"Trains and Boats and Planes........"

...............Well no trains but we do have boats and planes and a carriage…. A horse drawn one!

This is a quick summary of our days out with Becky, “Pig” and Hannah, our most recent visitors from the UK.

Hannah

Becky and Pig

Although they are not staying with us but “slumming it” at the local boutique hotel, Delfino Blue www.delfinoblu.gr

As they are in the poor part of town we thought we’d take pity on them and take them out to see some of the wonderful sights on this island. We started off by showing them the highest point of the island and the monastery, where Becky and Liz managed to get a swift peek at a local “hunky” monk.
On the way up to the monastery, we noticed something slowly crossing the road, we thought at first it was a hedgehog but as we got closer it was a tortoise!!! Which live in the wild here; Keith had read in books by Gerald Durell and co that they existed in this area but we never expected to see one, we stopped and had a 5 minute photo opportunity with him then carried on up the hill.
We followed this with lunch in a mountain village where we planned the next few days. On our way back we called into the fishing village of Kassiopi, where our intrepid guests spied boats to hire and having negotiated an excellent rate of hire arranged to come back later in the week for a 6 hour adventure around the north eastern coastline. We’d only ever hired boats around San Stef. So we were very keen to join them on their adventure into what was for us an unknown area.

Liz, prepared a huge picnic including sandwiches, cheeses, ham, salami and of course beer and wine, we picked up our intrepid travellers and set off for life on the ocean waves!

B,H and P are experienced ‘boat people’ so we felt very safe setting out from Kassiopi harbour.

We travelled north towards the sandy beaches of Kalamaki Bay, and strayed a little further north to the edge of Almiros close to where Keith plays guitar on a Sunday night. then turned back and travelled south along the coast down to the beautiful and expensive resorts including Agni, where the beautiful and the rich play and dine out in top quality restaurants.

We stopped several times to swim and snorkel and introduce Hannah who is now 7 to the delights of swimming in the sea. We dropped anchor and picnicked in a beautiful bay just below San Stefanos on the east coast (yep they have as little imagination in place names as they have in naming their sons and daughters)
With fish swimming all around the boat in crystal clear waters. Becky and “Pig” or as we were now calling him “Captain Jack’s Eye” took turns at the wheel, as we sailed past beautiful luxury villas with pools

and even some with their own beaches and jetties, and at one point there were so many villas with pools that even 500 metres off shore we could smell the chlorine from their pools.

We arrived back in port late afternoon very happy and tired Keith and I saw areas of the coastline we didn’t know existed which we will explore again maybe on land or maybe hire a boat and visit some of these hidden gems of villages that are not evident from the road.

Another day we visited the marina at Gouvia, where the sea planes are based, with the idea that Becky, Hannah and Pig could maybe do the trip we once did to the local island Paxos, however the sea plane service is not running this year, but we did have a good old brows around the 100’s of very big stylish yachts and cruisers in the marina (how the other half live)

Then onto to Corfu town, as we’ve said before we never tire of visiting the town and its always nice to show people around for the first time, so as usual we parked in the old port and walked into the old narrow streets that surround this area. It was so hot that we had to keep taking refreshment stops; so on to the Liston for an ouzo meze and into the back streets for a lunch in a ‘locals only’ taverna.

Hannah was fascinated by the horse drawn carriages parked up on the edge of the liston and as we crossed the area leading to the old fortress the old guys who drive these carriages started to try and draw us in to a carriage ride we resisted then walked away discussed tactics and offered them a silly price to take us all for a drive, they said Yes!!!! So ½ hour touring the streets of old Corfu in a horse and cart with Hannah sitting proudly up front with the driver was a great treat!!
We’d planned to finish the day out by visiting Mouse Island again; this time we did route one straight to the key side just as a plane was landing (it was Friday, transfer day) and we all looked at each other and said ‘wouldn’t it be fab if we were on the causeway at the end of the runway when a plane came in’!!!!!!

As we waited….. Piggy spotted the lights of a plane coming in towards us, we positioned ourselves right in the middle of the flight path and braced ourselves on the footpath for the plane landing 100 metres away from us and flying right over our heads. What a noise, what a scary but exhilarating experience, which made us all scream!! it was a real white knuckle moment!!!

But not quite as crazy as the scooter riders who use this causeway to short cut the journey to Corfu town by 5 miles by driving along the narrow concrete track over the waterway; where there is just enough room for the bike or a pedestrian but not both but that doesn’t stop them hare-ing along oblivious to the dangers or anybody on the footpath……….just one kick……. !!
Anyway back in the car but before we set off home time for a couple of more photo opportunities as 2 more planes landed and 2 taxied to the end of the runway and took off, it was just like Keith’s lunch breaks at Yeadon tarn, next to Leeds Bradford Airport!!!

Thursday was the highlight for Hannah, she was going to actually go to one of Keith’s gigs!! She really is very excited that she actually knows a proper’ rock star’…..in real life! Thursdays gig is local in San Stefanos and is always a very lively one. Hannahs’s only issue, (which she pointed out to Keith) was that he played Sweet Home Alabama wrong!! It sounded nothing like Kid Rock? But she had a ball and was allowed stay up til 1am!!
What a perfect end to their first week here!

……..You are from another part of the world
You had to go back awhile and then
You said you soon would return again
I’m waiting here like I promised to
I’m waiting here, but where are you……?