Ancient trails and deserted beaches.

The past two days we've been staying in Fiscardo on the northern tip of Kefalonia. It's a beautiful area and has many hiking trails and tiny beaches accessible only by foot or boat. We chose foot. :) 

The weather was rainy our first day here, at least until the afternoon when it cleared up and we were finally able to explore the awesome huge rocks that makes up the shore here. We relaxed, swam and snorkeled for a while. Very beautiful. 

We also got massages and checked out the village of Fiscardo. Lots of great restaurants and a beautiful small harbor with expensive sailboats. I guess renting a boat to travel the Greek islands is quite popular, if you're rich. :)

Today, we woke up to blue skies. Yay!  So, we chose the longest hiking trail we could find and set off. It started out near town and quickly climbed into the forest. These paths are so cool, they follow old donkey and foot paths that connected villages now in ruins. Rock walls are EVERYWHERE on Kefalonia and this path wound through, and over, tons of them. Some were moss covered and clearly old, and some looked to have been more recently constructed. 

We found this deserted village along the way. Ruined buildings and old narrow pathways that we walked right through. 

We took a detour to a WW II battery and Tom poked around the gun mounts and the tunnel network that still exists below ground. 

The battery was set on the very northern shore, which had rougher seas than near our hotel on the northeast side.  Tom looking tiny below. 

We met a couple from Holland that we traded picture taking with...

Then came the beaches. Oh the beaches... accessible only if you put some effort into it. We stopped and swam/snorkeled at three of them, one of which we had completely to ourselves. 

Dafnoudi Beach, Tom heading out. 

A small inlet next to Kimilia Beach, no one in sight.

Kimilia Beach proper:

We probably hiked about 7 miles in total, most of the trail was well marked, but we missed a couple of markers and had to search around until we relocated the trail and headed on, so it could be confusing if you're not avid hikers. This is a wonderful, recently marked and cleared trail system that everyone should try out if you're in the Fiscardo area. There are three separate marked trails and many more unmarked ones. The three marked ones are different lengths, so something for all abilities. 

On the way back, we stopped in town for a late lunch and hung out on the rocks at the hotel until the sun went down. A great day!  Tomorrow, we move to the southwest side of the island for a few nights where we hope to hike up Mount Ainos and who knows what else. Westside = Sunsets here we come!