ever been UNDERWHELMED?

[john]

having been to cyprus a couple of times, it didn't take me long to realise that the cypriots were good at hyping up tourist "attractions" aphrodities rock and aphrodities bath are a couple that spring to mind. we spent well over an hour driving across the island to see these magical features. ................ well, a rock is a rock and aphrodities bath.............. she would probably scare men away if she bathed in that dirty stinking pool!
i'm sorry to say that i suffered the same experience on kefalonia. i can hear the gasps of horror! the place i was underwhelmed at was lake avithos. i had read about it being supposidly bottomless and beautiful. on my many trips to kef i have passed very close to it but never gone to see it. this year however, a 5 minute drive off the main road, a 2 minute walk and we came across this huge wire fence enclosing a tiny "lake" full of rusty oil drums!
30 seconds later we were on our way back out! fortunatley that is the only pointless trip i have made anywhere on kef
anyone else got any tips on what NOT to go and see?!! :-/

[kefallon]

UNDERWHELMED
Every time we Â*forget how bad Spain is (about every 9 years !) get there and grumble for two weeks about the lack of culture and scenery....
Kefalonia
Agree with you about Avithos lake its the only place on Kefalonia which seems to produce great pictures but its only when you get there you realise you are stood on an oil drum after climbing through a rusty fence and this is the only accessible view point of the lake....
Still weird because the photos look great !
The only other place in Kef which slightly underwhelmed me was viewing the Kounepetra stone although aware it had long since stopped rocking it was hardly distinguishable......
But the rest of the island sure makes up for these places.

[john]

one other place which under whelmed me was a taverna in skala. i have read quite a few reviews of it on other web sites in which people raved about it. it is known as the taverna grill and is across the road from the school in skala. in my visits o skala i have seen queues forming at this place from 1800 and they have still been there at 2100! i thought this place must be good! and one night decided to try it. to say anti climax was an understatement! yes the food was very good but you always felt you were being rushed. if you wanted a drink after your meal you felt it was begrudged and that they wanted you out of the way to get the next customer in. not what i want to experience when eating out. after all, there are plenty other tavernas in skala who will make you welcome and not want to get rid of you so quickly! anyone else had this experience here?

[kefallon]

Just found this in the archives !
Anyone else got any tales about being underwhelmed, Yes i already hear the KABC in May 2006. :'(
Anywhere else in kefalonia or the world not matched up with expectations :question :question
[hr]
kefallon

[jed.w]

Some people won't like this but hey, who gives a toss.

Drogorati Caves

This another 'back in the day' story for all my homies - er, I mean cronies.

Cast your mind back to 1985, our first visit to Kefalonia, nobody in the UK knew where the hell it was! We'd get on our little Honda 50cc in Poros and without the aid of a map just drive. We left Poros on the road out through the gorge and followed the signs to Sami. The mountain road was only a track then, no tarmac no markings - no arnco at the side of the roads. It was a little bit scary seeing all the lorries and buses that had gone over the side and into the ravines. Mostly burnt out.

Eventually we came to a little sign for Drogorati Cave, so being inquisitive we headed that way. Past a cornfield and upto a little kiosk. 10 dracs got you entry - that was when a pound got you 300. Hooked up with a guide that took us down the stairs and into the cold cave. You were led along a very narrow path with the guide shouting 'mind your head - look out for this one'.
a truly marvellous experience capped of by his party piece at the end when you came to a sheer 300 foot drop and peered perilously over the edge.

'I can't take it anymore' he shouted, and stepped off the edge! We all gasped as his foot hit a shallow puddle that drew the reflection from the cavernous roof. Brilliant!

fast forward to 2003, decide to take my kids to see this wonderful phneomenon. Get there. Shops, pool, restaurant, bus park, rip off to get in and then to my horror, all the tights and mites have been hacked off to prevent injury and most of the centre is dug out for a concrete slab with sodium arc lights shining up to the roof - no illusion, just lights.

How to ruin a perfectly good attraction in the name of tourism.

My advice - forget it, save your money and your time, cos it takes along time to get 17 coach loads of tourists down 150 steps.

Jed.w 8-)

[Phil]

Jed, that was excellent reading. I wondered why so many stalegnites/mites appeared to be broken off.
Have you any more tales to tell from the 1980's?, if so please keep them coming.

Phil

[monty]

Only the once john_g only the once. We got caught out like you at the taverna grill. We decided to get there early one evening to avoid the later rush, wish we had`nt bothered the service was not of the best, no chit chat with the staff either and the food was nothing to write home about. The only thing in it`s favour was the hot rolled small napkin after the meal Â*;D
Prefer to eat on the outskirts of the town these daysÂ*

monty Â*

[peesw]

Hey Jed, what do you want a map for, surley half the fun is going out and following your nose and seeing where it takes you!!

[kefallon]

Not beloved Kef but we often think back and laugh at what happened one evening in Laganas Zante. It was 1989.
On one of our last nights we decided to catch a free horse and cart ride to a taverna which being advertised as the best around everywhere. It some way out of the resort. We had noticed a horse and carriage taking people to and fro from the taverna from a pick up point and thought this would be a treat.
We arrived about 15-20 mins later and sat in a garden like setting. Cats and kittens, dogs and puppies were abundant in numbers, which is fine if they didn't jump onto the table. I needed the loo, being 18 weeks pregnant at the time this was a frequent event!! I was shown the loo which was next to the kitchen. I glanced Â*in - like you do and exchanged smiles with the cook, but to my amazement there were cats ect walking over plates waiting to be served to people and it was not clean at all.
I got back to the table and explained what I had seen to the other people in my party. I could not eat there I am sorry to say, perhaps the actual food was grand but being pregnant and in a foriegn place I was nor prepared to take any risks. The owner came over to take our oredr and we explained we'd like just some water and the bill. Needless to say he was not amussed. We told him I had a bout of late morning sickness and was unwell so we would be going home, he was furious and chased us down a track waving a cleaver at us. We just ran and ran, nothing like that has ever happened before or thank goodness since, I could in no way run anymore!!!
we found a nice place to eat in the end.

[moise208.fsnet.co.]

not underwhelmed just shocked thought Kefalon was a man (18 weeks pregnant?)