Elafonisos, Our Little Island

Padova-Brindisi

Departure at 8:30 from Padova, we arrive in Brindisi at 18.30 and go straight to the Hotel Minerva which we already knew. 1 night in a double room €90. The hotel is new and the first thing waiting for us is a nice swim in the pool. In the evening a stroll through the center of Brindisi and dinner in the streets of the Baroque city the vacation is about to begin the port is very busy even at night there are lots of ships and tomorrow it will be our turn to leave too.

Brindisi

We decide to go and change the tickets and discover that our boat is not in the central port but a bit outside, precisely at Costa Morena, we leave with the Endover Line, departure is at 19 so we have time to pick up the last few things at a supermarket and then we're off. Punctuality is Swiss at 19.15 we are already moving away from the port. The night ahead of us is in an armchair, dinner certainly won't be a taste of real Greek cuisine otherwise they would have expected two weeks of fasting!!!

Patrasso-Elafonissos

Wonderful to go out the morning after a terrible night in an armchair with the dawn in the blue of the Mediterranean, you can see the Greek coasts.. during the night the ship stopped at Igoumenitsa and in the morning at Corfu where quite a few people got off and others got on. 12:30 we arrive at the Port of Patras the impression is of a chaotic city, I get off the ship on foot together with others and we risk being run over by the forklifts carrying containers of goods. Marco arrives and I get in the car I open the map and try to get my bearings, we stop to get diesel… big mistake, never stop at the first gas station because the prices are practically the same as in Italy! But we take the opportunity and ask if we are going in the right direction. We need to head toward Corinth, 381 km await us to get to Elafonissos and we expect it to take 5 hours as also calculated with Via Michelin.

What can I say the landscape amazes us it feels like being on the moon, once out of the Patras ring road you come across few cars the temperatures are high, the car reads 45 degrees… WOW… we're in Greece… we think, mistakenly, of stopping to eat a bit further on but once on the highway there are no places to stop unless you exit but we have a schedule to keep and we have already booked the studio in Elafonissos. We pass Corinth, we continue toward Tripoli and Sparta, where we don't find great remains of glorious history.

The fact that the road is one and only one is a bit nerve-wracking but we are sure it's the right one! We continue and finally we find the signs for Pounta, then Vinglafia and there the boat for Elafonissos, there are two ferries and they go back and forth constantly… when we arrive we can't believe it there it is you can see the little island that will host us for 8 days… as soon as we get on the ferry we look down… the water is turquoise!!! Beautiful stunning, for the whole crossing we can see the bottom! The Exantace is right there and our little room will let us look at the port, the island is full of people, lots of Greeks and lots of Italian campers.. it seems strange to have traveled so many km. In the evening we have dinner by the sea. And then off to bed because we are absolutely exhausted!

Elafonissos

14 August ELAFONISSOS As soon as we wake up we go out on the terrace, the little town is still asleep but the ferries are already in full swing…it's just like in the photos, the turquoise water and the warm sun. We're too curious to go and see the famous Simons beach so we put on our swimsuits and off we go. You can't go wrong there are only two roads either you go to Simons or to Panagias… I can't believe it the sand that meets the water really is pink! Stunning. We go for a swim right away and the water is at the ideal temperature, there are fish swimming near you, we have to bring our snorkel tomorrow! There's a beach club that offers sunbeds and umbrellas. Instead by walking you reach that fantastic strip of sand that forms the island dividing Simons from Lefki

Elafonissos

We enjoy the sun and take walks in the village, we have already been lucky enough to taste the grilled octopus which is a delicacy and the Greek salad that delighted us, the tomatoes are truly out of this world! We spend Ferragosto in this dream place we are relaxing and it's time to fully enjoy our vacation.

Elafonissos-Monemvasia-Neapoli

So it must be said that there are many places to see but not all of them are convenient, the ferry crossing costs €12 and we decide to take a trip to Monemvasia, apparently we are not the only ones leaving the island to go and visit this beautiful little town, located in the middle of the sea and connected to the mainland by a single strip of land… Beautiful, the photos speak for themselves. There we even go to a famous Greek pastry shop and treat ourselves to a coffee too.. the only thing we miss about Italy so far (€2.50 each, take that). On the way back from Monemvasia we go to take a look at Neapoli also to see how much it would cost to go to Kythera…they want €45 one way with the car plus six euros per person, really too much for the budget also because one day isn't enough. We promise ourselves we'll put it in the next itinerary, spending at least one night there.

On the way back to the port of Vinglafia we meet a couple from Milan who will then become friends also on the return to Italy, we introduce the island and describe in minute detail the beauty of the beaches, we agree to meet again the next day for a nice dinner.

Elafonissos

Relax at Panagias, this other beach is wilder compared to Simons, here it's really full of Italian campers, I close my eyes and sunbathe it feels like being on the Romagna Riviera. Sad note about this part of the island, all the construction sites with which they have surrounded the beach, soon they will all be studios or hotels overlooking the sea and of the peace we felt there will perhaps remain only the memory. In the evening dinner with the new friends, it's nice to get together with someone to talk about the itinerary we did, the km traveled and the things we saw, then we say goodbye and we'll see each other again in Italy!

Elafonissos

So today was supposed to be all about the sea but in the morning we learn the taste of the Greek winds, impossible to stay on the beach, the sand hits you like little needles, we'll relax which never hurts, in the meantime photo after photo, of the beautiful Orthodox church, of the people, of the bars, of the port we pick up the souvenirs we'll take home as a keepsake and go back to the beach.

Elafonissos

Sea sun and beach.. we enjoy Simons Beach for the last day on our little lost island, tomorrow we leave so we pack our bags, a beer on the terrace and a candlelit dinner. We decide on the itinerary for the next day and go to sleep for the last night at Ela.

Elafonissos-Ghition-Acropolis-Kalamata-Olympia

We set off with the first ferry, heading for Kalamata, and once again we find ourselves faced with suggestive landscapes that remind us to be careful because if we get lost, who will find us.. we pass through Ghition, which is a really lovely little seaside town, here you'll definitely find more tourists. We carry on for km after km, then we see the signs for Acropoli, we decide to stop and see this little town, we're right on schedule and a stop can't do us any harm. It's beautiful, very touristy, we stroll through this village made entirely of stone and we take home the memory of it. Off we go, it's time to set off again… on the road to Kalamata we'll also pass through Kapirissia, the road really is endless, it feels like we'll never arrive, all curves and never a bit of relaxed driving.

Finally we arrive in Kalamata, which left us anything but a good memory, full of traffic, dirty and chaotic. We eat and run off towards Pirgos. We definitely start noticing the differences between the east and the west, here everything is more urbanised, you find rest areas, petrol stations, detailed signs, car dealerships and workshops everywhere, and the road is wide and straight, the intention was to spend the night in Pirgos, but given the time we head towards Olympia, we visit the ruins and the museum, we'll stay at Hotel Emma, €100 a night plus breakfast. Olympia really is a tourist town, here they speak to us in Italian and it seems truly impossible to us, in Ela they couldn't even understand us in English. We fall asleep watching the Olympics in Olympia.. what a lovely memory..

Olympia-Patras

We set off heading for the Port, by now we're savouring the last of Greece, which looks a lot like our Southern Italy, along the road many sellers of fruit and vegetables, olives, garlic, oil, they catch our eye but we don't stop, a long journey awaits us and they wouldn't arrive home intact. Once we reach the port we go to change our deck passage for a cabin.. we spent quite a lot but we had to do it to face the 10 hours of the return journey by car, Brindisi to Padova.

Brindisi-Padua

The night passed peacefully, we get straight into the car, the only stop Pescara for two plates of spaghetti (so good) we arrive in Padova after 12 hours, we're exhausted but happy. We did about 3,000 km. WOW!