Cephalonia

After watching the movie, I fell in love with the little town Sami, and the isle of Cephalonia.....it is now on my "must-visit"  project, on my retirement list.

About Cephalonia

As a setting for a love story - remember Captain Corellis Mandolin - the unspoilt, rugged but timeless Greek island of Cephalonia is hard to beat. Although the largest of the Ionian islands, Cephalonia is defiantly untouristy and delights in giving visitors a real opportunity to experience the flavour of an authentic Greek island community.

Just 30,000 live on the island, mainly in the coastal towns and resorts with the rest living much as they have done for centuries in the mountain villages. Pause for a drink in one of the pretty harbourfront tavernas in the cruise port town of Sami before exploring.

There are sandy beaches near the west coast town of Argostoli along with a couple of interesting caves. At Melissani, near Agia Egfymia, the sun shining down through a hole in the caves roof creates a spectacular lighting effect on the water...

Love blossoms between Italian officer Antonio Corelli (NICOLAS CAGE) and Greek villager Pelagia (PENELOPE CRUZ ) despite the fact that their countries are at war.

 Water off the Island of Kefalonia (another way it is spelt) where Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed

 Cephalonia is a must-see on a Mediterranean holiday: we visited in early October as part of a 12-night sailing aboard the boutique mega-motor-cruiser SeaDream I from Athens to Spain, and even though end-of-season the island was still spectacularly beautiful. (this article is taken from the link below)

The largest of the Ionian Islands, it is a mountainous dot amid the confetti of islands that sprinkle this part of the Mediterranean. But you don't want to have a fear of heights to tour here: the roads appear zippered onto hills that rise to 1300-metres or more, with tour coaches and local cars and trucks constantly needing to back-and-fill on hairpin 320-degree turns that are not for the white-knuckled.

 Today little Sami remains a prime mid-year tourist area, although it and other towns and villages on the island are still hurting from the global economic crisis, with business down as much as thirty per cent.

These roads were originally devised by the British during their "protection era" from 1809 to 1864 and lead to remote communities and ancient forts built to repel Turkish and other pirates; sure-footed mountain goats tended by leathered goatherds somehow graze the rocky 50-degree slopes, olive trees sprout in all directions, and the sharp-eyed can spot hares, hedgehogs and foxes, eagles, vultures and hawks.

And gems of little villages pop up on mountainsides and along coastal fringes, colourful little communities of neat pastel-painted homes, cafés and tavernas, and studios and apartments for holidaymakers during "the season."

And all abound with rainbow coloured Bougainvilleas, oleanders, hibiscus, geraniums, roses, giant impatiens and palms and pines. One of the prettiest is waterside Assos whose outdoor eateries and tavernas offer such local delicacies as squid, barbecued sardines and kid goat cutlets, local olives, honey, nuts, grapes and tropical fruits, and in some a unique Cephalonian fish pie.http://www.travel-news-photos-stories.com/2010_12_01_archive.html