If you've ever heard of Lefkada, the Ionian island, you might also know the name of its most famous beach; Porto Katsiki. My mother originally comes from Lefkada, and I've been spending my summers there, in my grandfather's house, for as long as I can remember. It's a beautiful island and I love it fiercely. But here's the thing; until very recently, I had never been to Porto Katsiki, Lefkada's number one attraction.
We have a neighbor here in Athens who, over the years, has become a very close family friend; her name is Mrs. Irene. My family had repeatedly invited Mrs. Irene to come and spend some time with us in Lefkada, but it had never worked out until the summer of 2015. With a newcomer around, we had a reason to rediscover the island and do some of the touristy stuff, instead of just go to the local beach every day, dine at the exact same restaurants as every year and visit all of our relatives. As part of the tour, my parents decided we should also finally visit Porto Katsiki - hooray!
The most difficult task in this excursion was actually getting to the beach. There's a long staircase basically carved onto the rocks and you have to be veeeery careful if you want to get down there in one piece. It was certainly a stupid idea to wear my fragile flip-flops - it seems that I keep making this mistake whenever a dangerous descent is involved. Oh well, someday I'll learn! For the time being, I must inform you that I did in fact make my way down the stairs successfully, avoiding all potential injuries, and so did the rest of the group (that is, my parents, my brother, and Mrs. Irene). And there it was; the most beautiful beach my eyes had ever encountered.
You might think I'm exaggerating, but swimming in Porto Katsiki was out of this world. The beach is lined with these pearly white pebbles that I could just walk on for hours. But the most amazing part was the water; it was the clearest sea I had ever found myself swimming in. It was the typical "Ionian blue", a bright turquoise color - my favorite, as you might be able to guess from the background of my blog - and diving into it made me feel like I was swimming in a cloud; I felt so lightweight, so free! I know I sound lyrical, and yet my words are still not doing this experience justice.
I think we must have gone on full tourist mode because we took so many photos there - but, sometimes, that's also part of the fun! I remember climbing on this small rock and feeling so much like a mermaid that I just had to take a bunch of photos and commemorate the event. Spoiler alert; feeling like a mermaid doesn't necessarily mean you will also look like one on camera.
If you've ever read the Asterix comics, you'll know that every one of his adventures ends with a sumptuous feast. Following into the footsteps of my favorite Gaul, I'm going to finish my story with an honorable mention of our final stop; a tavern with a view, almost on the edge of the cliff. After a well-deserved lunch, I curled up in one of the hammocks that were hanging from the trees all around the tavern and probably took a little nap - because that's what you do in the early afternoon according to the unwritten rules of The Greek Summer ™.
(photo by my mom again)