• by XpatAthens
  • Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Ithaca

When Odysseus set off for glorious days in Troy, his beloved wife, Penelope, was left alone to unwittingly excite the appetite of men for a gorgeous queen. Before long, the palace was brimful of odious suitors who would flirt with the queen persistently. What is more, they made Penelope promise she would marry one of them.

 

To keep them at bay, she came up with a devise: she promised she would come to a wedding with the best of them when she had finished weaving a shroud. So, she spent the daytime weaving it and the nighttime unweaving it. Thus doing, she managed to stay clear of the suitors for 20 whole years, until Odysseus returned to Ithaca.

“Keep Ithaca always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for” Cavafy, Ithaca, translated by Edmund Keely/Philip Sherrard

Worldwide famous as the home of Odysseus, Ithaca symbolises the return to the haven; discovery and fulfillment. Despite its proximity to Kefalonia (Cephalonia) (2km northeast) it is much more peaceful, quiet and undiscovered, thus being an ideal place for alternative activities and a holiday living up to the standards of the most demanding among us. With its 27-kilometre long and 6.5-kilometre large mountainous surface, it boasts plenty of hiking as well as mountain bike trails in a sequence of blue and green alongside the coast and through olive, cypress, pine, oak, arbutus and carob trees up on the hills.

Scuba diving and sea kayaking are some of the options too, while the Cave of the Nymph will give you the chance to combine an exciting visit with a myth: Odysseus had hidden there the gifts he had brought along from the land of the Phaeacians.

Beaches

Beach lovers will take pleasure in a multitude of choices covering all tastes, from sand to pebbles, from rocky to green-clad backgrounds, from peaceful to busy ones. Some of them are: Lootsa, Filiatró, Sarakínniko, Dexá, Minnímata, Yidáki, Aetós, Áspros Yalós, Afáles, Kourvoólia.

To read more, please go to visitgreece.gr