Erasmus and The Underground Light

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Argostolion, Cephalonia, Greece
25 degrees Celsius, clear skies
Saturday, October 23, 2004

Erasmus, our taxi driver in Cephalonia, was born here in Cephalonia, and was named after a local hero. Every Cephalonian family names their first son Erasmus, after the same hero he told us. This makes evenings in the village square interesting. “Hey, Erasmus!” And half the guys turn.

Argostolion is the capital city of Cephalonia, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. Cephalonia is the fifth largest of the Greek islands at 290 square miles. A 1953 earthquake devastated most of the island and many of the residents left. Those that remained started the rebuilding process.

Like everywhere we’ve been, this island too has a history of attack and conquest over the centuries, but what struck Jan and I was the natural beauty. On the middle of the island the mountains are covered with trees, including an evergreen bush that only grows on this island and nowhere else in the world. It has a large lake in the middle of the island and the village of Sami, beautiful beaches on the lake and the sea coast (see pics).

The highlight, for me, was an underground lake inside a huge cave. (see pics)