{"id":2284,"date":"2016-10-30T14:07:48","date_gmt":"2016-10-30T20:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/?p=2284"},"modified":"2016-11-02T01:33:38","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T07:33:38","slug":"the-legend-of-melissanthi-for-elissamae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/the-legend-of-melissanthi-for-elissamae\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legend of Melissanthi (for elissamae)"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the things I love most about ancient Greece is the mythology. \u00a0The sensational\u00a0stories of crazy, angry, vengeful gods and goddesses wreaking havoc on nature and humanity. The drama and tragedy, these mystical stories and colorful\u00a0otherworldly characters with cool names inspired so much in the imagination of my youth. \u00a0So it was just a bonus that part of my Kefalonia Adventure Tour<\/strong> <\/em>would be to visit Melissani Cave<\/em>. There is a legend that\u00a0this cave is named after the nymph, Melissanthi<\/em>, who killed herself in the lake that sort of bears her name after being rejected by the god Pan, who is depicted as a half man half goat that always has an erection and is usually surrounded by a bunch of nymphs. There is some archaeological support that this could be\u00a0the lake\u00a0of legend, which is always fun to imagine, and the place is just so magical I mean how could one NOT think up\u00a0wild stories about erections and nymphs and suicide, especially if there was no TV. \u00a0There is a more likely legend that a young girl named Melissanthi<\/em> drowned there accidentally while looking for her lost sheep.\u00a0 Origin of Little Bo Peep? \u00a0And the very most likely reason it’s named Melissani<\/em> is because the greek word for honey bee is “Melissa<\/em>” (as my friend Melissa told me years and years and years ago so now I get super excited whenever I see her name anywhere in Greece) and\u00a0there were probably a lot of bees and honey being made around here for eons and eons. \u00a0By the way, Kefalonian honey is delicious!<\/p>\n

This full-day tour was a great way to see a lot of the island if you’re like me and can’t drive. \u00a0I booked this one through Etam Travel<\/a> in Skala<\/em>, but they are based in Argostoli<\/em>. \u00a0It was cheap and really good value, we saw a lot of stuff, wished we actually went to Myrtos beach though and maybe a little more time in Agia Efimia. \u00a0We were lucky and had a great guide from South Africa who has lived on the island for more than 20 years and shared tons of interesting information.<\/p>\n

Going to get right into the gallery with this one and probably the rest of Greece. \u00a0I’m going home next weekend and have already spent almost two weeks in Northern Spain that I need to get a-crackin’ on.<\/p>\n