Nisida Meganisi Things to Do

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At the bottom of the west cove, a small olive trees orchard spreads at the lowest part of the valley. There is no actual quay but a few local small boats are moored along the shore (first photo).

The second photo shows one of our friends sailing out of Port Athéni with the mountains of Lefkas island in the background. We are going to Sivota cove, on Lefkas.

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Port Atheni is a nice cove, 11/2 nautical miles east of Port Vathi. After we left Vathi, we anchored there on the west side of the cove for a swim and a Greek salad dinner on board. The village on top of the hill must be Spartohori, the main village of the island.

I bet you will not be able to guess what is this amazing landscape!

I shot it in a small cove on the north coast of Meganisi. Limestone have been carved by the sea into ghostly rocks. Young olive trees have grown between some of the rocks together with a scarce vegetation and, I suppose on the occasion of a storm, a thick layer of seaweeds has spread on the soil, leaving only the rocks free!

I know, there are no chicken on the spit, we ate them all !

In the evening, this device was full of chicken roasting and they had also a gyros (you can see it standing at the bottom) This was not time for a photo but we ate here excellent chicken.. Sorry, I took this photo next morning, before sailing out of Vathi morning and they had not yet loaded new chickens but believe me, they were excellent !

Though the machine bears a Spanish sounding name (matador, ie killer!), it was built in Stuttgart, Germany by Wierner and Pfleiderer! Strange, isn’t it ?

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The only ancient man made artifacts standing in Vathi are fountains. There are many of them in the village. The bronze slab on top says that they were cast by Niagara Waterfalls Co in Patras. There is no date but their style shows that they might have been cast at the beginning of the 20th. I have checked and there is not anymore a Niagara Waterfalls Co in Patras, neither is there any tap and cock casting company in Patras at all.

No wonder that these fountains have overcome the earthquake, given their small size!

This is also because of the 1953 earthquake that the church in Vathi was built recently. I have not found any data about the building of this church but the type of architecture with reinforced concrete used for the covers shows that it might have been built in the 70s.

As many villages in the Ionian islands, Vathi and the whole island of Meganisi island was hit by the 1953 earthquake that destroyed most of neighboring Cephalonia island. This is why there are no ancient buildings of any architectural interest on the island. The beauty of Meganisi does not lay in its houses but in its natural landscapes.

In Vathi, there is very little car traffic (actually, I saw only a handful of cars !) and locals can use the streets as a part of their house. Cooking can be done in front of the house, which will prevent to heat the inside of the house. Washing dishes can be done with water flowing from a tap along the street. This does not disturb anybody!

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I spotted this lady knitting lace, sitting in front of the fourth Pantopoleion of the village. I asked her if I could take a picture of her lace making and she was glad to show her work for the picture. In the shop, among the regular goods, it was possible to buy some of her previous laces.

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Though a small village, it was possible to buy every basic food in the shops of Vathi.

The first photo shows the entrance of “California Super Market, Panto Kreopoleion, liqer store”. In this shop, you can find any food, from meat to ouzo, wine and fruits!

The second photo shows the entrance of another market with various drinks outside .

The third photo shows again another Pantopoleion where to find everything.

Already at least three supermarkets in a small village, isn’t that great !