Greece: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Myrtos Beach on the island Kefalonia in the Ionian Islands of Greece. 

Greece: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Guest Post by Liz Alvey

Bougainvillea in Fiscardo

For many years when I travelled to Greece, it seemed like every other person on the journey to Kefalonia was reading Louis de Bernieres’ novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.  Knowing my passion for the place, a friend bought me a copy. Never one to follow the crowd, I resisted reading it. Then one winter’s day, in need of sun and light in my life, I settled down to read it.  And devoured it in one sitting.

I will admit that the first 50 pages created doubts. But then I was hooked. The painful love story of the Italian Captain and the doctor’s daughter could have been just another romance. But the setting against the brutality of the Second World War and the hardships faced by the islanders adds another dimension. Whilst the story may be fiction, I know from the recollections of elderly Kefalonians, that the consequences of resistance and the punishments meted out are still keenly felt, decades later.

Lighthouse Fiscardo, Kefalonia

As always it is the characters that hold me fast.  The quixotic Corelli, the passionate Pelagia, the pragmatic Doctor Yannis.  And perhaps most of all the loyal and tragic Carlo.

I didn’t visit Kefalonia whilst they were making the film of the book, which came out in 2001.  Not deliberate, just a desire to explore some new Greek horizons.  Although the director, John Madden, apparently looked at several potential locations, in the end, the film was shot largely in Kefalonia.  A purpose built set was created near Sami, the island’s main port. The beautiful Antisamos beach served as the location for the Italian camp. Several key scenes were filmed at Myrtos, perhaps the most iconic beach in Greece and one of the most photographed beaches in the world.

Lighthouse near Fiscardo

On my next visit, I heard of grandfathers taking their grandchildren to visit the set. It was by all accounts a memory-jerking re-creation of the formerly beautiful and elegant capital of Argostoli before it was flattened by the 1953 earthquake, which features at the end of the novel.

Sadly, to me at least, the film was not as accurate in its re-creation of the book’s story and themes. And neither Penelope Cruz nor Nicholas Cage fulfilled my mental image of Pelagia and Antonio – not their fault, of course.  I know that no film can replicate the detail of a novel, but for me the tone was too different and the story too focused on the central love story, to the exclusion of some of the subtler sub-plots.

View of Agia Efimia from Sami 

Kefalonia, Greece

But what it did achieve, magnificently, was a stunning visual record of the glories of the landscape and villages of Kefalonia.  And so, in the dank and damp British winter, I regularly re-run the film, skip through the plot and revel in recognizing the mountains, the sea and most of all the glorious, intense light.

The film now acts as an appetizer for your trip to Kefalonia.

Liz Alvey has had an almost 20 year love affair with Greece. As well as repeated visits to her beloved Kefalonia, she has travelled to many other Ionian and Aegean Islands and to Athens.

More Travel Boldly posts on Greece:

Greece: A Kefalonia Love Affair
Greece: adventures in the Ionian Islands

Greece: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Greece: A Kefalonia Love Affair

The view of the village of Assos on the island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Islands of Greece.  Photograph by Liz Alvey

Greece: A Kefalonia Love Affair

Guest Post by Liz Alvey

Going back to Kefalonia is like visiting a long-distance lover. First, there is the longing. Then the planning. And finally we are reunited.

On arrival there is that delicious sense of anticipation and familiarity. Then a slight doubt creeps in. Has it changed? Will I still feel the same?

There’s a point on the road north from Argostoli, where my heart leaps, as I drive round a series of deep ravines, looking, looking, looking…. Finally I glimpse my beloved, the village of Assos, perched on the isthmus jutting out into the Ionian Sea.

Assos wasn't the first place I visited in Greece, but it was the first I really researched with infinite care.   And I lost my heart to it.  Hook, line and sinker.  Within 24 hours of driving down that switchback road I was in love.  Irrevocably, hopelessly and joyously in love.

And it's an enduring love. Yes, it's matured and developed, as these things must, if they're not to burn out. But it's a constant in my life and the very fact that we are kept apart by circumstance keeps the desire alive and potent.

Why do I love this place so much?
  

There is the physical attraction certainly. It's undeniably picturesque, with the multi-coloured houses snaking down the twisting road to the narrow isthmus. Then the ruined 16th century castle with its dramatic views and timeless atmosphere, dominating the peninsula. Explore the village lanes and you come upon unexpected treats. The house with the red tin roof, set off by the swathe of bright pink bougainvillea. The relics of a row of graciously proportioned Venetian houses.  Just their facades remain, a memory of the affluent and varied past of this village.

But physical attraction isn’t enough to sustain my love.

Swimming in the sheltered bay is a sensual pleasure.  Clear, still water feels like silk on my skin, cool after the heat reflected from the stony beach.  And after, the salty legacy, dried by the sun on my lips, my skin, in my hair – a reminder and a temptation to plunge again.

Hike up to the castle and I enter another world entirely. I walk through the curved entrance tunnel and it’s cold. Exit and the sun hits again. It seems silent.  Until I hear the soft drone of bees, as they pollinate the spring flowers.  Flashes of sharp yellow pierce my eye as Golden Orioles swoop and fly.  In the early days, I loved the tinkle of goat bells when stock grazed within the old castle walls. Sadly that is no more; bureaucracy has spoken and only the echoes linger in my ears.

And the heart of Assos is the people. Ultimately, that's what rekindles my love every time. The two brothers who run the little café bar by the beach.  We still don’t know each other’s names but they recognize me, even after a year away. And the lady, who runs the village shop – her English is even more limited than my Greek, but we have endless conversations with odd words and many gestures.  

Most of all the family who greet me every time like a long-lost daughter and sister. Returning to their restaurant at the heart of the village is like coming home. We catch up on family news and gossip. They bring me tidbits from the kitchen and insist I don’t pay for my drink. I note how much the children have grown. We embrace, we talk, we laugh.

And when it’s time to go, I promise to return.  And I always keep my promises.

Liz Alvey has had an almost 20 year love affair with Greece. As well as repeated visits to her beloved Kefalonia, she has travelled to many other Ionian and Aegean Islands and to Athens. 

More Travel Boldly posts on Greece:

Greece: A Kefalonia Love Affair
Greece: adventures in the Ionian Islands
Greece: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Greece: adventures in the Ionian Islands

The many hues of blue and green bring serenity to this view in the Ionian Islands of Greece. "Marvelous things happen to one in Greece, marvelous good things that can happen to one nowhere else on earth.”

Greece: adventures in the Ionian Islands

Time has a variable rhythm in different situations.

Have you ever been at a stop light, that though only 45 seconds long, seemed to take FOREVER? Or have you spent a day with someone so delightful that even twelve hours seemed far too short and then experienced the exact opposite feeling standing in a line next to someone so obnoxious that 2 minutes seemed like an eternity.

Time is a fluid concept.

As a child, summer days once seemed delightfully long. Now an entire summer seems to streak by in a blinding flash between June and September. Time starts and stops, speeds and slows sometimes at a whim and sometimes because of person or place.

Greece is a place that reigns in the racing internal clock of our lives, elongating moments, increasing our patience, and decreasing our stress. The pace of life in Greece overtakes you, stalling your internal clock, jamming the brain waves that put us on our frenetic pace in the workaday world. And should you bring to this place a special person, one so alluring... well, time for you can nearly stop.

The Ionian Islands on the west coast of Greece are places of historic and monumental feats. A place where even holidays seem to last just a bit longer. These are the islands that Aristole Onassis claimed for his private sanctuary. The islands from which sprang the legendary travels of Odysseus. Islands famous for myths and truths. The legends of Sapho, so inflamed by unrequited passion that she leapt to her death from the cliffs on the Cape of Lefkata, originated here. They are quiet and beautiful but most of all they are romantic. "Marvelous things happen to one in Greece" reveled author Henry Miller, "marvelous good things that can happen to one nowhere else on earth.”

More on sailing in the the Ionian Islands of Greece coming soon

Contact me at @JeromeShaw  or Facebook 

Images and text copyright Jerome Shaw 1984-2013 / http://www.jeromeshaw.com

More Travel Boldly posts on Greece:

Greece: A Kefalonia Love Affair
Greece: adventures in the Ionian Islands
Greece: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin