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Blogger The Doc said...

Ah, I feel homesick now. Lovely photographs.

7 September 2010 at 20:50

Blogger BigRedBat said...

Hi Doc, it is a nice place, isn't it! Lefkas town is friendly, with some nice Tavernas, although Nidri is rather tourist-y.

I heard about the Ithica connection when we were there, I suppose that is why the captain in the last post named the boat as he did.

7 September 2010 at 20:56

Blogger The Doc said...

Yeah, there is a bit of a neighbourly "fight" going on between the islands of Lefkas, Ithaki and Kephalonia. Even some people from the peninsula of Plagia on the mainland claim to be living on this famous location in whispers. :) But there is absolutely no scientific means to reach a conclusion... even if scientists (Greek and foreign) and local "historians" cannot stop discussing it. :)

Did you see some of the Venetian and Ottoman fortifications? Lefkas changed hands a lot of times. :) It was even Russian at some point.

7 September 2010 at 22:04

Blogger BigRedBat said...

Hi Doc, the Venetian fortress as you drive in to Lefkas is very impressive, they really ought to open it as a tourist attraction. I saw the nearby castle on the hill but only from afar.

Unfortunately I didn't see the Russian forts. One is called fort Alexander, which amused me as when I fist saw it on the map I assumed it referred to the Macedonian Alexander.

I regret not going to Actium, especially as it is right next to the airport!

What did you dig?

7 September 2010 at 22:12

Blogger The Doc said...

I participated in a large scale surface survey of the entire peninsular. So it wasn't so much a small scale location and there was little digging. We usually gathered material found on the surface and it is really amazing what comes up. Roof tiles from archaic times, stone tools, Byzantine pottery. And if goats pass over your area you can start all over again and your field is full of new material. :D We also had surveys of visible architectural remains like ancient rural villas or the so called castle of Agios Georgios and the ancient town of Plagia.

The Russian occupation of the Ionian Sea is of great interest for me. I covet the coins that were minted in that time, but I they are so rare.

7 September 2010 at 22:46

Blogger BigRedBat said...

I must say I don't know much about the Russian occupation; Lefkas seems like a really peculiar place for them to have fetched up, et alone fortified!

Archaeology must be fascinating.

7 September 2010 at 23:18

Blogger DeanM said...

It's how I always imagined it - and from movies & books. Seemingly timeless and unchanged. Thanks, Dean

8 September 2010 at 04:24

Blogger The Doc said...

Fascinating and boring, ungrateful, elitist... It's a field you can enjoy a love-hate relationship with... if you can find a job. :)

Well, how much the fortified themselves. The occupation was rather short... 7 years all in all. Here's some info about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septinsular_Republic

8 September 2010 at 09:40

Blogger legatus hedlius said...

Lovely, evocative pictures!

I had a great two week sailing holiday there a few years ago. I recall a very nice white wine called Lac des Roches! Didn't get on with the Retsina, though! The Kefalonian reds are good though.

8 September 2010 at 18:05

Blogger BigRedBat said...

Hi Legatus; it has to be very hot for very cold Retsina to be palatable, in my experience!

I mostly drank sweet, very cheap Epirot wines.

Doc, interesting stuff; Russians and Turks working together. Surprising...

8 September 2010 at 18:28

Blogger The Doc said...

I know... Especially considering how the Russians were kinda supporting the Greek Liberation idea. Not wholeheartedly, but still...

The three months or so I was there, it was Ouzo and Tsipouro all the way! :)

8 September 2010 at 21:39

Blogger Gabriele Campbell said...

Lovely pics, but the place looks too hot and dry for my taste. I'm more a northern gal. :)

10 September 2010 at 20:44

Thanks for commenting. I will post this as soon as I am able to review it.
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