My Inspiration
When visiting Kefalonia for the third time in July, it was my favorite visit to date, for obvious reasons! I was now experiencing the destination through the eyes of a local, and it was a whole different experience. If you are ever offered the chance to be shown around your holiday destination by a trustworthy local, take the chance and do it, its an exhilarating experience.
During this particular trip and by default due to the rugged terrain along the coast and centre of the island, I found my endurance and stamina being pushed to new limits. I have been over weight for the last few years, and although unhappy with it, no matter what diet I tried or what I ate, I could not stick to anything for more than a few weeks and ended up gaining more pounds and being miserable. I enjoyed walking but could easily get out of breath, something I was definitely not proud of.
The first test of my endurance was a few days into the holiday when we decided to visit what affectionately became known as 'our beach'. We parked off the main road onto a steep and pebbly track. We did not want to risk taking the car farther down this road for fear of getting stuck, so he said we would walk down to the beach. Dressed in typical holiday maker attire, I was definitely not prepared for what lay in store.
We walked past an old ruined monastery and the track we were following meandered this way and that taking us further down the face of the cliff path that would eventually lead to the sea. After a steep descent and several minutes later, I caught my first breathtaking view of the sea. I could hear the swish of the waves and being hot after walking, I was tempted by its call and I quickened my pace. The descent was pretty unremarkable, although steep in places, I was concentrating more on going for a refreshing swim in the Ionian Sea rather than what lay in store me on the way back to the car. We continued to stroll along the path, following the twists and turns until we reached the pretty sand and shingle beach below, around 15 minutes later. We found a secluded hidden spot behind some rocks, and set up camp for a day at the beach. We had food, drinks and a beach umbrella to protect us from the hot sun. I was surprised at how much shade he likes! We continued to have an amazing day, frolicking in the sea, story-telling, making each other laugh until it hurt and building on our solid foundations that we had begun. This day will stay with me for a long time. I was relaxed and blissfully happy.
We stayed for a few hours and time came to gather our belongings to head back to the car. At this point, I still had not given much thought to the return journey. We dusted sand out of places I didn't know you could get sand! and dressed ready for the ascent up the cliff we had easily scaled down earlier in the day. We set off up the first bit of the climb, chatting animatedly as we do and reminisced on the day we had, and what we might do tomorrow. We reached the first peak and I was astonishingly out of breath. I panicked as we still had a long way to go, but I only let this show inwardly. The next part of the path was only a slight incline so I carried on. I turned the corner and looked up... the hill was monstrous now. Ilias encouraged me to take small steps on my toes, no mean feat in flip flops, he even offered to swap shoes, but I do not think anything would have made this easier for me at this point. I managed 10 footsteps up the next part of the hill and I stopped, gasping for breath. In fairness, it was around 2pm and the sun was at it's hottest, and we were embarking on a colossal climb! I asked him to carry on ahead, I was embarrassed to let him see me like this, being the athlete that he is. He was hesitant, but I was insistent, so he set off only a few steps ahead at first. I insisted I was fine and he carried on.
When I got to the top of this first hill, I thought I was going to collapse. I knew this was not even the steepest part. I took shelter under a tree for some respite from the sun, but I knew I could not stay here all day, I had to keep going. I drank some water and aimed for the next part of the hill. I managed some more steps, but by now my heart was pounding in my chest. I felt sick and dizzy and could not see how I could get through this ascent to the top. I thought I would pass out before I reached the summit. I could hear Illias calling me and I answered I was fine. I think he knew I wasn't as the next thing I knew he was running back down the cliff track to check on me. I think during the ascent he did this several times so probably ended up walking the whole path twice over. We rounded the next bend together and he really coaxed and encouraged me to keep going. No way I thought, I can't do it, but from somewhere I found the strength to keep going. Armed with my water, I took it as easy as I could, until we reached the car. It had taken me over an hour to do this journey, I was mortified. I sank into my seat in the car and looked at my face in the mirror. It was redder than a strawberry, not a good look really and I thought I was going to intenally combust. I felt awful. I was very upset at how out of shape I was too. I think he sensed this also, although we did not have a conversation about this at the time. I felt pleased I had done this, but disgusted at the effort it had taken.
Later that night when he got home from work, we ate our dinner together outside on the terrace, in the cool night air. We discussed doing another walk again the next day. I asked if it would be as steep as that, he laughed and replied no. I was up for a challenge with him. We awoke early the next day we got up, had our usual breakfast of Greek yogurt and honey and set our for another adventure together of a different kind!
During this particular trip and by default due to the rugged terrain along the coast and centre of the island, I found my endurance and stamina being pushed to new limits. I have been over weight for the last few years, and although unhappy with it, no matter what diet I tried or what I ate, I could not stick to anything for more than a few weeks and ended up gaining more pounds and being miserable. I enjoyed walking but could easily get out of breath, something I was definitely not proud of.
The first test of my endurance was a few days into the holiday when we decided to visit what affectionately became known as 'our beach'. We parked off the main road onto a steep and pebbly track. We did not want to risk taking the car farther down this road for fear of getting stuck, so he said we would walk down to the beach. Dressed in typical holiday maker attire, I was definitely not prepared for what lay in store.
We walked past an old ruined monastery and the track we were following meandered this way and that taking us further down the face of the cliff path that would eventually lead to the sea. After a steep descent and several minutes later, I caught my first breathtaking view of the sea. I could hear the swish of the waves and being hot after walking, I was tempted by its call and I quickened my pace. The descent was pretty unremarkable, although steep in places, I was concentrating more on going for a refreshing swim in the Ionian Sea rather than what lay in store me on the way back to the car. We continued to stroll along the path, following the twists and turns until we reached the pretty sand and shingle beach below, around 15 minutes later. We found a secluded hidden spot behind some rocks, and set up camp for a day at the beach. We had food, drinks and a beach umbrella to protect us from the hot sun. I was surprised at how much shade he likes! We continued to have an amazing day, frolicking in the sea, story-telling, making each other laugh until it hurt and building on our solid foundations that we had begun. This day will stay with me for a long time. I was relaxed and blissfully happy.
We stayed for a few hours and time came to gather our belongings to head back to the car. At this point, I still had not given much thought to the return journey. We dusted sand out of places I didn't know you could get sand! and dressed ready for the ascent up the cliff we had easily scaled down earlier in the day. We set off up the first bit of the climb, chatting animatedly as we do and reminisced on the day we had, and what we might do tomorrow. We reached the first peak and I was astonishingly out of breath. I panicked as we still had a long way to go, but I only let this show inwardly. The next part of the path was only a slight incline so I carried on. I turned the corner and looked up... the hill was monstrous now. Ilias encouraged me to take small steps on my toes, no mean feat in flip flops, he even offered to swap shoes, but I do not think anything would have made this easier for me at this point. I managed 10 footsteps up the next part of the hill and I stopped, gasping for breath. In fairness, it was around 2pm and the sun was at it's hottest, and we were embarking on a colossal climb! I asked him to carry on ahead, I was embarrassed to let him see me like this, being the athlete that he is. He was hesitant, but I was insistent, so he set off only a few steps ahead at first. I insisted I was fine and he carried on.
When I got to the top of this first hill, I thought I was going to collapse. I knew this was not even the steepest part. I took shelter under a tree for some respite from the sun, but I knew I could not stay here all day, I had to keep going. I drank some water and aimed for the next part of the hill. I managed some more steps, but by now my heart was pounding in my chest. I felt sick and dizzy and could not see how I could get through this ascent to the top. I thought I would pass out before I reached the summit. I could hear Illias calling me and I answered I was fine. I think he knew I wasn't as the next thing I knew he was running back down the cliff track to check on me. I think during the ascent he did this several times so probably ended up walking the whole path twice over. We rounded the next bend together and he really coaxed and encouraged me to keep going. No way I thought, I can't do it, but from somewhere I found the strength to keep going. Armed with my water, I took it as easy as I could, until we reached the car. It had taken me over an hour to do this journey, I was mortified. I sank into my seat in the car and looked at my face in the mirror. It was redder than a strawberry, not a good look really and I thought I was going to intenally combust. I felt awful. I was very upset at how out of shape I was too. I think he sensed this also, although we did not have a conversation about this at the time. I felt pleased I had done this, but disgusted at the effort it had taken.
Later that night when he got home from work, we ate our dinner together outside on the terrace, in the cool night air. We discussed doing another walk again the next day. I asked if it would be as steep as that, he laughed and replied no. I was up for a challenge with him. We awoke early the next day we got up, had our usual breakfast of Greek yogurt and honey and set our for another adventure together of a different kind!
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| Our little piece of paradise! |
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