Some of you may also want to explore the Island of Ithaca, which sits directly next to Kefalonia!

As many of you know, Ithaca is where Angie spent her summers with her family and grandparents at their home. We do not know at what point the Travlos family moved to Ithaca from Kefalonia, but her great grandparents had one of the first houses built in the village Kioni, Ithaca. We are probably bias but Kioni is the most picturesque and quaint village on the island!

Ithaca is truly the Hidden Gem of the Ionian Islands. Most people have never heard of it before! If they have, they know of it through Greek Mythology. Ithaca is famous as the home of Odysseus. Ithaca is the land where the faithful Penelope waits patiently twenty years for her husband to return from the Trojan War. Despite his long voyage full of adventures, Odysseus manages to return to his beloved Ithaca, which became after the Odyssey a symbol of the long and difficult voyage of a lifetime and the joys of it, an idea which the poet Constantine Cavafy expressed beautifully in his wonderful poem called Ithaca (click here to read it).

Today, it is a peaceful, quiet and secluded island. It has a magic to it that captivates your heart.

You can easily spend your mornings having a coffee at a local cafe, having a pastry from the bakery, or having yogurt with honey and nuts at home. The true magic comes by exploring the island by sea. You can rent a boat and find a secluded beach to anchor at and float for hours with a good book. If you're lucky, you may see dolphins, turtles, or octopus! Angie and Lucas like to bring a few beers, bread and tzatziki with them too.

For those that need more activity, Ithaca is an ideal place for activities such as scuba diving and kayaking. You can also explore the island on foot - hiking on ancient historical and enchanting trails. The coastal and mountainous areas of the island are filled with olive, cypress, pine, oak, arbutus and carob trees grow. You can visit the Cave of the Nymph (or Marmarospilia) near Vathy. According to the Homeric myth, this is where Odysseus had hidden the gifts he had brought along from the land of the Phaeacians.

The white apartments that stick out on the landscape in Kioni are Angie's family hotel

You have to take a ferry to Ithaca! Levante Ferries and Ionian P. Lines are the ferry companies.

The ferry leaves from Sami port to Ithaca (Pisaetos port) daily, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon. The ferry is roughly 5 euros to walk on as a pedestrian and about 20 euros for the car. If you do not drive, you can arrange a taxi to the ferry, and a taxi to pick you up on the other side. Angie can help you coordinate this and put you in contact with the taxi companies to arrange the pickups.

There is also a water taxi you can arrange from Sami to Pisaetos that costs about 120 euros, split evenly between it's passengers. This needs to be booked in advance.

There is sometimes a ferry from Fiscardo to Frikes Village (on Ithaca) that is likely more convenient for coordinating your stay in Fiscardo.