I fell in love with the Ionian sea, with its turquoise and emerald waters, egg shape pebble beaches and high elevation mountains. Kefalonia is the largest and most mountainous of the Ionian islands, dominated by the bulk of Mount Ainos which reaches a height of 1627 meters above sea level and its ranges form the backbone of the island. Coast along dramatic cliffs and quaint ports of Poros, Fiskardo and Sami, with daily ferries within islands of Ithaca, Corfu and Zakynthos.

The most visited beach in Kefalonia is Mirtos beach, and the girls willingly posed for a collection of ideas for a new series of necklaces in the works. Here in Mirtos, the chalk white pebbles range from 8mm to actual egg size. On a brief walk, I picked up one that was near perfect, and quickly realized that they were all made this way, in varying sizes. The salt in the sea is heavy, and quickly dries up on the skin, but the ocean feels amazing. I particularly liked the beaches off the beaten path, the ones you can pull off the road and just jump in, unbelievably clear and calm for snorkeling and floating about.
There are two caves not to miss in this island, Drogarati and Melissani caves.
The coast line tabernas had such delicious food, with Greek salad like I never tasted with robust red tomatoes, fresh feta cheese and local olive oil (probably made by the owners), one of us had this seafood stew, bursting with thyme and fresh shrimp and clams, and could not get enough of tzatziki on everything. We had a family dinner at the home of our in laws and their kitchen was a separate house among the acres of cypress and olive trees, everything they made were grown and harvested including the yellow wine made with peach, citrus and honey. The locals greeted us in good spirits, with smiles and “yassas” and “parakalos” and “efharistos” and “kalimera” are all fine and we hope we added our own good spirits to their island culture.
A couple of days in Athens were spent at the Acropolis, with its restoration lasting now for over 30 years, much of the Parthenon is covered in steel beams, but truly a site to see and be in. Majestic ruins in the Athens night sky, narrow paved streets of the Plaka, the handmade gladiator sandals I had to have along with the Minoan calendar earrings and Athena’s sacred bird, the owl, symbol of wisdom ring now sits on my finger to remind me of Athens.

Enjoy the view!

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Yassas! Greetings from Kefalonia, Greece!

9 days in the Ionian Islands bestowed a beautiful cross cultural wedding of Joem and Cristina, my brother and sister-in-law.
The wedding ceremony of the Greek Orthodox Church consists of two parts, the service of Betrothal and the Sacrament of Marriage. The repetition of each act three times to symbolize and to invoke the mystical presence of the Holy Trinity in the exchanges of rings, the wedding crowns (stefana) followed by a reading of the Epistle and the Gospel depicting the marriage at Cana of Galilee which was attended by Christ and the drinking of the “common cup” of life. The priest then leads the Bride and Groom in a circle around the table on which are placed the Gospel and the Cross and at the conclusion of the ceremonial walk, the priest removes the crowns and beseeches God to grant the newlyweds a fruitful and happy life together, and the lifting of the Gospel and separates their joined hands reminding them that only God can separate the couple from one another. At the end of their walk, the wedding party showers them with rice and flower petals and kisses. The reception was held at Poros in the town square with the sea breeze and sunset view, and where the feasting, drinking and dancing lasted till dawn…Efharisto!!!

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