Assos

Assos.

If you've ever wondered what Greece looks like at its best, then head to the west coast of Cephalonia and the beauty that is Assos. We spotted it from the hilltops, our drive having taken us around tortuous bends and pretty villages that cling to the cliff tops as we criss crossed from Sami on the east.

This is an island of breathtaking beauty, the hillsides painted with luscious greenery, the bay's bathed in turquoise and blues, the terracotta coated villages, and then, around the island, scores of tiny islands seemingly tossed there by the gods.

And then there is Assos. A place so ridiculously beautiful that you are at a loss to place it against anything else. Pretty cafes sit by the bay as fish swim in shoals aplenty right up to the walls where you sit, your mouth aghast, your cup running over.

The village, like so much of Cephalonia, seems to be in the middle of construction, some buildings heartbreakingly stunning, others sadly neglected as former glories have faded, probably dating back to the dreads of 1953. Assos at least has some protection on its beauty with the fronts of buildings kept intact to trick the distant eye whilst the body of the thing is totally rebuilt.

We walked along the back lanes climbing ancient steps and gazing on old bells of pretty churches and houses in pretty pastels and flowers in great colour that together would form an astonishing painting that would grace The Tate.

Now for lunch and then the sea.

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