What is it like there during winter?
I have always lived on an island, however, I just never used to think of it. At just over 94,000 square miles, the UK is never likely to feel like one either. Excluding Australia (which is a land mass), the UK is the worlds 9th largest island. Crete, Greece's largest island ranks in at 89th, and Kefalonia comes in at around the 200th mark out of a possible 180,497 that we know of.
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| View of Mounda Beach in February 15 |
When I moved to Greece, I don't think I realised just how different life would be, especially during winter. On days like today, extremely wet, extremely cold and extremely windy, I really feel like I am on island. The rain is battering poor Kefalonia, and we have experienced several land slides on main routes around the island. The wind is biting, the sea is rough and seaweed adorns our much loved beaches. I am hoping that the communities will pull together and clean up the beaches for tourist season. At Trapezaki Beach yesterday, you could not even see the beach for the sea had pulled right up to the shore line and was hugging it tightly. Yes, its bleak in the winter at times, but maybe we like it after our hectic summers.
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| \Local Flora in Ratzakli |
Food shopping has to be done 40km away in Argostoli. We go to the butchers for our meat, the bakers for our bread and the fruit and vegetable shop for, well, fruit and veg of course. Clothes shopping for me will be done largely online, as otherwise it would mean a ferry trip to the mainland to Patra or Athens, and although the ferry is not that expensive, it means an overnight stop and that adds to the cost of everything. Argostoli remains open largely, and the pavement cafes are busy with locals catching up with each other after a busy summer season. The resorts of Lassi and Lourdas are completely shut - with the odd café and restaurant open here and there, Katelios has one café and one restaurant open and Skala a handful of each.
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| View of Old Skala from Mounda Area |
Most houses on the island do not have the luxury of central heating, we have to rely on log burners, air conditioning units (in reverse), open wood fires and solar energy for the good days. The shiny bare floor tiles are replaced with heavy woollen rugs to retain some warmth. Even on sunny days, the nights are cold, and I am glad we bought our heavy duvet over from Athens.
On the plus side, we do have sunny days, and the local people and (most) of the expats are good people. Part of me would not have it any other way in the winter and is a nice time to catch up with yourself. Walking around without the crowds, here in Skala, we return to a village in the winter. Even Poros is sleepy with only a couple of cafes open there. Life is slow, and it is a great time to catch up on those jobs that you did not get round to doing in the summer, cooking, spending time with friends and family and generally relaxing, there are festivals and feast days to look forward to, and family time is treasured.. Most people on the island have summer jobs which means we only work for 6 months of the year, generally without a day off and for a fraction of the money which you may earn in the UK. We are lucky we have 6 busy months and 6 quiet months, some could say we get to have our cake and eat it here...
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| Sleepy Poros in the Winter |
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