Day One: Rainy Days and Mondays
We arrived at the hotel late at night after being transferred by a minibus that I assume, looking at the decor and LED string lights is normally used for hen parties. We had just enough time to complain that there was no kettle or towels in our room and grab a quick drink at the bar before heading back to the room.
Because Lyn had now had one drink, and to be fair had knocked it back quickly, she staggered back to the room like a sailor who’d just returned after 6 months at sea and was making up for lost time. This might be a slight exaggeration for dramatic effect... but only slight.
The hotel had messed up the kids room so we spent the morning trying to sort that out. They had also upgraded the kids room and left them a bottle of Brut and a note congratulating them on their anniversary! Clearly having mixed up the 2 bookings.
I made Victoria take a picture of me doing my Ray Charles impression while Lyn and Matthew ran away... I don’t know why, the impression is quite good.
Lunch and a quick snooze we tried to head to the beach but after just 2 hours of working the lift, which is a massive feature of the hotel and the main way to get about, stopped working. Also the weather, which had been okay, started to turn.
After dinner I had a disagreement with the car hire guy who wanted my card details including security code so he could phone up his mate and pass them all on ‘for a deposit’. Nope not happy with that, I’ll sort it out in the morning.
Day Two: Bugs, Bars and Birthdays
I awoke to find that during the night my legs had been a buffet for local wildlife. I must be particularly tasty to Greek bugs because the last time I was bitten like this was in Rhodes.
I sorted out a car, a Fiat Panda that we shall call Spiros. We’d seen people getting on the shuttle coach the previous day. Queuing up like they were in a conga, no masks and thought a car for a couple of days would be the wiser choice
We drove to Corfu town to get some holiday essentials. Pandora charm, painting, shirt, hat, tat, etc. I like the way Mediterranean countries arrange their public spaces. They do it far better than we do with an eye to socialising not just shopping. I wouldn’t want to participate in any of that of course but it is nice to look at. The closest we get is the drunks hanging around Jubilee Square.
Lunch was at a pleasant cafe called The Meat Corner and we all had souvlaki which is basically meat on a stick. Lyn said that she deserved a ‘Well done’ for eating what was basically chicken and chips and it being her birthday I relented. I also passed on my culinary wisdom that if you want to make anything ‘Greek’ all you need to do is cover it in honey and/or oregano. Job done!
We tied to find somewhere called Mouse island but the closest we could find was hotel of a similar name but with no island in sight (we’ll try again tomorrow) so drove back to the hotel rally style. The roads in Corfu mean that everywhere you drive is ‘rally style’.
As the lift was working we headed for the beach really just for a photo opportunity and to dip our toes in the Ionian Sea, something we’d not done before.
We finished the evening with cocktails and dinner in the Culinarium. As birthdays and anniversaries go... not bad.
Day 3: If it brown it’s Poo
I awoke to find wildlife had come back for seconds... and probably thirds. I have never been this bitten before in my life. FYI it’s mosquito and wasp season (probably why this was so cheap).
After breakfast the search continued for Mouse Island. We eventually found it and it’s very pretty. Apart from its picturesque nature it’s other pull is supposed that it’s at the end of the runway and you can virtually spin the wheels of the planes as they fly over. No such luck these days.
Looking down on Mouse island is cafe, Cafe Kanoni which has, according to the owner, the best cappuccinos ‘in the galaxy!’ To be fair it was the best I’ve had, even Lyn liked it, but the galaxy is a big place so I’ll reserve judgment for now but highly recommend if you find yourself here.
Victoria noticed a brown mark on my T
-shirt. I told her it was poo and that any brown mark is always poo and not to believe anyone who says otherwise. Can you believe I give this stuff away for free!
Yesterday’s shopping apparently wasn’t good enough for the kids so we split up and Lyn and I went Durrell park (Not sure why the Durrells have a park) and the old fortress. Lyn had seen a church up there that looked like a temple and we were hoping that like most orthodox churches it would be impressive inside. Turns out it was built by the British therefore it just looked like a rather shabby church hall inside.
We got talking to a shop owner who was telling us quite it was compared to normal and that obviously it had been all year. They normally have 2 to 3 cruise ships dock every day as well as conventional tourists. 20% of the Greek economy is based on tourism. If this goes on into next year I don’t see how they can survive.
We found a nice little spot called Falaraki which is... I’m not sure to be honest. You had people swimming and just lying around in swimming costumes despite there being no sun or sand and looking a bit like a car park but very popular nonetheless.
We got in the car and just drove off in a random direction. The roads in Corfu are far worse than Rhodes and they were bad enough. I was starting to wish I’d taken out the extra underside insurance. We ended up at a place called Kaiser Seat. Nice views not much more you can say. Then after nearly killing someone on a roundabout that doesn’t follow roundabout rules I’d had enough at that point and we went back to the hotel.
A more relaxing day tomorrow... possibly some yoga!
Day 4: Holy Shit!
A thunder storm last night cleared the way for blue sky’s and rainbows in the morning. We had booked a walking tour to a local winery for the morning and we were waiting in reception when the guide informed us that the planned route was very muddy. She had pictures of how muddy it was. I was not dressed appropriately so we decided to skip it and just try the finished product in the afternoon.
Sadly the yoga class was also full but I thought I’d try a bit of downward dog on the balcony. All fours is obviously far more advanced yoga position which I cracked straight away so felt no need to go to easier stuff.
There’s a chapel about a kilometre along the coast so we, Lyn, Matthew and myself, decided to walk to that instead. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of orthodox chapels in obscure places. You have to ask yourself why any god would require you to make such a trip to say hello.
We got chatting to a lady from the spar and talked about the mosquitos so I showed her my legs. She exclaimed ‘Holy Shit!’ I love it when people who aren’t natural English speakers swear. Shows they been taught properly.
After lunch we found a nice shady spot and just chilled. The weather was perfect and we did a bit of people watching. Pregnant or fat? Is she after his money? That sort of thing. We also played a bit of Uno where everybody cheated except me and participated in the hotel quiz which we won! Special mention must be made of Victoria’s contribution of two answers, the chemical symbol for gold and 1 of 3 countries that begin with J.
Lovely sunset for our last day, back home tomorrow.
Day 5: Final day and last photo blast.
It’s fair to say we haven’t seen Corfu or the hotel at it’s best. This was booked back at the beginning of the year during lockdown and was meant as just a few days away for our anniversary as our main holidays had been cancelled.
Despite the wasps, the mosquitoes, a bit of iffy weather, staff looking like they’re about to perform surgery and a general downgrade of what should have been a 5 star hotel experience it’s been nice to get away and a bit of sun on my old bones has done the world of good.
I haven’t looked at any news and Lyn switched off all work related messages and so from that perspective it’s been a raging success.
Corfu itself is a very pretty island, more so than Rhodes in my opinion and certainly more verdant. It would be nice to come back for longer and in more normal times. But not in mosquito season.
Should you go on holiday at this time? Well that depends. If you are over 75, obese with heart condition, don’t go on holiday... or do. At this point if you don’t know the risks then quite frankly that’s on you. The main issue as I see it is the flight but I’ll do a separate post on that. I’d say you’re far more likely to catch something in the local supermarket but if that’s your concern, again don’t go. Quite frankly I’m surprised the rest of the world hasn’t banned the UK rather than the other way around.
So now we are sat at the airport waiting to come home. We don’t have anything booked in the future I’ll wait until the bites on my legs have died down and then visit Bideford Travel. There’s still lots more of the world to see and an elephant to ride
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