World Greece Lefkás Levkás

Matt and Athena Cut Loose

Ithaca in the sun Aug 21, 2005

Well we are off on our travels. Getting to Greece was long. it was

about 50 hours, 1 book, 7 films and 2 sleeping tables from South

Melbourne to Stavros in Ithaca but well worth it. Met Athena is Athens

airport and she had already sorted out the buses and ferry information.

So i just got loaded onto a bus and grabbed a few hours sleep on the way

to Patras before getting onto the ferry.

We arrived in Vathy in Ithaca around 1 in the morning and it was still

balmy ,a few issues getting a taxi at that time of night (it's a small

island and not overly touristed) but we managed. The next day I

explored Stavros, the town which apparently Athenas family helped to

found in the 16th Century. It took about 5 minutes, 1 'supermarket'

about the size of a 7-11, a baker and a few cafes. Beautiful town

though, many old buildings, quite Italian in style and a very relaxed

atmosphere. Athena turns out to be related to half the town and the

rest all know who she is, 'Ah, you are the grand-daughter of Panos, he

went to Australia, etc etc). Mind you her name make sthings happen

here. We had trouble hiring a scooter, 'Ah, you are Sikiotis, you are

from here, I make phone call'.

Our days have been spent on the beach, scooting round the island

searching for other beaches, sleeping during the afternoon (too hot for

words), eating late and going out to have drinks with friends.

Apparently 2am is the earliest time it is acceptable to leave a group of

people to go home.

THe island is beautiful - there is a hint of wild tyme and rosemary in

the air everywhere, the water is crystal clear and just the right

temperature, the beaches are clean, the locals friendly and the scenary

is just breathtaking. It is possibly the most untouristy Greek island i

have see and I could stay here for months. There are a lot of south

Africans and Australians here, all visiting relatives - it appears to be

an island that people come to if they have a connection to it, rather

than via a tourist brochure.

This is the only Internet cafe on the island (15km away from Stavros)

and is not superfast so we will set up our website and post photos in

a few weeks.

Work and Melbourne seems to be a million miles away right now and the

months ahead stretch away with nothing but travel and adventures. if it

is all as good as this, we may just keep travelling!

Wish you all were here