Out and About, Creatures and More Amusing Signs

It’s nearly 2½ months since we arrived here & it’s still amazing & amusing to see so many contrasting things as we are out & about. Liz has had a fascination for trying to sight an old man on a donkey, something we used to see quite often when we first came to Corfu several years ago, and so she was very excited when we spotted one on the road from Roda to Sidari. It was several weeks before we spotted him again when we had a camera in the car, & we managed to get a couple of shots for posterity. I imagine when he has gone, the tradition of using a donkey for transport will not pass on to subsequent generations!

And we found the old couple in the mountain village selling home made honey, wine, olives and olive oil. We had bought honey from them years ago when the old guy slapped Liz on the bum, Liz insisted we stopped again to buy some honey & olives, he got quite excited when we asked him to pose for a photo & he managed to keep his hands to himself this time! She is now on the lookout for little old ladies, in traditional Corfiot dress, including headscarf and no teeth, (think she’s looking for a role model for future years?)

Also unique to these parts is the 3 wheeler truck, the engine is a cross between a motorcycle & a sit-on lawnmower. I often think this would be fun to own, to go to gigs in with my entire PA in the back but as it’s a single-seater cab so Liz would have to travel with the baggage as well! Mmnn!!

The wild life is not as obvious as you would first think, no foxes, rabbits or hedgehogs (although rabbit is on sale in all the butchers) & yesterday Helen saw a hedgehog crossing the road near our villa, moving about the same speed as a tourist, all the cars stopped for it (which is more than they do for the tourists). We have bright green tree frogs where we are staying, you hear them bleeping in the night like a car alarm on standby, we actually found one on the wall of our house one night.

We had lunch in Paramonas, on the west coast yesterday after a drive down to the south. This is largely a German resort, where last year, Keith famously ordered a Greek coffee after his meal and stirred it and drained the last drop which was like drinking sand off the beach mixed with tar! Not recommended! This time we managed to spot a very rare creature, not often seen on this Island, emerging from the sea onto a beach full of semi clad tourists. It was a man in a full wet suit. We half expected him to unzip the suit and step out in a full dinner suit 007 style.

One evening we came home to find a bat resting on our doorstep below the shutters, it resisted most attempts to move it, finally clinging onto the sole of a flip flop offered to it as a substitute branch, we left it in the grass next the house after posing for photos with us, & in the morning it was gone. The cig packet does not belong to the bat, we put it there to show you how small the bat is.

We do have an abundance of small lizards (geckos), which seem to be the staple diet of the local cat population, although they do scrounge from the holiday- makers when they can. There is also a stray dog issue in Corfu, wherever you go you see unkempt, scraggy looking mutts, a local rescue organisation exists but the number of dogs on the streets seems to be growing.

We try and wait to eat dinner after sunset (about 9pm) so that wasps do not attack us throughout our meal. We end up constantly wafting them away and looking like a bizarre Morris dancing troupe. But then as soon as the sun sets you have the Mosquitoes to deal with, and the whole ritual of lighting citronella candles and incense burners and spraying yourself all over with mosiguard, so you end up smelling like a cross between an old peoples home and an old donkey!! You have to be very vigilant out here not to leave anything around that could attract ants; they instantly appear for the slightest crumb. You find yourself constantly sweeping the balconies and verandas. (Liz in her black dress again) She is enjoying it so much I think we’ll sell the Dyson & buy her a “Ewbank” sweeper (readers under 30 check Google for a description of what a Ewbank is).

When you are driving around the Island and see this on the roadside it makes you feel a lot safer......

Here are a couple more endearing signs.............

Bye for now x