We are on a travel day. Yesterday we had an ambitious plan to walk to the šMon Repos Estate with its English villa and its shaded grounds. The twenty-five-minute walk to visit the birthplace of Prince Philippe of Greece, the late husband of Elisabeth II. From there, we would simply walk an additional 20 minutes to the Airport. Great plans donāt survive an encounter with reality, and in our case, our plan didnāt survive our desire to sleep as late as we could.
We exited the apartment at exactly 10:00, our designated checkout time. We headed back to šStarenio bakery for a meat pie, toast with honey and yogurt with honey. With a sample of two different meat pies, I can declare they taste close to the same. They are delicious, simply not varied. With breakfast done, we walked to Cafetierra for an iced latte and some chill until itās time for us to grab the bus at 12:30.
The Corfu airport afforded us our first meeting with a busy security line. Luckily, we were eligible for the āfast trackā and were escorted in the middle of the āspecial needsā line. Iām not sure how being behind a couple of families was faster than queuing for the three other open security lanes, but we did our time and went through.
Our trip took us from Corfu back to Athens for a connection to Rhodes. We splurged on business class for our Aegean flight because it was reasonably priced. For those flights at least, business really is economy with nobody in the middle seat and a little extra legroom. Nevertheless, it afforded us priority boarding, which, when you need to be bused from the gate to your plane, is that people in business (three rows of 4 people) and people with children get their own bus for planing and deplaning. I donāt care about getting a full bus, but it did ensure we didnāt have to battle people and get elbowed while getting in the plane, so we got overhead bin space for our bags.
We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we landed in Rhodes. After the thirty-minute cab ride to our hotel, night had fallen. Ever since our first visit to Genoa back in 2008, weāve established that no new city makes a good first impression at night. Walking to dinner, we were convinced that Rhodes was no exception to this rule at first. Following Google maps directions, we walked along a couple of āgarbage alleysā with limited lighting and the obligatory garbage bins and litter on the ground. Having extra time for our dinner reservation, we detoured through the old city and, while we crossed it through the main tourist thoroughfare, the entrance and exit of the walled town left us with a positive impression of the city and the desire to explore it further in the daytime.
Dinner at 4 Rodies was delicious. Karine ordered us a good series of mezze to sample as much as the place had to offer. All great, the bread (pita and garlic) and a dish of baked eggs, potatoes and local spiced sausage do stand out. Their house wine (offered in dry and semi-sweet) was good and not worth splurging on a name-brand bottle. Being a waiter at 4 Rodies seems a stressful job, however. They were always in a hurry, which, as it was for us, created confusion, and they missed one of our mezze and our second bottle of sparkling water. They made things right for the former, providing an extra plate at the house (we had sausages), but failed to correct the latter, which we only discovered after paying the bill. We donāt hold it against them, considering the mad dash they seem to do all night. The restaurant also offers a free dessert, a small honey cake with a sweet topping paired with a shot of sweet and ācinnamonyā liquor. We tried refusing it, and it didn't compute for the staff. After being offered multiple times, we relented and took the dessert, if only because it seemed to be the cue to bring the bill. While I wouldn't go there for either the cake or liquor, it was a pleasant ending to a good meal.
Places
Mon Repos Estate Ā· Dairpfela 16, Kerkira 491 00, Greece
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Starenio bakery Ā· Gkilford 59, Kerkira 491 00, Greece
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Cafetierra Ā· Kapodistriou 8, Kerkira 491 00, Greece
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4 Rodies Ā· Kanada 29, Rodos 851 00, Greece
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