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Published: September 17th 2016
Rovinia Beach
Beautiful, secluded and most importantly - not busy.Corfu is one of those beautiful and popular holiday destinations that'd you'd take your partner or family to for a well-planned summer vacation - you know, when you have a job, have money and are well-organised.
Well, I should've thought of that before deciding to go there.
First of all, it is August and peak season, so finding anywhere to stay on the island was a challenge let alone finding somewhere cheap and available relatively last-minute. I was lucky to get something a week in advance for 25€ a night on Airbnb.
As this was my first Airbnb reservation, I did honestly have my suspicions about it. The host had no reviews at all despite having an account on the website for two years and was the only person of the five I wrote to who accepted my reservation request. There was no address supplied and he would not be there personally to host me or check me in as he supposedly had exams on the mainland and would not be in Corfu. I nevertheless gave my payment to Airbnb and hoped for the best.
My arrival in Corfu was inauspicious.
I was hungover from
having had a big one the afternoon and night before and getting on
View From The Old Fortress, Corfu Town
Looking over the marina towards the island of Ptichia. a one-hour ferry probably isn't a good idea if you're hungover.
There were some waves we went over that made it difficult to walk on the boat and almost set off my seasickness, but thankfully the ride was mostly calm and scenic.
I then arrived on the island, missing the first bus into town from the port, meaning I had to wait an hour for the next one.
In town, I then needed to catch another bus to Evropouli, a small Greek village 6km or so from Corfu Town, where my Airbnb was - only to discover that I had missed the last bus there for the day. I was also hoping to buy some more food before going out there as Evropouli isn't big enough to have a supermarket; but it was Sunday, meaning that everything was closed, which was also why the buses finished early. I shuddered thinking about how much a taxi might cost - conversations with a couple of locals put the price at about 20€, which is 2/3 of my daily budget. Godammit Derek. It was almost the price of one night's accommodation here; and the price of at least two nights' accommodation in a
Streets Of Corfu Town
Much more Italian in look and feel than Greek. Balkans hostel. Had I been attentive when researching the bus timetables, then this was a fate that could well have been avoided by timing my arrival better.
Meanwhile, I hadn't heard from my host regarding whether his parents would be greeting me when I arrived in Evropouli - I had no address to go to and so the alarm bells started ringing that I'd indeed been scammed and that I'd be sleeping on the streets that night. A pizza joint owner was kind enough to let me charge my phone and use her wifi to wait for a response...and I was starting to wish I hadn't decided to come to Corfu at all two hours later, when I still had no response from my host.
And I probably would've skipped Corfu just like I had with
the French Riviera had I not already told my father to courier my new credit card here - so now I
had to come here.
I walked to the pickup address DHL had given me while waiting for my Airbnb host to respond, only to discover that it wasn't actually a DHL service point, but some sort of office; I had no idea what type
Old Fortress, Corfu Town
The outer walls of the fortress were constructed by the Venetians in the 15th century. of office because the signage was all written in Greek alphabet (it was a lawyer's office, it turned out).
This trip to Corfu had the potential to be a disaster - tracking the package online, I then discovered that it wasn't even in Corfu yet and had been stuck in Athens for four days. So basically, I had decided to come here to pick up my package and now I could end up having to sleep on the streets - or shell out bucketloads for a hotel - here for a few days waiting for the package to never arrive. All this while nursing a hangover. F*ck.
Well thankfully I wouldn't be sleeping on the streets. My host finally gets back to me and his father - who doesn't speak a word of English - is waiting for me in the main 'square' of Evropouli and checks me into the apartment, which is basic to say the least, but it's all to myself. Sadly, despite the listing saying that there was wifi, there is none - and the toilet's flush is pathetic. Bucket flushes it is, then. At least the day was over with an adequate conclusion, I guess.
Evropouli
Cute little village where I stayed in Corfu. As for Evropouli, it's actually a pretty little town, with narrow winding streets and cute, colourful houses; an authentic Greek village reminiscent of an authentic Italian village - the Ionian islands do tend to have a more Italian feel than the rest of Greece, after all.
I get a message from my father the next day saying that DHL needed to contact me to arrange a pickup with a local courier company - and that they had tried calling me but with no success. This was because my Dad had given them the wrong phone number and that the phone they were trying to ring was
somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
I try calling DHL myself but it is a public holiday - of course it f*cking is - meaning that no-one was on the phones at DHL, buses were less frequent again and that pretty much nothing bar a few cafes and souvenir shops was open. I would have to try calling them again the next day - my last full day in Corfu, meaning that they had better be able to get the package to me quick smart.
Going back into Corfu Town, I scab some more free wifi from the
Cafe Scene, Corfu Town
The old pedestrian streets of Corfu Town are a pleasant place to enjoy a cuppa. same pizza joint while hiding from the staff, to look up bus and ferry timetables and other various bits and pieces before enjoying an overpriced Greek salad at one of the open cafes and then going on a walking tour of the city.
The old town is pleasant, with a Venetian flavour to it similar to
Korcula,
Dubrovnik or
Kotor. The pedestrian streets are overstuffed with souvenir shops. Walking around the town, I noticed loads of abandoned cars and empty buildings - a sign o'the times in Greece right now?
In keeping with the kind of time I was having in Corfu thus far, the supposedly excellent Antivouniotissa Museum of Byzantine artefacts and icons was closed, the new fortress was closed, I realised I didn't have enough money to get into the old fortress when I got there, and I was not allowed to take any photos of the very impressive interior of the St Spiridon Church, which is fairly bland on the outside.
After a trip to the ATM, I finally get to explore Corfu Town's old fortress which is reasonably interesting and has stunning views over the water and the town. Just about worth it.
Perhaps
Church Of St George, Corfu Town
Church inside the old fortress originally built by the British when they had control of Corfu in the 19th century. what summed up my time in Corfu best was when my bus back to Evropouli is held up for several minutes by a march through the street celebrating the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the reason it was a public holiday. While the other tourists on the bus were fascinated by this religious ritual, I mutted an audible "for f*ck's sake". I had seen
things like this before. Still a little hungover as well as hot, tired and hungry from the stress and exertions of the day, I was just fed up and wanted to get back to my bare bones apartment.
It was a 6.30am start the next morning, Corfu's cross-island bus schedule dictating that I had to start early. I hardly slept - sleep anxiety caused by knowing you have to wake up early the next morning making it even more difficult to sleep.
But I finally got some good news.
Just as I was starting to look up accommodation on or near Corfu to extend my stay, I gave DHL a call whose very helpful, English-speaking agent tells me that my package was already in Corfu! It was at a different address to the initial one I was given.
Liapades Beach
View from the path leading to Rovinia Beach. I still had a bit of time before needing to catch my cross-island bus - enough for me to go and pick up the package!
At the courier office, I am rather worryingly not ID'd for the package - I guess having the tracking number is enough - but I finally had my hands on my new credit card. And as the courier office was right next to the port, I also bought my ferry ticket to mainland Greece for the next day while I was at it. Sweet! Now I could finally, properly relax on this island!
But first, I had to let Google Maps guide me to the bus station in 25 minutes. It tells me that it's just a 17-minute walk so it should be fine.
"You can trust me" said Google Maps.
"I'll show you the quickest way" it sald.
"I won't lead you down dead ends" it said.
"I won't lead you through private property and across f*cking corn fields" it said.
It's not the first time Google Maps has lead me wrong. Just the second.
It ended up being a 25-minute sprint to catch my bus. Thankfully it wasn't during the heat of
Paleokastritsa
Arguably Corfu's most famous and popular stretch of coast. the day but I was still saturated by the end of it.
At the bus station, the ticket clerk is on the phone for
ages while my bus is ready to go. Once off the phone, he then points me to another ticket desk.
"What?" I exclaim, exasperated.
He then angrily points to the sign above his head.
"Athens or Thessaloniki only!" he says.
At the correct ticket desk, I ask for a ticket to Paleokastriti. The clerk then points me directly to the bus. Buy on board.
So I just made the bus...and then realised once the bus got going, that it stops for passengers at the f*cking port! Where I just was! Why didn't I know that?! How do people know that?! FFS.
Corfu has some magnificent beaches by all accounts and the stunning coastline came into view as we got to arguably Corfu's most famously beautiful stretch of coast - Paleokastriti.
It's a bit different here to Croatia - there's a little sand here and higher cliffs, giving it a different, more dramatic look. The water is clearer here, although Croatia's has that emerald colour like I've never seen. Like Croatia's water, Corfu's is salty and
Paleokastritsa Dream
It's only a dream - to the left are hundreds of people. cool - more so here on both counts, I think. The water is so clear however that you just have to open your eyes underwater - but it really stings!
Doing research on Corfu's beaches, it was clear that Paleokastriti was the island's busiest - but that there was a lovely secluded one about one-and-a-half hour's walk away called Rovinia which I was keen to get to. I thought that there might be boats going from Paleokastriti to Rovinia, which can only be accessed by boat or foot - and sure enough, there are. There are a load of water taxis willing to take me there as well as to a couple of caves for just 15€ - a fair price to pay for (almost) my own beach.
But first of all, I wanted to walk back along the coastal road for some photos.
Now those of you who read my blog regularly will know that I walk - a lot.
Part of it is the backpacker mentality of "f*ck paying that, I'll walk" and another is my constant underestimation of distances ("7km is nothing, I'll walk"). This means that even the most simple of walks can turn
La Grotta, Paleokastritsa
Cute little cove along the coast of Paleokastritsa. into a full-on hike.
So I was meant to just walk a few minutes along the coast but ended up going further and further, wanting to see if more breathtaking coastline lay around the corner. There was. And when I decided to head back, I realised that I had walked an hour - and that I was almost halfway to Rovinia. So sensing a chance to save myself half a day's budget, I kept on going, an elderly couple on a power walk in the same direction motivating me even more.
"Imagine how much better the water and the empty beach will feel after sweating for it Derek!" I told myself.
And 45 minutes later, I had made it. I allowed myself a celebratory fist pump.
Secluded and with some of the clearest water I have seen, it wasn't quite empty - but it was far from busy. It was easy enough to find your own 10sqm of beach. And as you can see from the pictures, I reckon that it was probably the best beach I have been to on this European trip. Finally, time to properly relax - and relax I did. What a great afternoon.
I
Beach Scene, Rovinia Beach
Life was good. Until I had to go catch the bus. wanted to stay all afternoon there - but I had to catch the 4pm bus back to Corfu Town, as it was the last one.
As a result, I probably stayed a touch too long at the beach and had a 20-minute sprint from the beach and through the quaint, narrow-streeted, pedestrian maze that was the village of Liapades, trying to find the bus stop.
Arriving there just before 4pm, I then discover that the bus doesn't actually come until 4.40pm...and that I could have had an extra forty minutes at the beach. For some reason, I just had it in my head that the last bus was at 4pm - I even had the timetable saved on my phone. I've been looking at too many bus timetables, I think - but given the way my whole time on Corfu has gone, I guess it just had to end this way.
After all that, I do understand why so many people come here for vacation. It really is a gem of an island and there is so much more of it to explore. Without the stress I endured and with a bigger budget, I could definitely see myself really
Corfu Clearwater, Rovinia Beach
Perhaps the clearest water I have seen in Europe. enjoying it here.
After all that, I actually see myself still coming back - I hardly ever say that about
anywhere.
And after everything I went through, who would've thought that?
Τα λέμε,
Derek
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