Ithaca: Mike Ashton
ITHACA:A PERSONAL VIEW Ithaca is unlike any other place. The only thing better than your first visit is your second, when you really begin to appreciate why Odysseus was so determined to return home. Any doubt as to the location of Homer's Ithaca disappears when you are here. The Odyssey and the Iliad come to life on this rocky isle, indeed unsuitable for horses. Read Homer in Ithaca and you will see that every location fits perfectly with the text. Ithaca is at the heart of the Ionians and can be glimpsed from many other islands. Sometimes in the hazy distance, sometimes so tantalisingly close you feel you can reach out and touch it. It is an island of stunning scenery. History is all around you if you care to look. Wild flowers carpet the island in spring and birds, reptiles and insects watch you taking it all in. But this book is not about encouraging tourism. Ithaca has enough; perhaps a little too much in summer and too little in winter but it is a far cry from the excesses of other destinations. Islanders reward those who love their island with kindness, respect and ultimately, acceptance. Odysseus did not return to this island for the scenery. He came back for its people, and that is exactly why so many return year after year - to see their friends, our friends. These photographs are a personal view.They do not need captions. Mike Ashton (Mikalis Paparazzi) Cumbria,May 2006
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