look at Antisamos Beach, even though it wasn't really beach weather.  We just wanted to see what it was like. 
On Saturday, we had a boat tour to Ithaca booked on the Sami Star 2.  (Didn't ask what happened to Sami Star 1!) We headed out at 9am and went around the southern tip to the east side of Ithaca and up the coast.  It was a small boat with about 20 passengers and it was a perfect day for it.  It was sunny all day and the seas were really calm.  We had 2 swimming stops, at Gidaki beach and at what was supposed to be Filiatro beach, but I don't think that is where we actually stopped--it doesn't match photos online.  We also stopped at 2 towns, Vathi, which is the largest town on the island and much bigger than I thought it would be, and Kioni, a very pretty little village near the northern tip of the island, where we had lunch.  All in all, it was a great day and we got back to Sami around 4pm.
Today, Sunday, we headed out in the morning to explore some caves in the Sami area.  First we made the 4 km drive to the Drogarati cave, a very impressive 95m deep cave with a 65m by 45m chamber that has been used for major concerts. The stalactites and stalagmites give the cave an other-worldly feel.  Then we drove around to the Melissani "cave lake", which is just outside Karavomilos.  It was an underground lake, with a mixture of salt water and fresh water, the latter flowing all the way across the island from Argostoli.  It was discovered in 1953 when the roof of part of it caved in, and a tunnel was built in 1963 to allow access to it for visitors, who are carried around the lake in traditional wooded boats.  The water is crystal clear.  All-in-all very impressive.  We also timed both of our cave visits very well.  As we were leaving Drogarati at around 10am, a big tour bus pulled in--it would not have been the same experience with 60 other people stumbling around (many were having trouble getting off the bus) in the cave.  And at Melissani, a big bus got there at the same time as us, but we got down and into a boat before they got themselves sorted out, and were out of the cave just when they were lined up to get on boats.  
After the caves, we headed over the hills to Antisamos beach, since it was a beautiful sunny day and was starting to warm up nicely.  Again, we timed it well, arriving just after 11 and getting a front-row beach lounger before the crowds arrived.  The forecast had called for it to cloud over after noon, but it stayed sunny all day and we hung around until almost 4:00, grabbing a club sandwich for lunch at Mojitos, the bar/restaurant whose chairs we were using.  
Tomorrow, we were hoping to do a wine tour, but we haven't heard back from them, so we will take a drive up to Fiscardo, at the northern tip of Kefalonia, with a couple of stops along the way.
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