Saying goodbye to Paxos was terribly hard, even though I felt like we had explored it and seen most of what it had to offer. It was so lovely I wanted to linger, but we had all of Greece awaiting us, and only so much time. We set off on a morning ferry headed for Igoumenitsa on the mainland, from there we would head to Lefaka, an island that was an island no longer. A bridge now spanned the gap between mainland and island (unlike the last time my dad had visited) and meant that it was easily accessible without having to pay expensive car ferry costs. Since we were heading down the coast anyway, we thought, why not?
With only a few glitches on the way, including an overly-intelligent car that wouldn't lock causing us to panic and take it to a car dealership - only to be told that actually it just wouldn't lock if you're standing to close with the keys in your hand (obviously! silly us!) and then our lovely GPS severely lacking in intelligence panicking when the bridge was closed and still trying to get us to go across it (never fear, the Greeks had come up with the ingenious plan of placing a ferry across the gap between mainland and island, so one just drove straight through it from one side to the other!
Lefkada town did not endear itself to us, full of busyness and fancy yachts, it reminded me somewhat of St. Tropez, and as such was far too cool for me. Instead we headed to the beach (no surprises there).
After a lovely cooling swim, we headed into the mountains to escape the crowds, destination Karia. A little mountain village, it was famous for its rugs and embroidery, supposedly begun in the 19th century by a one-handed woman who devoted her life to needlework after her appendage-losing-accident and taught the village girls as well, until the village became known for their works. My favourite thing about the village was not the rugs however (though one particularly stunning blue one did catch my eye) but the main square in the centre. Shaded by huge old trees and full of tables with a view over the hills, it was peaceful and shaded, and clearly popular with the locals as they congregated to drink and smoke and gossip. We paused for a nice break (and a refreshing beer of course) and soaked up the atmosphere for a while. I could have stayed longer, but the day was getting on and we decided to head off to explore more.
We decided it was high time to go beach searching again, and following Lonely Planet's suggestion, headed for Egremni, which was apparently one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, high praise indeed! Getting there on such tiny winding roads took a long time however, and after our previous beer stop I became in rather desperate need of a toilet. This being Greece, there was no such thing in sight, however it was also rural enough that a stop in the bushes was easily achieved. It was only as I walked back to the car that I noticed the small forested track I had followed was full of webs and giant spiders! Arrrg! I was extremely courageous and nervously approached one to document the full horror of the beasts. Giant I tell you!
Our beach plan was abruptly halted as (although not signposted in any way) the road suddenly stopped, becoming impossible to drive any further. The sight that met our eyes was a dire one, but we decided to try walking and see if we could follow what was left of the road down to the beach.
It was clear that a terrible earthquake had struck in this region, decimating the road completely and bringing half the cliff down. It was odd to walk down the massive cracks, seeing the once hardy concrete in battered pieces. It felt rather post-apocalyptic as there was no one else about, and the sun was beating down. Unfortunately the road became worse and worse as we descended, and as we realised we didn't have the right shoes nor enough water to continue such a journey, we turned back, the sight of the water sparkling the clearest blue far below tantalising me. I later read that unfortunately most of the beach was also destroyed, covered by the falling hillside, so I don't know what we would have found had we continued.
We had booked a little place on the island for the night which had excellent reviews and we weren't disappointed. The host was absolutely lovely, even going so far as to book our ferry over the phone in Greek for us to get us to Kefalonia the next day, as Greek ferry websites were utterly useless. For once it was an afternoon ferry, but as this would give us a little time to explore, we had no problems with that. That night we made a simple pasta dish, enjoying cooking for once, and washed it down with a Rosé, my new drink of choice. The view wasn't bad either!
Although I had enjoyed Lefkada (or Lefkos as we confusingly sometimes saw it written) it felt less like an island than the others we had already been to, and whilst an interesting place, it did not take my breath away or capture my heart as Paxos or Corfu had. I was curious to see what I would make of Kefalonia, as it was so large I wondered if it would feel like an island at all.
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