Ithaca, the mountain

In the last post I said that Ithaca was empty, but it is also a beautiful mountain top that sticks right up 800 meters out of the Ionian Sea. One of the high lights of the trip was the day team Zubenel rented a car for a tour about the island.

The roads are narrow and high up on the cliffs. Often there is not even a guard rail. On one side is a vertical cliff up and on the other side a plunge straight down into the turquoise sea. The sensation was a bit like flying in a small air plane, and I have to confess to being dizzy at times and occasionally terrified.

We set out from Vathy and the first stop was Alakomenes, a ruin that is one of the many claimed castles of Ulysses. It is now a goat station, but 3,000 years ago it would have been a wonderful place to defend. Then we were on to the mountain town of Starvos and the near by Bay of Polis.

On the way to Frikes which is a ferry stop and small port we took a detour to see the ruins called the School of Homer. It had a neat well in a small cave and was a significant site of Mycenaean culture. Frikes was overrun with day trippers that had just gotten off the tour boat, so we went on to Kioni. This is a beautiful little town with streets so narrow, Philip had to back the car out of town. We climbed up the eastern face of Mount Nirito to the old capital of Anogi. The road from here to the Kartharon monastary is both breathtaking and breath holding. Walking a tight rope about a half a mile high is the only metaphor I can think of to describe the trip.

The Kartharon monastary (Greek Orthodox) was equally spectacular. It is remote, wind swept and perched about 500 meters high with views all around. It was deserted so we let ourselves in to look around. The chapel was small but very holy. There were icons everywhere including one of a steam ship. I can only imagine the amount of incense that has been burned here for hundreds of years. Jan and I lit a candle and said a prayer for White Pepper team member Robert. If a prayer from Kartharon can not get through, nothing can.

By the time we got back to Vathy no one could say very much. I think that each of us knew that that we had just had one of the very special days in our lives. I hope the pictures can give impression of the this special place--Ithaca.