Day 4: Heading to Corfu

Trip

Greece 2022

Location

Corfu 🇬🇷

Date

August 30, 2022

This morning we’re leaving Athens behind and making our way to 📍Corfu. We started the day by grabbing a bagel on the street before heading to the metro and then the Airport. The Greeks call their bagel: Koulouri. While it’s a bigger circle than a regular bagel, and it’s thinner, it’s about the same amount of dough that makes the bread circle, regardless of what you call it. It leaves you with greater crust surface for a crunchier experience. Other than that, it’s a sesame seed bagel to us North Americans. At 0.60€ each, they are very accessible bagels.

At the airport, we completed our breakfast with some of the food selection from the airport lounge. We reconnected with the chaos of boarding an internal flight. People are willing to elbow and trample one another to get on the plane first. While there are no prizes for early entry, I agree that overhead bin space is at a premium these days due to the chaos over lost luggage. Airline executives might pick up on the opportunity and either start charging people for overhead bin space or film a reality TV show based around travellers competing for bin space. I can imagine the announcer on the show: “On the last episode of Can You Store That Carry-On, Tim and Johanne came in later and now have to travel with the oversize and overweight carry-on past the gate agent and fit it in the bin - let’s see what happens!

Boarding might have been an extreme sport, but the rest of the flight and landing were quite civilized. The Corfu airport, not so much. Our original plan was to take a cab down to the city, but the limited availability of cabs at the airport led to a system of destination bidding. Drivers ask the small crowd where they are going, and passengers who essentially shout the furthest destination win. Corfu town, being a 25-minute walk, roughly 2km from the Airport, we lost every time.

We initially chose to take a cab instead of the bus due to limited information on the Corfu city bus system. Other than knowing that the number 15 bus goes and departs from the airport, there’s only a text description of its route. While 📍San Rocco Square might speak to somebody from the city, it does not speak much to the newcomers. Nevertheless, seeing we had no takers for our fare to the town, Karine sprinted to the cash machine, and we jumped into the bus seconds before its scheduled departure, saving ourselves the 30-minute wait and buying the 1.70€ bus fare for each of us straight from the driver. Ten minutes later, we arrived at the city entrance, marking the beginning of our disappointment.

We’re spending four days in Corfu (Tuesday to Saturday) and managed to walk the city in detail in less than two hours after arriving. The Venetian architecture is beautiful; the small streets twisting with three- to four-story buildings on each side are gorgeous. Once you’re out of the three or four bustling streets with all the tourist shops, you’re essentially alone on the street except for the occasional neighbourhood cat. While charming, it’s not enough to keep us entertained for the next three days.

In the lull between our walk and dinner, we made our first load of laundry with a machine in Greek. Google Translate was mainly accurate, with a couple of hilarious translations sneaked in, like the “sub-allergic” cycle. While the machine worked, we looked at what we could do for a couple of days on an island with 224km of coastline. After exploring many options, including finding a place to stay on a beach, we decided to rent a car and spend a day hiking and another day exploring the island.

We went for dinner at Abakas. The trick of arriving about 30 minutes before the usual local dinner time, which we developed in Italy, holds in Greece. We arrived around 8:30 and were immediately seated. People coming in 15 minutes after us had to queue.

Dinner was very much about meat. We tried 📍Abakas’ meat platter for two and had a series of starters to sample as much as we could from the place. It was all delicious; even our lone sweet pepper was barbecued to perfection, ensuring we had some vegetables that day. I’m not sure if olives count as vegetables, and technically, I think peppers are fruits. It’s the intention that counts, I’m told. Anyway, the sausage, ground meat, and meat on a stick were all expertly prepared and delicious. With a side of wine and a couple of neighbourhood cats, we had a great time and walked home with happy bellies.

Tomorrow, we’ll visit the local museum and fortress, and then leave the city to hike and explore the whole island over the next few days.

Corfu Airport Bus

Line 15 connects the airport with the port of Corfu, passing through the main intercity bus station of the island, then passing through the city center and specifically the Saroko Square (starting points), where there is also an information kiosk, as most starting points of the bus lines are there.