Excursions by land in Ithaca: the south side.
11/06/2013
We start this tour by Pisso Aetos which is in Kefallonia channel and that is indeed where arrive the ships carrying commercial goods, vehicles and people to the area of Vathy. We see that the port is expanding in order to facilitate the mooring of ships. From Pisso Aetos, and towards Vathy, we passed a hill on which stand the ruins of Alalcomenae -another candidate place to be the home of Ulysses-. From there the channel dominates both Kefallonia as Aetos bay.
Down the hill we can see the beach from the south side of Aetos. If we continue down the road along the bay, always towards Vathy, we reach a point where it should be Korako cave. Today there is so much vegetation that we failed to find it but we know, by the image left the Archduke of Anogi, we are in the same area.
Follows the small bay of Dexa in whose slope is the cave of the nymphs. The cave is relatively small and is neglected. From the cave we have a wonderful view of the entrance to the bay of Vathy. We also see from there the church of Ayos Spiridion now completely covered with vegetation.
Finally we can also see the small bay of Dexa. We went back to the coast and stopped at the beach of Dexa.
We pass Vathy and headed Perahori, which is in the mountains southwest of Vathy. We see first a small church, and not far away a wonderful view of the inside of Vathy, and Atokos at the distance.
If we continue down the road we reached the eastern side near Aya Kyriaki. From there we have a magnificent view of the Skotariá cape -today Sarakiniko-, and again Atokos Island. To the south we can see the rocks of Petra Korax cliff.
We continue south along the road, which is now stone-made, and goes towards Cape Ayos Yioannis. From there we see Petra Korax even closer. Downward we see Perapigadi Island.
We're now heading north towards Sarakiniko area. We see a picture Sarakiniko and the cape taken from the church of Ayos Konstantin. Then we go down to the beach. It gives us the impression of a place lost in time, with a few fishermen's huts right on the shore.
Continuing north along the southeast coast we reach Filiatro. Another beautiful beach, always stone-made, in which the olives arrive to the sea's first line. The road does not follow, it seems we've arrived to paradise ...
To the north we find Gidaki. You can reach Gidaki walking and continuing by foot you'll arrive to Skino Bay. This bay is known today because some Hollywood stars stay there a few days in local houses quite often.
We go back to Vathy which is located about three kilometers away from Skino. Once we've finished the land excursions we have to follow with the "Excursions by sea". We'll return in an upcoming Post to show you the coast of Ithaca.
