Greek Odyssey

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Friday 15th April 2011

Up and off to Ancona to catch the ferry ( 2 days late ) to Igoumenitsa, Northern Greece.
Arrived in plenty of time and collected tickets however there were no cabins available and it looks at this stage as though we are going to spend an uncomfortable night in airline style seats.
Our departure is delayed due to passengers being diverted from Venice where their sailing has been cancelled. As a result the ship is full to bursting and hope of a cabin diminishes.
Max ( god bless ) waits patiently in reception for 2 hours as cabins are allocated to passengers that have been diverted from Venice. Finally the only spare cabin available is offered to us – an outside junior suite sleeping 3 – we take it, the boys can top and tail in the single.
Settled in we get dinner in the self service and make our way to the lounge where we meet Fernard and Yvette from Gent, who we met earlier at the San Marino campsite, for a drink. We arrange to call in on them later on our trip at Camping Isthmia near Corinth where they spend the summer. A pleasant end to a stressful day.

Saturday 16th April 2011

Woken by our alarm to see Corfu from the cabin window. A quick shower and breakfast and we are ready to disembark. Suprisingly our arrival time of 0930 is back on schedule - the captain must have put his foot down overnight. Disembarcation involves driving off the boat out of the port and away - simples peeps.
We then find a supermarket to stock up for the weekend and then make our way down the coast 7km to Camping Kalami Beach – a family owned and run site on the water’s edge. To celebrate our arrival in Greece we have dinner in the campsite restaurant – first souvlaki and tzatziki of the trip – magic.

Sunday 17th April 2011

Warm sunny day and a day of rest. Sat on the beach and read whilst the boys take advantage of the free wifi. Later try to catch up with the blog with some success.

Monday 18th April 2011

Trip to the port and the offices of the ferry company where the chief purser on the ferry had said we could reclaim our money for the missed sailing. Disappointingly referred to ‘customer relations’. Might have to write that one off. Whilst in town take the opportunity to purchase a data SIM card for my unlocked dongle. The operator ‘wind’ offer a good deal 15€ for 3GB – thank you I've now got wind. Then its off to LIDL, who have over 200 stores in Greece, for some shopping in preparation for moving on tomorrow.
In the evening we walk down to the beach ( 25m ) to watch the sun set over a beautiful calm bay.

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