Corfu Part I

 October 2019

Touching down at Corfu airport, we took the shuttle bus to Corfu Town, arriving on a blindingly blue day. We couldn't check into the Airbnb for a few hours, but luckily we only had carryon luggage, so we hefted our little backpacks, and went to explore. 

Did you know Prince Philip was born here? And that the Venetian's ruled Corfu for about 400 years? And that it's the only place in Greece where cricket is popular (thanks to the British). It's an interesting mash of cultures and history, and although heavily bombed in World War II, much of its architecture still survives. 

Feeling the heat, we popped into the cafe Puppet for some icy refreshing juice, the atmosphere was awesome and it was super tiny and cute - apparently it's a fantastic bar at night. We were getting hungry however, so went wandering for food. 

There were so many touristy places, we were struggling to find somewhere and ended up picking a place at random on the waterfront. It proved to be an excellent choice, serving up my favourite 'Corfu Red' beer, along with delicious fried saganaki cheese, and the real showstopper, octopus in vinegar. 

Once we were able to check into our Airbnb, we did so and rested for a while, tired from the hot day and travel. Once evening began to fall and the temperature cooled, we walked the thirty minutes into town, and then meandered the seafront until we were far enough away to look back on the fortress with a good view. Sunsets in Greece are a thing of wonder, the light is golden, the water dark and mysterious, and the sky filled with dusky pinks and purples. Far off in the distance, the mountains of Albania loomed, looking like something out of a fantasy novel. 

We ate at a restaurant called Stazei Meli, admiring the way the old town looked by night. The restaurant only served Loukoumades, a traditional Corfiot dish sort of like donuts, but both sweet and savoury. we tried ones stuffed with feta and accompanied with fresh tomatoes and a yogurt dill sauce, followed by milk chocolate stuffed ones, drizzled in white chocolate. Heaven.

The next morning I tried the very strange Fish Spa, something very popular in Corfu town. A fish 'pedicure', you pop your feet into a tub and tiny fish nibble the dead skin away. It was a totally bizarre sensation and whilst fun to try, was just a little too strange for me to get on board with! Also it tickled something terrible. 

We checked out of our Airbnb and met up with the company renting us a car for the rest of our trip. Typically Greek, there were no real checks or explanations, he handed us over the keys, waved and drove off. Nervously, we got into the tiny automobile, and Ben soon had a crash course on learning to drive on the right. We then headed north, towards our next airbnb, stopping only for a paddle at Ipsos, a beach I had fond memories of from my previous trip. 

We were staying just past Kassiopi, a fishing village on the northeastern coast. We didn't know the exact house number, having just been told where to park on the road, and then to call the owner. Which is all well and good until our phones - which worked perfectly in Greece, France and most of Europe, decided we were actually in Albania (you know, the country ACROSS the ocean?) and therefore wouldn't work at all. 

Panicked, we drove back along the main road until we found the first bar we could see, asked if they had Wi-Fi (thus fulfilling the terrible stereotype of annoying tourists desperate for internet) and were so grateful we ordered 2 giant beers which I then had to drink most of both myself rather quickly as Ben was driving, and we were about to be late! 

Luckily we were able to use the Wi-Fi to message the Airbnb host who quickly responded, so we were in business! The Airbnb was small and simple, but the balcony and view were out of this world.

Going to Corfu so late in the year had both benefits and drawbacks. The flights were cheap, and our car rental was heavily discounted. There were barely any tourists about either, however some restaurants had already closed up for the season, and the afternoons became cool much earlier than I was used to. A positive of this however was that nights were cool and pleasant, not the sticky unbearably hot hellish things I was used to in Greek summer. 

We had 3 days at this housesit, and 3 days at another one, so we set about making use of our base to explore the local area. We spent a couple of mornings sunbathing at the nearest beach at Kassiopi, but it wasn't the nicest for swimming.

We therefore decided to explore further afield, on one of the days making the trip up north to the Canal d'Amore, where the cliffs have been carved away into sea channels, with perfectly clear water. According to various legends, if a couple swims there they will either be in love forever, or get married very soon (which to me seem rather different things!).

 It's also horribly busy with tourists, so we admired it for a few photos, and then walked around the corner to a much quieter area (pictured below) for a swim.

We also ventured up to Loggas which had beautiful views and amazing white cliffs. We had wanted to eat lunch at the restaurant on the cliffs, as I had done so years before with Dad, but it was sadly closed for the season. We explored the beach for a while instead, so all was not lost.