My Trip to Kefelania

My trip to Kefelonia

I was feeling fed up, I was recovering from a virus, and I felt I needed some sort of a break in guaranteed sunshine, I checked various websites but everything seemed so dear, then I remembered Sue my helpful travel agent, so contacted her and explained what I was looking for.

Within a short time she seemed to find something that fitted the bill, was inexpensive in a beautiful location Kefelonia, it was travelling the following Tuesday so I needed to book it straight away which I did.

All went well on the trip, then on the coach transfer I first met Elizabeth the representative from Olympic, she seemed so kind and caring toward the people as they reached their destinations, in fact at one place, there was no one to meet the elderly guest so she finally found someone who would take care of them until the owners arrived.

Finally I got my apartment, it was very strange because was no reception desk and the apartment was down a side street, it appeared that the owner lived on the top floor showed me to the room which was a bit basic but not to bad, if I wanted air that was on an additional charge, so I decided to see how the weather went but it was already hot and humid, so un packed and had a look out of the window, in one direction I could see the sea in the distance but very prominently was a bright yellow tractor, so I looked to the left and appeared to be looking out onto somebody's back garden and rubbish tip, but in the background there was a view of the mountains and sky plus I had my own balcony.

I went out and wandered round the town, that seemed to consist of a main street with lots of cafes mini markets and souvenir shops, but there was a beautiful Long Beach all along the bay, so I went and bought some provisions, I was quite surprised that the cost was so much bearing in mind that Greece is in the middle of a recession, that night I struggled with the heat, so decided that next morning I would pay for the cost of the air con.

Went to the welcome meeting for Olympic, which went well, originally I had decided that I would like to rent a car so I could see all of the island was having seen the way people drove and the hairpin bends decided because I was on my own it was best not to, so chatted to Elizabeth about the various other options and decided in the end to go on two trips, I said I would pay her then, she said to leave till later in the evening, so I ended up having a wander around the town.

In the evening went to book the trip, Elizabeth said she was surprised that I had come back to do the booking, so I said I was quite surprised that she hadn't taken money off me that morning, because she was not busy we had a chat for a while, also spoke to the young lady waitress who I later learnt was called Lynda, so I now had an island tour booked and a trip to one of the other islands called Ithica.


Over the course of the week I had walked along the bay in both directions wandered round the countryside taking photos and relaxing on the balcony reading my book and sunbathing, unfortunately though I managed to burn my left shoulder which caused the discomfort for the rest of the trip so I was much more careful after that exposing myself to the sun.

I went on a coach trip to Ithica which was very beautiful and we stopped in some lovely bays for a look round, at lunchtime I joined up with another man on his own and shared lunch and had a chat which made a nice change, I decided I would love to come back again at another time.

The day before my return I went on an island tour, I have to say this wasn't quite as good as Ithica, but was still pleasurable, the only problem on both trips was the picking people up at the various places before the trip started, which was an hour long, but then another hour dropping off at the end which made it a very long day, the courier on the trip was very knowledgeable and made it pleasant, the only other difficulty was that on the first trip the air-conditioning did not seem very good on the coach.

In the course of the week I had dined at the restaurant where the welcoming meeting was, on the first occasion the place seem deserted, but I later learned that most of the people sat at the back in the shade, I asked could I sit at the front because being on my own at least I could watch the people going by, I got chatting to the young lady waitress, part of her task was to say hello to people in the hope they would be attracted to come in.

Whilst watching the people I realised that very few were happy or smiling as they walked down the street, it was interesting that some people acknowledged the young lady with a slight smile, many looked embarrassed and some actually turned away, which seems such a shame because after all they were all on holiday I presume, but many looked stressed, I talked to the young waitress about this and she said this was typical of the people who visited.

I realised quite quickly on holiday that I am not a person who copes very well with their own company 24 hours a day and at times felt quite isolated, it would have been lovely to have shared a holiday in this beautiful setting with someone special but unfortunately my special person couldn't come, neither could my friend Brian who I could have shared photographic opportunities with.

On the last night I called in at what has now become my favourite restaurant and had a brief chat with Elizabeth who I learnt was on Facebook as was the young lady waitress who I now learnt was called Lynda, I explained that I was going to put the brief story on my blog and gave details of how to find, so Elizabeth and Lynda if you are now reading this thanks for making my holiday special and best of luck in the future.

I would love to go back to Kefalonia but even more so to Ithica to spend more time exploring this beautiful island.

One of the interesting things on the holiday was that if I saw couples together taking each other's photograph I would volunteer to take one of both of them, it was surprising how many people initially seemed to mistrust my motives, what a shame I was only trying to make their trip a little more memorable but hopefully it gave them pleasure later.