We started our trip in Thessaloniki, which is the second largest city in Greece. Tula had been in Greece for a month prior to our arrival and based in Thessaloniki. We spend two night their and then headed west to the Ionian islands. We decided to spend the night in the small mountain village of Metsovo. What a delight. We then traveled on to Igoumenitsa on the coast where we caught the ferry to our first island. We spent 4 nights each in Corfu, Lefkada and Kefalonia.

Corfu was the most developed, especially the northern portion of the island. Of the three islands we visited, we probably liked Lefkada the best. The most spectacular scenery was in Kefalonia. but this island is truly lagging the other two island by 5 or so years in the ability to cater to tourists, especially those with cars. The roads were rough and narrow and signs could vastly be improved upon. I don't know what we would have done with Tula not being with us.

A word about driving in Greece. First it's not for the faint of heart. They rarely obey the traffic rules. This is most evident with parking in the towns. No-Parking signs have NO effect. Secondly, the names on the map may or may not match the names on the signs (if you find one). This is because the English is the phonetic representation of the word and differences do crop up. This is all very difficult to process when speeding by road signs. However in their defence, the roads on the mainland were great. We took a highway out of Thessaloniki heading west and it was the most beautiful highway I've ever been on. We went through about two dozen tunnels. However the highway is not completed, even though the AAA map shows it as being completed.

The Ionian islands are greener than the islands of the Agean. However, the beaches are far from being sandy. Small pebbles are the best you can do. As one local told me, you don't have problems with sand getting all over you.

We left a week before Tula and Gary as we needed to get back to a wedding. They went on to Zakynthos. We flew to Athens from Kefalonia and unfortunately our plane was at 7:15 in the morning. Thanks Gary and Tula for getting up before dawn to take us to the airport. We did spend about 6 hours in Athens which was enough to experience the new Metro (very nice) and revisit the Acropolis area.