Corfu

We had quite the adventure in Corfu. We rented a car and took off for the countryside. We headed up to a small town called Paleokastritsa which had these great little coves and a monastery at the top of a hill. The monastery was beautiful and the views from the top were even better. We then drove up the most winding, narrow, no guard rail roads you've ever seen. The views from the top were spectacular but getting there was scary. Corfu must be the olive capital of Greece because there were olive trees everywhere. They all had black nets underneath to catch the falling olives. I tried a fallen olive to see if maybe a more ripe olive tasted better but no, unless you cure those things, they taste pretty bitter.

Then we headed North to Sidari, a beach front town. The beach there was about a mile long surrounded by bars and restaurants but being past tourist season was largely empty. So I took a swim in the warm Mediterranean waters. It was one of the highlights of my trip.

After getting lost in several small towns and twisty roads, we finally made it back to Corfu city. Who knew that in Greek, Corfu is actually Kerkyra. We finally figured this out and then were able to follow the signs back to the main city. But not before a near head-on collision with a couple of teenagers in this twisting, hill-top town in the middle of nowhere. We stopped for directions but nobody in town spoke a lick of English. We then ended up getting lost in Corfu city where traffic was insane and the streets narrow and congested with all manner of car, bus, pedestrian and motorbike. We finally found the old fort and the city center. We had dinner at a small cafe down a side street. I had an authentic Greek Salad. We then set out for shopping in the many side streets. One street was selling loads of this kumquat liqueur. Every store had free samples of the stuff out front. I must've had a half dozen samples.

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