Traveling to Kefalonia. First days: Lixouri and Petani

Hello travelers.

Today I'm going to share with you details about my journey back to Kefalonia. It was 29th of May when I flew to Athens and then to the island. I was going back for the 5th time. As always I had a mix of excitement - about the new summer season, new colleagues and new experiences, happiness - thinking about seeing old friends, and a bit of nostalgia thinking that I'll be in the same place where I had so many memories with some of the people that I got attached to but which will not be there anymore.

The flights were smooth as always. I have never had a flight with great turbulences or any kind of trouble. As we started to descend towards Kefalonia I found myself smiling looking at the blue sea and the coast line. Very soon I will be on a beach, catching some sun. I grabbed a taxi from the airport to the harbor of Argostoli, I got on the ferry to Lixouri and I stopped for a beer and a pyta gyros in the main square.

I am lucky to have met amazing people from different countries and age groups. Working in hotels for the past 10 years allowed me to developed my social skills so I've became a flexible, easy adapting person.
The next couple of days I have met old friends and I have enjoyed their company - fresh food, sunny shores and plenty of laughs were the main attraction.
I've got a new haircut and I've walked on the streets of Lixouri village admiring the colorful houses and flowers.

If you're looking for a oasis of silence, good food and a pool to sunbathe next to, I recommend you Palatino hotel in Lixouri. When it comes to fresh, tasty dishes and a warm smile Marina is the best one.

When it comes to finding a quite close spot for a relaxation session, try Petani beach. It is less than 30 minutes away from Lixouri. The view is spectacular, the sunsets are a must see. The beach is long and quite wide, both with sand and pebbles. There are some restaurants and bars there and plenty of sunbeds. You can also explore the sides of the beach, on the far left there are plenty of rocks and hidden spots for nudists and on the right side, behind a big cliff there is another small beach with clear turquoise water.

Back to Ionian Sea Hotel, my work place for another season, it's getting pretty busy. Usually we started having a fully booked hotel after the 20th of June but this year it is absolutely crowded from the first day of the month. It is a clean, family hotel, situated on a remote location. It is the perfect spot for relaxation, leaving any kind of trace of the stressful city life behind.

Kids can enjoy the pools, the game fields, the water park and the shallow water beach in the hotel's vicinity. There are plenty of entertainment programmes for the entire family. The personal is the most kind I have ever met and the restaurant presents itself with a variety of dishes.

This is the place I will live and work for the next 4 months, on my 5th season on Kefalonia.

Next time we will talk about Vrahinari and Vatsa beaches, Kounopetra rock and the mistery behind it.

Have a great day, travelers.

Beldi

My 5th summer on Kefalonia, Greece

Hello travelers!
It has been another interesting summer on the island of Kefalonia, Greece and here I am once again with my thoughts and recommendations about it. Today I hope to get you hooked and ready to book your summer 2018 holiday to Kefalonia.

Myrtos beach at sunset

My 5th summer on Kefalonia was a challenging one as I faced new situations, new colleagues, known places but also new ones, some good friends, some old friends I haven't seen since more than 6 years ago but overall it was a brilliant season. I've traveled to known and loved places and I've also been to new, exciting spots.

Assos village

My favorite places remain the picturesque village of Assos and the beautiful Antisamos beach, but I had the opportunity not only to re visit other touristic places on the island, but also to be amazed by new ones.

Antisamos beach

The small Alaties and Kimilia beaches, hiking to the amazing Fteri beach, discovering secluded beaches on a boat ride sailing north from Agia Efimia, visiting old lighthouses in Fiskardo and Paliki peninsula and many other examples are on my "new things that I have done this summer on Kefalonia" list.

                                   Alaties beach                                                Kimilia beach

First I will start by saying that I am still in love with Greece. 10 summers I have lived and worked there and I am still surprised of how much I am attracted by its mix of sun and sea, fun and discoveries, history and culture, tradition and modern etc. etc. Every time I go back it feels like I have never truly left. It feels like a place of freedom and wonder.

Petani beach 

Kefalonia has been my second home for the past 5 summers. This last season I had the chance to revisit couple of must see places such as Petani, Myrtos, Assos, Fiskardo, Antisamos, Ainos and also feed my sense of discovery and adventure by exploring new parts of the island.

Myrtos beach (panorama point)

One of my highlights was hiking to Fteri beach which is considered a hidden gem. The twin sister of Myrtos beach is an amazing oasis of pure natural beauty. You can either walk for about 40 minutes to the beach, through a rough, short forest on the edge of the cliffs in the summer heat, like I did, or you can rent a boat or pay for a boat taxi from the closest village, Zola. It was pretty hard to get to Fteri by foot and I recommend it just for the ones who are in a good shape. Anyhow it was totally worth it. The blue sea, the white rocks, the dramatic scenery, they all left a big impression on me. See below some pictures I took.

 Another beautiful surprise was exploring more than 10 small, secluded beaches in the close vicinity of Agia Efimia village. It was my last day off with some of my colleagues and we planned to rent a boat so I got in touch with "Yellow boats company", great people, very friendly and helpful, and on the 23rd of September we embarked on a one day boat trip. My friend, Aleksandra was our captain. She learned in less than an hour how to sail the boat in the harbour.

We explored couple of beautiful, small and hidden beaches north from Agia Efimia village. The weather was warm. It wasn't very windy so we got lucky. I remember when we started sailing that the wind was blowing the water into our faces and we took cover under towels and jackets but after couple of minutes it stopped. At the end of the day we were relaxed, I also sailed a bit and I swam. The water was still at a good temperature for the end of September and in conclusion we had a great relaxing day. I totally recommend you try this while on Kefalonia. See for yourselves:

Many more details about places I have visited on the island, hitch hiking adventures, summer parties, amazing people and experiences will come your way very soon. Just be sure to keep an eye on my blog these days.

 Argostoli

St. Theodore's Lighthouse

Drogarati and Melissani Caves

If you want to know more details about other amazing places to visit while on Kefalonia, such as Petani beach or Ainos Mt., Assos village, Skala or Poros, be sure to check my "Kefalonian Chronicles"  or "10 Reasons why to visit Kefalonia", an article I wrote a while ago describing the vast pallet of tourist attractions on the island.

Until next time.

Travel well and everywhere!

Beldi

Looking for new adventures - my 4th summer on Kefalonia Is., Greece

It's been a long time since my last post but you know how it is: better later than never!
This summer I've met for the first time in my life 2 romanian couples who came to Kefalonia for their first time and they told me that my blog was the reason of their holiday. WOW!!! I was totally blown away...so...people are reading Blugu'lu'Beldi!!! Well then, let me give you an update of the summer season of 2016.
Summer came to an end and the autumn leaves are covering the streets of my hometown. I arrived back to Romania at the beginning of October covering my tanned body with a sweater and a jacket as I left the 28 degrees back to Greece and got ready for barely 16 at home.

Playing with rocks on Skala beach

 It was my 4th summer on this blue and green still not fully discovered paradise called Kefalonia. As I visited more than a couple of times the most well known places on the island, this time I was concentrating on discovering new places and new adventures. Of course for you guys who are planning to visit Kefalonia for the first time I have couple of recommendations that you can find at the end of this article. As for the rest of you I will focus on describing couple of amazing adventures and places that made my summer great. The next couple of weeks I will try my best to write in detail about all my days off and all the places I've visited. For those who don't follow this blog I got to tell you that I am working as an entertainment manager in a hotel on the island, I absolutely love my job and for the past 4 summers I got the chance to live and work in an amazing place. My job is great so I don't feel like I'm working and I am so lucky to be in this position , especially in this age and time when to do what I do is considered more and more an ideal, a dream job.

Assos village

So, let's get straight to it. Assos remains my favorite place for a great meal by the seaside, surrounded by flowers and the sound of waves. I enjoy that it's not very busy and it has a certain dreamy air that make me consider it a place where I could retire to and write my memoirs.

Colourful doors and windows in Fiskardo / Antisamos beach

Antisamos is still my favourite beach as the clear blue sea, the white stones and the green hills around it transform the place in a beautiful exotic retreat. This summer I found the courage to do the "rings" at water sports there and I have to say only this: IT WAS WORTH IT!!!
I ate probably the best chocolate souffle ever in Fiskardo and I was delighted once more by the kindness of the locals and the multitude of colours of the whole place.
Next to Fiskardo I've been for the first time on Emplisi beach and it wasn't disappointing at all, clear blue water, relaxing atmosphere, a very nice forest you can walk through it's near by.

Sunset on Vrahinari beach

The best spots for seeing a sunset were this summer Vrahinari beach, where you can also have a tasteful meal in the restaurant there and Petani Bay Hotel, with its infinity pool, that was absolutely superb.

Secluded beach on the way from Vatsa to Platia Ammos, Paliki

Having a boat ride to Platia Ammos was unpredictable and a perfect last day off with my whole team, I have to thank Spyros for that, the owner of Vatsa taverna where you can also enjoy a great wine and hands down the best seafood ever.

Makris Gialos beach - Costa Costa / Myrtos beach

On the other side of the island I was enjoying once more by the view over the whole island and Zakynthos seen from Ainos Mt.; great night life in Argostoli. You can find there plenty of clubs and coffee shops open until late at night and I was surprised in a very good way that this year there was another ferry company providing trips from Lixouri to Argostoli and back until 3:30 in the morning during the high season so that facilitate our way to Argostoli and back as we were based all the way down to Kounopetra.

Platia Ammos beach seen from atop

Costa Costa / Makri Gialos beach is fun, full of young people, water sports and positive vibes. Hitchhiking to Ai Helis and Ammes beaches was an adventure worth mentioning. We had a great time relaxing and exploring the beautiful and long beach of Skala. And I finished my summer with an 1 day boat trip to Shipwreck and the blue caves, that was great as well.

Zakynthos Is. seen from the top of Ainos Mt.

Basically these are the highlights of my summer. I'll get through all of them and many more on the future posts. Next summer on my bucket list I already have two things: paragliding on Myrtos, two of my friends already did it and they made me jealous about it and parasailing on Xi beach is a must. A great relaxing massage session in Apollonion hotel has to follow.

Myself in Fiskardo :)

Be sure to check my previous adventures on Kefalonia by clicking H E R E !!! or by searching for "Cronicile Kefaloniene" on my blog.
Check out also my Facebook photography page for daily updates.

Have a great evening and talk to you soon.

Beldi