Friday 21 August 2015

[Greece] The Island of Corfu

In Greek, Corfu Island is called Kerkyra.
It is located at the Northwest of Greece, while Mykonos and Santorini are at the Southeast.
Because it is so close to the heel of Italy, you could see much Italian influences on the Island.

There are many English, Russian and Italian tourists.
For once, I could count the amount of Asian tourists I saw on this trip with my 10 fingers.

The direct flight from London to Corfu is approximately two hours and 50 minutes.
I departed from Gatwick with my medium-sized backpack for a three-day and three-night trip.
Thanks to it being the summer, I managed to fit four outfits, two bikinis and all my toiletries in that backpack!
Truly travelling light!

On arrival, I was brought to an experimental jazz gig in the city centre (I think) and then for drinks until 2:30am.

For the Greeks, it's incredibly normal to eat dinner after 10pm and stay up to drink and chat until the next morning.
(And I thought 3am was late...)

You could probably say this type of lifestyle has took a toll on the economy, but I saw many hardworking people as well.

There are always stores and restaurants open all-day and all-night.
Can you imagine how tiring it must be for the owners and workers?

After very little sleep, we had breakfast and headed out for a beach-hopping day at 10am.

There were about 10 of us and we rented two speed boats.




Along the way, we saw beautiful caves and mountains weathered by the waves.




We arrived at the first beach, which was kind of crowded because of the sandy beach and the two caves.


I didn't want my hair to get wet, so I kept my floaty close by.


That was a fun but tiring day.

We went back to the hotel for a nap.
At 9pm, we got up and prepared for a night out.
We waited at this elegant hotel lobby for the taxi, which took us to the village of Pelekas.

 The bunch of us hung around the Zanzibar for the night!

Opposite the bar, the same band from the first night was playing again.
This time with a jazz player, who played the alto, soprano and tenor saxophone all in the same piece of music.

You know how good he was just by looking at how mesmerized this little girl looked!

We finally woke up at holiday time (around 10am) and had breakfast the next day.

By 12:30pm, we were here, preparing for parasailing!
Do you spot us on the platform preparing for our take off run?

I was ready to run at full speed.
Thankfully, the staff said we just needed to run in small steps.

And...we were in the sky like birds!


The ride was about 15 to 20 minutes.

We landed in the sea gently, swam our way to the speed boat while the boat driver retrieved the parachute.

Later in the afternoon, we finally did our first touristy thing: visit the beautiful Archilleion Palace.

This palace was built by Empress Elisabeth of Austria (known as "Sissi").


Though it was very hot outside, inside the palace remained relatively cool.

The shaded areas in the garden also kept us from the heat.


Here you see a statue of Archilles, a Greek hero of the Trojan War.

He is known for his slaying of the Trojan hero, Hector, outside the gates of Troy.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Achilles is also famously known as an unbeatable warrior in which his only weakness was his heel.
Hence, the "Archilles' heel."



We saw a couple dance (ballroom dance) and they left shortly after we came in.

We, too, started dancing to imaginary music and I thought that was a pretty romantic thing to do in a palace <3


The SUV we had was manual, so I couldn't share the driving. 

I took photos of the town instead.



We were on our way back to the hotel to get some cash.

So I didn't have to stay behind and wash the dishes after...

My previous post gave a pretty good idea of all the good food we had for dinner that night.

After a bit of binge eating, we walked around town and encountered more food seduction...

The restaurant was near the sea.  We managed to walk along the beach as the sun set.

As dusk arrived.
This was the last sunset for our Corfu trip this year.

We ate breakfast the next morning and managed a stroll around the hotel before leaving.

The pool area I never got to play in :(
I saw that they had an aerobics teacher the other day teaching on shore, while the students were following her moves in the water.

The most gorgeous view after the previous night's thunder and lightning.

The lightning was so bright and thunder so loud we thought it was a bomb.

Trailing off to a small island near the breakfast area, I was able to snap a photo of the hotel.

While I was waiting for check-out, one of the hotel staff gave me a farewell gift: a small treat box!

What a simple yet thoughtful gesture :)

Then, we flew back to London.

We both were missing home towards the end of the trip, but at the moment of leaving, that feeling complicated with wanting more of Corfu.

Since 2012, I've been wanting and wishing to visit the Greek islands Mykonos and Santorini.

Shortly after my relocation to London, I've learned of Corfu and have wanted to visit since.

By the mid-summer of 2015, I've visited all three Greek islands.
I am most DEFINITELY a happy camper!

I find that having photos and blog posts to look back to for all the wonderful trips I've been on is very important.
Thank you for taking your time to read :)

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