Excursions by land in Ithaca: The north side
10/06/2013
We leave Vathy by the road leading to the north of the island. Once we arrived to Aetos, we turn to the northwest side of the island from where we have a wonderful view of Kefallonia and the canal separating the two islands. We take the turning to Anogi so again we are at the northeast side. From the second corner, we take a picture to the tip Kondri. Not exactly the same that drew the Archduke. We think he stood on a mountain road that runs along the bottom of the slope where now we are.
We keep climbing until we reached the monastery of Katharon. They've been renovating it, although part of the exterior "facade" is still not finished. About 200 meters away there is the bell tower at the top of the mountain. Not the same that saw the Archduke -as due to the earthquake collapsed-. From the bell we have a wonderful view of the bay of Aetos and Vathy.
Around Anogi we find the great stone that marked the Archduke. We stopped at a curve where you can see this rock from below. Also from this point we have a magnificent view of the bay of Skino, which is in the southern part of the island.
Continuing to the north of the island and going down we have a wonderful view of the Marmara Peninsula, the northern end of Ithaca. We skipped the cities of Frikes and Kioni, which we'll arrive on a later tour by sea, to move into Marmara. Already in the eastern part of Marmara we can see the island of Ayos Nikolaos.
On the west side of Marmara highlights the panoramic view to Kavos Dukatos in Levkada. We also see the tip of Cape Yioannis Ayos, northern tip of Ithaca. Finally, going back down, we face the Aphales Bay.
Going then to Stavros where the school of Homero is; also one of the places where it is considered that may have lived Ulysses. From Stavros we arrived at Polis Bay which is very close. The view over the bay of Polis from the road is beautiful. Once in Polis we walk to the other end of the bay and see the archeological remains and Loizos cave -a cave with a small entrance-.
Now we follow the road located in the northwestern part of the island. We arrive to Lefki from where you have magnificent views both to the north end and south of Kefallonia, where stands the Aetos.
Continuing on the same road, but changing side, we have a nice view of the entrance to the bay of Vathy, with the Katsurbo in the middle. Coming down we see some details of Aetos beach.
So far we have been able to visit in the north of the island. In the next blog we will show the south of the island.
