Argostoli, Greece

Of all our stops, I would say that Argostoli was probably my least favorite. There were several different opportunities for things to do, but it was difficult to find a tour to take us to what we wanted the most: an underground lake. All those excursions were sold out from the ship, and way too expensive to book privately, so we took an excursion with the ship that was a little bit disappointing for me.

Argostoli is the capital of Cephalonia, or Kefalonia as the locals say, which is the largest of the Ionian Islands. The water is crystal clear and the mountains are a great getaway from the sea. There is a winery in the mountains where the growing conditions are perfect, and this wine is only available in Argostoli, it is never exported. Argostoli is basically right on a fault, and they have many earthquakes daily, with major earthquakes occurring approximately 4 times per year. Since the big one in 1953, they have instituted new codes for rebuilding. The buildings can be no more than three stories high, the wiring must be run inside the concrete pillars, and the walls must be built in a way that they collapse outwards.

Out excursion took us to a coffee shop where you could look out across the sea, a monastery that had an old church with some great art that survived the earthquake in the 1950's, then to the winery that had some decent wine and some great views. We were back into town by lunch, so we strolled a little along the waterfront, did some shopping and had some food. We were back on the ship in early afternoon to rest up for one of the most amazing cities I have ever seen. Check back later for that. Enjoy the pictures.

This ship was struggling a little

Might be a good summer home

St. George's Castle

A Greek word I could understand

Orange tree

The old church we visited.

All these are inside the church, mosaics, paintings, and sculptures, and most of them survived the great earthquake with little damage.

Notice the crack down this one from the earthquake?

I want to know why this picture is like this, and no one I asked knew.

Stuff they found at the monastery after the earthquake

more stuff they found

When the clock struck, this guy went to ring to the bells. He totally FREAKED out on the bells. I thought he may be having a seizure or something, because he was going nuts.

Winery

Cephalonian wine country

more wine country

Wine bottling machine

Old wine making equipment

How to guide

Old grape press

Modern church, rebuilt after earthquake

Looking to the sea from the mountains

Model of the church of St. Barbara. This church was actually built into the rocks in a ravine below by a wealthy family in thanks for saving their daughter from a potentially deadly fall.

Best shot of the church we could get since the bus didn't stop for this really cool thing.

Across the bay to Argostoli on our way back from the tour.

Pizza

Lighthouse of Agii Theodori