Corfu 11 – 18 August 2006

[wiz]

After my return from Kos last June, where Olga and I had a wonderful holiday, we continued talking, almost daily on the phone and getting to know each other better.

Olga told me that she was missing my company and she would like to see me again very soon. Initially we had agreed to have another holiday, in October, in Kos but she made it clear she wanted to be much earlier, sometime in August and of course I agreed with her.

Olga suggested that we go on holidays to Antalya, Turkey because she does not need a visa, but I refused to go there. I told her that I prefer to go on holidays in Greece, where she can get to know my country of origin, visit the place where I was brought up and that way understand me better too. At the same time she is building up the number of visa stamps there, which will make life easier in the future and I have explained previously the reasons for that.

On my side it is very easy to travel anywhere in Greece at a moments notice but for her a lot of planning has to be made and effort to get the Visa. I told her that she better visit the Greek Consulate in Moscow and get a Visa, so she can travel independently without paying the very expensive prices their Tour Operators are charging. Poor Olga is not used to all that independent planning and always depended on their group booking system their agents offer there and I had a problem to convince her to act on her own. I supplied her, of course, with all the necessary documentation for the Greek Consulate and finally she decided to go to Moscow and try and get a Visa.

Unbeknown to us the Greek consulate had moved building lately and in the new building they were processing only 30 applications a day……where there was a very long queue outside for about 300 people, when Olga went there.

After waiting for a couple of hours in the queue and realising that she has no chance of getting inside the Consulate, Olga left and went straight to the Tour Operators office and booked a holiday in Corfu for the 11 August paying a very expensive price, which of course included the acquiring of her Visa. Basically she paid double the money that a client from UK booked to the same hotel would have paid!

I think I better explain how the Russian tour operators work and why Russians pay so much more.

Corfu has been popular with the Russians for over 10 years and there are 2 weekly charter flights from Moscow during the summer holidays. Russian companies do not make direct contracts with the hotels but via the local travel agents. The British tour operators sign Guaranteed contracts directly with the hotels, therefore they get a much cheaper price. The hotels offer much higher prices for the Russians to the local travel agent, and then he adds his own commission at the price, because he is responsible for the payments to the hotel and of course the Russian company add its own profit too. I know all that as a fact because the local agent for this particular Russian tour operator is a friend of mine. Flying time to Corfu from Moscow is the same as it is from Gatwick and looking the flight only prices on their site, is obvious they have the same cost as us here in UK. When I made a comparison with a particular 4 start hotel their prices where double of what I would charge to my clients!

Anyhow she booked this nice 4 star hotel in Corfu but I told her that was full for that period. Next day the operator phoned and offered her another hotel, the 3 star Akrotiri. A couple of days later they phoned her back and told her that was not available and offered another one called Paleokastritsa hotel, where we finally stayed.

During the period 11 August to 16 August Corfu is always fully booked everywhere, because of local religion festivals and celebrations and also is very popular with the nearby Italians receiving 1000’s of visitors. At the time I realised that I have to move my arse and make sure we get confirmation for the room from Paleokastritsa hotel.

After a couple of phone calls to the owner of the hotel, an old acquaintance of mine and to the local agent of the Russian operator (old friend of mine too) I secured a nice room on the 5th floor with sea view. Olga was very happy to receive finally the confirmation of the room but she was told that she will get all her documents, including her passport on the day of departure at Domodetovo airport. She told me that was standard practice of most tour operators in Russia……something which is very strange for us here in the UK, but I can understand that the tour operators there also process and apply for a Group Visa so they keep clients travel documents very close to the departure date.

I booked my own flight to Corfu and flew there on Friday the 11 August in the morning arriving around 3 hours ahead of Olga. On arrival in Corfu I received a text message from Olga advising me that everything was ok and she is flying to Corfu.

When her flight arrived in Corfu I was very happy to see Olga coming out of the transfer bus and she also saw me at the same time and then I knew we were going to have a wonderful holiday.

Corfu immigration is used to handling large number of tourists but when the Russian entered the arrival lounge they broke rank and all together approached the immigration desk, which created havoc to the whole operation. I had gone through to the arrival’s lounge because I know everybody down there, so a word at the right person and Olga was in the front of the queue and in 1 minute out collecting her luggage. Another few minutes talking to the local representative and we were on the way to the hotel with my rented car.

The weather was very hot and Olga was very impressed and pleased with the view of our Balcony and she was like a little child and all over me!   

Below are couple photos of the Mouse Island, the Corfu trade mark and also the view from our Balcony!

[BillyB]

Nice scenery.

[wiz]

Part 2 – first day

The weather was extremely hot, as I said before, both of us were tired from travelling, been up since 3 AM, so we had a siesta for a couple of hours.

Having lived in the island for many years before, I decided to impress Olga with its stunning scenery, so at around 5 PM I took her around the Paleokastritsa area and we went to the monastery, which is perched up in one of the hills.

To my surprise when we reached the top of the hill we discovered that a restaurant has been build there so we went for a coffee and a snack before visiting the monastery.

As you can see from the photos Paleokastritsa is a very picturesque place and is visited daily by 1000’s of people. The Monastery is one of its best attractions and Olga and I went round, visiting its little Change and also the museum. We took some photos and then started driving up the winding very narrow road to go to a place called Bella Vista, where you can see the Panoramic views of Corfu and Paleokastritsa.

In my previous post I have posted a couple of photos taken from Bella Vista and I will let them speak for themselves. Of course Olga was very impressed with the views and she loved looking through the little telescope installed up there. Bella Vista was always the spot to visit and have a coffee while enjoying the view.

Later I continue our touring by driving north through the villages of Makrades and Vistonas, then across to the east to join the main road going north from Corfu town. This road is build at the top of the small mountain and the views of the north and south of the island are spectacular. When we joined the main Road I drove downhill towards Corfu town. By then was getting late so we decided to go for dinner so I stopped to a small restaurant, which I knew, and we had an excellent meal, of roll pork cooked on the charcoal. 

I noticed that Olga was not very happy of the amount of food they brought us because she said we can’t eat all that and will go wasted. Obvioulsy her frugal nature can’t change in one day and that is a good sign for me. I told her that how is in Greece so to stop worrying about the portions of food we get, just enjoy what you like.

I think our daily talk on the phone has benefited Olga and she was very bubbly and very talkative. I also noticed the change and difference in her behaviour, from that in Kos. Where in Kos she was very conservative and subdued now she was more open, warmer and demonstrative. Of course that pleased me a lot and I knew, then, that we are going the right direction and we will have an excellent time, enjoying both, a good holiday and getting much closer and know each other better.

Back at the hotel we sat on the balcony and continue the Russian tradition when meeting a friend……..Olga drinking from her Martini bottle and me having 2-3 glasses of Coca cola mixed with little whisky

[BC]

Thanks for the pics Wiz.. added another entry on our short list of 'places to go' .

Olga seems to be a quite pleasant woman with a genuine smile for you 

Enjoy!

[wiz]

Thanks for the pics Wiz.. added another entry on our short list of 'places to go' .

Olga seems to be a quite pleasant woman with a genuine smile for you 

Enjoy!

Thanks BC

Yes she is very genuine and is not desperate to move abroad for better life! She does well in Russia, as you know she pays for her own holidays) but of course she is looking for a man to share life.........maybe I will be the lucky one! LOL Early days yet my friend......and I keep my options open still.

Corfu is not far from where you live.......just pop over to Brindisi and 4 hours later by boat you are there. September is a very good month to go.

Wait for more photos later.

[SANDRO43]

Thanks for the pics Wiz.. added another entry on our short list of 'places to go'

BC, considering your current location, you could go over there in a rowboat .

[PeeWee]

A nice report, Wizzer. Your photos are great! I am happy that this holiday and meeting was what you had hoped it would be. Is your lady now living in Ukraine?

Peevee 

[beattledog]

great trip report

beattledog

[wiz]

A nice report, Wizzer. Your photos are great! I am happy that this holiday and meeting was what you had hoped it would be. Is your lady now living in Ukraine?

Peevee 

HA HA HA

Peewee I think the Egyptian sun and Lena have made you to loose your marbles.......LOL

No Olga lives just outside of Moscow and she works for one of the Ministries on the Financial department!

Thanks for your nice comments......but have little free time to write more because of current work that I must finish soon. Promise to continue writing ......

Beetledog

Thanks but next time make it 3 lines....LOL

[Turboguy]

I will make sure I don't make this too short so no one confuses me with beattle.   Great photos and great trip report Wiz.  It looks beautiful there.  It is one of the countries I have never visited.  I think it looks like something to make next on my list if I ever find the right gal to accompany me.   You two seem like you make a really nice couple.  I am happy it all went well.

[PeeWee]

I will make sure I don't make this too short so no one confuses me with beattle.   Great photos and great trip report Wiz.  It looks beautiful there.  It is one of the countries I have never visited.  I think it looks like something to make next on my list if I ever find the right gal to accompany me.   You two seem like you make a really nice couple.  I am happy it all went well.

Turbodog, when is your next adventure.

Wizer I sent you an email hoping that you will ask Olga to do a favor for me.

Peevee

[Turboguy]

Just about two weeks from today PeeVee.  Heading for Ukraine on Sept 12th doing 4 cities on Jack's tour.  Taking my son along this time.  We will be going to Kharkov, Lugansk, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and then going to Kiev for a few days.   Plan to make a couple of other trips soon after.  While the airfare is cheap and before winter's winds start blowing too much snow.  Holding off a desion on the follow up trips until I see if I meet anyone interesting on Jack's tour.

[wiz]

Just about two weeks from today PeeVee.  Heading for Ukraine on Sept 12th doing 4 cities on Jack's tour.  Taking my son along this time.  We will be going to Kharkov, Lugansk, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and then going to Kiev for a few days.   Plan to make a couple of other trips soon after.  While the airfare is cheap and before winter's winds start blowing too much snow.  Holding off a desion on the follow up trips until I see if I meet anyone interesting on Jack's tour.

Turbo

I wish you good luck in Ukraine but I would appreciate if you don't highjack this thread!

I would like to keep it for my report and of course you can make as many comments you like regarding my trip.
Plenty of other threads to use. Thank you and please do not be offended.

wiz

[Turboguy]

I am not offended Wiz.  PeeVee asked me a question and I did not want to be rude and not answer.  I think that diversion is ended anyway.  I apologize that it happened in your thread.  I look forward to hearing more about your trip.  It sounds like it was a wonderful trip and that you have a very fine and very attractive lady to share it with. 

[jb]

It's a great report, wiz, I loved the pics, very scenic.  The only suggestion I would make is to get a polarizing filter for your camera.  They are not terribly expensive and would make some of those shots look like picture post cards.  Good stuff, well done.

[wiz]

Saturday 12 August 2006

Olga has the habit to wake up early so just after 8 AM we went downstairs for breakfast where I encountered a small problem with the head waiter who thought I was not a client but a local man, because of my local accent, who had picked up Olga and stayed the night in her room.

When I told him that I was a client of the hotel he went over to check at the reception and for his bad luck the boss was around, who knew me, and told him off! Apologies etc and after that every day he went out of his way to make sure I was pleased with his service!

After this funny episode Olga and I decided to drive to Corfu town, a 20 minutes drive, where I was going to cut my hair and become presentable. When I was living in Corfu I always used my friend Nikos the barber so we headed to his shop. On arriving at the shop Nikos was idle and of course went straight to the chair but as it is usual custom in Corfu we spend the next 20 plus minutes having a laugh, teasing each other and remembering our young years when we use chasing tourist women. Poor Olga sat quietly and was enjoying looking us having a banter and a good laugh, of course understanding nothing but she was amused with our loud animated conversation. When we switched over talking in English she had a good laugh too and that went on for nearly an hour. Finally Nikos finished cutting my hair and with Olga’s approval we departed to go for a coffee.

South of Corfu town there is a peninsula called Kanoni (Gun) where there is a little island, Corfu’s trade mark, called Mouse Island. It is at the end of the airport runway and there is also a small Monastery, so we drove there to have a look and take some photos.

The temperature was rising very high so we decided to go for a swim and we choose to drive, at my suggestion, to a little bay I knew at the North east part of the island, called Agni.

Driving to Agni bay it takes around 1 hour and the winding road on the east part of Corfu has some very pretty scenery. The coastal road is going through many holiday resorts, little villages and plenty of small pretty coves. It has been some more than 10 years since last I drove through that coastal road on another holiday there and I noticed a great difference. Villas, apartments and many new houses have sprung everywhere.

Of course that did not stopped Olga and I enjoying the spectacular views and scenery, which luckily, has been preserved by the strict building regulations, which not allow to build more than one floor. The dense olive groves and the height of the olive trees blend nicely with the buildings and thus this beautiful island has managed to preserve its beauty.

Unfortunately the same can not be said about the traffic. It appears that there are more cars than the actual population of the island and the thousands of Italian visitors do not help the situation, so our drive to Agni Bay was a little slower than I had anticipated.

The traffic situation became apparent when we arrived at Agni Bay. This little small bay used to have a small taverna right on the beach but now another two large taverna’s were build and the old had been upgraded and expanded and it was full of people and no space to park our car. Finally I managed to squeeze somewhere and we went down to Agni taverna for a drink and swim.

For some reason I have lost the photos taken there but just to show you the beauty of the place I have borrowed a couple of photos from Nathan’s site, the owner of the taverna and an old friend of mine. Visit his impressive site at: http://www.agni.gr

We spend the next few hours swimming drinking and sunbathing at Agni Bay and at around 6 PM went back to our hotel to get ready to go out for dinner with a friend of mine.

We met my friend Spiros at 9 PM in Mandouki, a suburb north of Corfu town and we went for dinner at Spiros Sosis taverna, which is a tiny little one but the food always there has been excellent. By the way St. Spiridion is the local saint and the name Spiros is a very popular name in Corfu.

Spriros Sosis and his wife have been there for over 30 years and he always has fresh fish and excellent seafood. His Octapus in the oven and also with vinegar is wonderful. Greek salad and plenty of other seafood (don’t know the names in English) made for an excellent feast!

Spiros is also a good joker so he brought around some Atherina (very small white bate) cooked with thin chopped red peppers and gave it to me, saying in English, you will need this Viagra tonight!

Olga was shocked when we all burst to laughter and she could not understand how the Greeks can speak so openly about sex! Never the less she was delighted with the quality of fresh food and enjoyed the local wine with us and at the end of the night, both replete, we went back to our hotel very happy indeed.

During our 20 minutes drive Olga was praying Spiros wife’s cooking and asked me to take her there again another night, which I did later. Meanwhile her English speaking has improved dramatically and she was full of joy and happiness and was not afraid to express and show me her feelings, which pleased me enormously.

At the hotel the bottle of Martini went down a couple of notches before we went to bed. Saturday, our second day in Corfu, was a very successful day.

[wiz]

It's a great report, wiz, I loved the pics, very scenic.  The only suggestion I would make is to get a polarizing filter for your camera.  They are not terribly expensive and would make some of those shots look like picture post cards.  Good stuff, well done.

Thanks for your comments and suggestion. I will have a look for the filter because I enjoy taking photos. Looking my originals on PhotoShop are very sharp and clear but somehow on the board become a little blared.

[wiz]

For all of you that you take the time to read my travel diary in Corfu I thought it would be a good idea to publish a map of Greece and also from Corfu so you can follow my trip around the island.

[Bruno]

Looking my originals on PhotoShop are very sharp and clear but somehow on the board become a little blared.

Was with similar problem when i was using windows...

Now, with Linux, printer,screen, and sofware are with the same gamma correction... the same method is possible with windows but more difficult.... Your photo are very good for me... but for the windows world, some correction is needed...

For the Mac world, it is long time that these problem is resolved...

About the relationship, both of you seem happy on the picture... enjoy it since the life is short !!!

[wiz]

Sunday 13 August 06

Weather today is not looking good so I decided to take Olga around Corfu Town, Analypsis-the place I was living, Benitses, Achileon Palace and hopefully by then the weather would change and we go to Glyfada Beach for a swim.

Just after breakfast I decided to drive to the town and show Olga the house I was living in, when I was there many years ago. Travelling to Corfu town was not bad but I decided to take a different route to avoid most of the Sunday traffic. Just a mile out of Paleokastritsa there is a new road going through the Ropa Valley in the west part of the island and we passed the villages of Liapades, Agios Ioannis, Afra and then at the end of the North part of the airport to reach the peninsula of Kanoni. At the beginning of Kanoni we took the road going up the hill to the suburb of Analypsis, which followed the wall of the Mon Repos Palace.
 
The Palace of Mon Repos, is surrounded by extensive gardens, was built under British rule and later was used by the Royal family of Greece as a summer villa. It is the birthplace of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh. Greece now is a Democracy and The Mon Repos Palace has been made to a Museum. It contains a large variety of exhibits including archaeological finds, Byzantine remains, furniture and dresses from the period of British rule, paintings and other mementoes of Corfu's history. Close by are the excavated remains of Palaeopolis, the ancient city of Corfu.

Driving up the hill on the narrow road brought me back memories of when the Greek Royal family was in residence and how it was extremely difficult to go home without been stopped several times by the security police.

Analypsis is a small hamlet of around 20 villas and houses, a small church, cemetery and a small square. There in not a through road and traffic is only very local, so for my family those years and still now is very nice area to live, especially safe for families with young children. What also makes this area sought after is the fact that is only 5-7 minutes to the centre of town, by car.

The only time the place is busy is on Sundays at the church service and of course at the time of the many weddings taking place there, because of its romantic setting. I told Olga about my fun games I used to do to unsuspected foreign visitors at the weddings of mixed couples. The Church was very popular with foreign women marrying local Greeks and every time a wedding was taking place I used to put my loud speaker on the window of my house opposite the church and when the bride arrived at the church I was playing loudly the music “Here comes the bride”, surprising all the foreign visitors. Was great fun to watch their faces!

I showed Olga the house I was renting there and have lived for 12 years before moving to England. The old semi-detached typical Corfiot style house has not been looked after and there was a sign for Sale.

I also own a small peace of land in Analypsis, with 18 olive trees inside and I have also planted some orange and lemon trees when I bought it, so we went to the house of a local friend, who keeps an eye on my land and of course in return he collects the olives and takes all the fruit.

Alecos and his old mother Diamandina in a typical Corfiot style made us feel welcome and we spend sometime talking to them, before we went to check the land. Despite that was the middle of summer my lemon trees were full of lemons and Olga was surprised of their large size. We took a few for her to take back to Russia and then moved to a large open space at the top of the hill from where we could see Corfu town.

When we left Analypsis we went for a coffee in the main square of Corfu Town, Spianada. there is the famouse Liston and the building with the French architecture, the upeer square and also the cricket ground.

Then we drove via the coastal road towards the south and visited Benitses, which has changed dramatically from a small fishing port to a thriving holiday resort, full of hotels, villas and apartments and many restaurants bars and tavernas.

I am very disappointed because I have lost the camera Memory stick with many photos of many places in Corfu and of course of Benitses.

[wiz]

Sunday 13 August 06

Achilleon Palace

Driving back North I took the road going to Gatsouri at the centre of the island and we passed through the Achilleon Palace. This magnificent building is near the beautiful village of Gastouri. It was built between the years 1890 and 1892 by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria (known as Sissy) after one of her visits to Corfu. The large building, in neoclassical style, has three floors adorned with many statues and paintings. The vast gardens surrounding the building, with a wonderful view of a large part of the island, run down to the coast road. They are decorated with many statues, the most famous of which are the two bronze runners, the dying Achilles (the mythological Greek hero) and the statue of Achilles Triumphant. After the assassination of Empress Elizabeth in 1898 in Geneva, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany purchased the palace in 1907 and used it as a place for relaxation. All of the rooms contain personal items of the former owners and their original furniture.

[wiz]

Sunday 13 August 06

Varipadades House and Glyfada Beach

The weather now has improved and the sun is out so we decided to drive to Glyfada Beach on the west for swim.

So we continued our way towards the Glyfada beach on the west but before I drove through the village of Varipatades to see an old house I own there. The house is in a bad need of repair to be made habitable and I have received many approaches to sell it from English people but there is no need for now to do that.

Varipadades is a sleepy typical Corfiot village, no tourists around and only one shop acting as general, post office, café and any other use you can think of for the locals thus making this village very attractive for a summer house. It is also very convenient location to live, only 20 minutes drive from Corfu Town.

My house is at the edge of the village and from its balcony you can see some spectacular views. Spend a little time there because Olga was mesmerized of the views and feeling sentimental for the old house. Living the village she showered me with many kisses and thanking me for letting her know so many things about my personal live. I have no intention of selling the house at the moment despite the 120.000 dollars offered.

Driving through the winding road up the hill to Pelekas village and then down to Glyfada Beach it took nearly 20 minutes and on arrival we faced with the difficult situation of where to park. The place was heaving with many hundreds of cars and no space to stop.

Glyfada beach used to be, still is, a lovely place to go for swim but now is well build up with many apartments Tavernas and a large hotel has been there since I was living in Corfu, 35 years ago. I drove to the North end of the beach and was lucky to meet the owner from a Taverna which he remember me and let us park in his garden.

Glyfada had a large sandy beach but I noticed that much of the sand has be taken away by  the waves and now the long stretch is full of umbrellas and sun beds. The water is magnificent and we spend the next few hours swimming and sunbathing. Later we had a small late lunch before taking the Ropa Valley road back to Paleokstritsa.

In the evening we went out to a local taverna for something to eat but during the late afternoon we mostly relaxed on our balcony, admiring our view, eating grapes, drinking, Olga Martini and me coffee and of course doing what adults do on holiday!

Having fun!

[PeeWee]

These all look like they could be movie sets, Wizzer. Why would anyone not want to like in such a place?  You are doing a masterful job at presenting your trip report.

Peevee

[wiz]

These all look like they could be movie sets, Wizzer. Why would anyone not want to like in such a place?  You are doing a masterful job at presenting your trip report.

Peevee

Thanks Peewee

Corfu is a very beautiful place and I am proud to be brought up there but is not very easily accessible for our American friends, where from Russia and the UK is very easy!

If you ever want to meet a woman and win her over then Corfu is the Romantic place to take her!

Meanwhile read on EXPERIENCED about my DILEMMA......you know a little about it!

This report will take sometime before I finish it and thank God I have wrote down some short notes to remember most of what we did!

[Marc]

Great story Wiz,

I was travelling through Greece for 2 months in 1981, of course Corfu was one of the islands I visited. Not the tourist side but the side with sandy beaches. You brought back some nice memories. You are lucky to have your own place there. Waiting for more to come.