Corfu, Greece: Day 1

Our family, everyone says, has gone global. My dad’s working in Italy, mom and brothers are in India and Me, the wandering soul, floating from Malaysia to UK. It’s been almost 2 yrs living like this. And now, by some miracle, our holidays aligned and we got a chance to spend our vacation together.

A trip to the Greek Island of Corfu really seemed like a prayer answered.

We came with Endeavour Lines to Corfu. Travelling by ship let us take our car with us. So no travel hassles once in the island! The ship journey was 8 hours long. 8 Long Hours across the Mediterranean sea.

We spent the first couple of hours exploring the ship. This was our first time on a ship and luckily none of us got seasick. We had a nice spot on the deck, facing the sea and quite nice co passengers too.

 The families next to us were Macedonian Muslims. One of them had a cute little boy of around 4 who did a good job of keeping us entertained with his antics. We reached Corfu around 11 pm local time. We were let down by our otherwise trusty GPS navigator device as it didn't have Greece on the list of countries it can 'navigate'. Can’t believe even the navigator ignores the not so well off!

It took us one hour of driving around to locate our resort. My dad and I planned this trip two weeks back over skype. We found a nice apartment (through booking.com) in Gouvia, a bayside village in the east of Corfu. Our apartment is nice and airy…and is just a stone’s throw from the beach! Finally when we reached we were greeted by a portly security man, Nikolas, who gave us quite a warm welcome (this warmth and hospitality, we later found, is a cherished Greek trait)

Today we all woke up quite early (Going by the Fazal household’s standard time). We walked down to the market area nearby and, not-so-surprisingly, ended up at a nice Greek patisserie. So breakfast was baklava, croissants, cheesecake, profiterole and buns. Yes, it was absolutely delicious!

After our sinfully rich breakfast, equipped with a full fuel tank, a map and sack full of snacks, we started our drive around the island. We wanted to drive around the periphery and stick to coastline. However, corfu  being mountainous ( The name 'Corfu' actually means 'The city of peaks'!),we ended up playing hide and seek with the coast.But when we did get glimpses of the sea, it was glorious! Even without a clear sky, the sea was a glistening blue.

 Corfu (Kerkyra in Greek) is a small island and can be covered quite fast. There are numerous shops, scattered across the island, which let you rent cars, bicycles and motor bikes. Bicycles seems to be a popular choice of transport among the tourists. Our drive was wonderful. We drove through tiny villages, with narrow streets. The architecture is not quite we thought it would be, but it settles well with the surroundings. The houses quite similar to the ones in Kerala. Small house painted in different pastel shades. What I love about these houses are their gardens. Almost all of them have lovely gardens with lavender growing on the walls, and citrus trees bursting with ripe fruits. Then there are beautiful wild flowers sprouting up from ever possible places. They grow on rocks, walls…different shades of violet, pink, yellow and red. Our receptionist told us that all these flowers were brought to the Island by the British. When this island was colonized 1000s of varieties of plants were brought by them. 

And, obviously, there are olive trees everywhere. Literally everywhere. We drove past quite a few olive farms with nets spread across and in some of the farms we saw friendly faces driving tractors loaded with sacks of olives. There are about 3 million olives trees in corfu. Some of them are hundreds of years old. These trees have hollowed out, bent and twisted with age. Apart from the olive trees there are a lot of Almond trees along the roadside which flower during May-September. The bright pink flowers can be spotted from quite far and make the drive really enjoyable. 

While my parents and I enjoyed the raw, natural beauty of the place, my brothers had already had too much  of it and were demanding to go elsewhere. Finally my dad made an impromptu stop at one of the villages. We ventured into a monastery-Monastery Pantokratoros- lured by the pretty trail leading up to a small enclosure. The monastery area is really small and is surrounded by a home grown vegetable garden. There are two buildings- one is the convent and the other is the church. There are a lot of flower patches scattered here and there, from fiery red tulips to baby pink roses. We were greeted in by some of the warmest people I’ve ever met. There are 5-6  Greek Orthodox Christian nuns living there. All of them covered up exactly like muslim women. Except, they have a tiny crucifix embroidered on their headscarf. None of them knew English, yet they held our hands and walked us in. Luckily another woman walked in and she instantly became our translator. Penelope is a nursery school teacher and visits the monastery often. She gave us a quick tour around the monastery which is about 200 years old.

 We were invited in for a cup of greek coffee by the nuns. As we sipped coffee (which was a tad too bitter for my taste) and nibbled on halwas ( A sweet not very different from the Indian halwa) our conversation flowed (Thanks to Penelope’s running translation). We asked them about Greece, orthodox Christianity and how it differed from Catholicism. They asked us about India and out life there. They were surprised when they heard that we Muslims and Christians share prophets upto Jesus with them. It was interesting to note that their painting of Jesus have him with Mediterranean skin tone.They were so warm and kind that we really felt like staying there longer and talking more. But Penelope seemed quite exhausted so we had to make a move :D

With Penelope

From there we drove northwards and hit the beautiful Sidari beach. It was quite chilly but we had a nice walk there. My dad and brothers even managed to sneak in a crazy football game. 

At Sidari beach

We left the beach to drive south and finally stopped at Agios Stefanos for a coffee break. There we met a nice English couple from Oxford (who, incidentally, were watching the Oxford vs. Cambridge boat race). They were quite happy to hear that I am currently studying in Nottingham.This couple has been coming to Corfu for the past few years so they  recommended some places which we could visit in the next two days.

We left the café to go to Paleokastritsa, which is the highest point on the island. But two wrong turns and we were totally in the wrong direction. More olive farms, wild flowers and narrow streets later we decided to move Paleokastritsa for tomorrow. After asking about half a dozen people for directions we finally reached back to our apartment.
In the evening we went to a traditional greek taverna for dinner. We had a nice meal of greek salad, grilled fish and shrimp in red saganaki.

Tomorrow we are planning to start with Paleokastritsa and then visit some of the palaces and museums here. So, until the next post!

Italy by Road- Last leg (Venice)

Final Stop- Venice (Venezia)

The last stop on our trip, and without a doubt the best one, was Venice. It’s around 500 kms from Pisa. Venice, over the years, has been described by many names- The City of Canals, The City of Masks, The City of Bridges. But nothing befits it more than the ‘Queen of Adriatic’.  Our stay there definitely made us feel so.

Our hotel, Hotel Delfino was in Mestre, a 20 min ride from the main city of Venice. There’s a bus stop right in front of the hotel, which made travel to the city convenient. So we left our car at the hotel parking and took the bus no. 4 to Venice. 

The buses were surprisingly crowded considering the Italian standards. Of course, coming from India where hanging from the footboards of buses is the norm, it was no biggie. Bus no.4 took us to Piazza Le Roma. Here Mom, Dad and I split from Shereef and Bilal. This time everyone was armed with a map and all contact numbers. Bilal insisted on carrying two copies of everything (just in case, according to him). We decided to walk from the Piazza, till San Marco square and take the ferry back to the piazza.

Venice was much more crowded than Florence and Pisa. Maybe it seemed so because of the narrow streets. The streets are lined with small shops, mostly selling Venetian masks, and Gondola knick-knacks. Venetian masks are exotic masks used during the annual ‘Carnevale’ (Carnival of Venice). In earlier days these masks were used by the public while voting. Supposedly, it guarantees a fair voting. 

The other thing that sells like hot cakes in Venice is Murano Glass. Murano is a Venetian island and has been manufacturing this kind of glass since the 9th century. You can see shops displaying Murano glass crystals, figurines and trinkets. They are bright and beautiful. My parents were almost tempted to buy a crystal to take back home, but at our place nothing breakable can survive for more than a few days (what with my two brothers constantly at each others’ throats.) They had learnt from experience (and innumerable broken vases) not to buy such stuff anymore.

If Florence has to be seen riding bicycles and Rome through it’s metro, Venice should be covered on foot and by boat. Then of course there are the Gondolas, the main attraction of Venice.

 The gondoliers wear a standard uniform of black and white striped shirts and, sometimes, a straw hat. A gondola ride will take you through the waterways crisscrossing the city and the gondolier will explain the main spots en route. Walking through the city you’ll have to cross mini bridges which take you over the narrow canals and almost always you’ll find a Gondolier gracefully gliding his Gondola through these canals. Now as a teenage girl I’ve always had these romantic notions of riding on Gondolas. They were shattered when my dad said that this is just a ‘thoni’ (a decorated one) back home in Kerala. And more so when, after seeing the ticket rates, my Mom exclaimed that with this money we can buy a naadan gondola back home. *Sigh* Parents….

                                                                                                                                                                                          

It’s impossible to get lost in Venice. There are directions at every other street. After an hour’s walk we finally reached Piazza San Marco. The Basilica here ( Basilia San Marco)  is famed to be extraordinary. It is unique because the interiors are gilded. It’s grand, the ceiling, with intricate carvings on gold. Unfortunately, photography is not permitted inside.

Outside, in the square, there is another attraction- Pigeons, hundreds of them. Stretch your arms and stand midst them and in seconds you’ll have pigeons on your arms and your head. Of course, you have to be careful that you don’t get pecked!

                                                                                                                               

As planned we took the ferry to get back. Line 1 is exclusively for tourists, it goes much slower than the normal boats. The ride to Piazza le Roma was wonderful. The Grand Canal is flanked on both sides by houses, cafes, offices, some with their personal piers. Why, we even saw a church by the water and people getting down at its pier. There were even apartments with parking lots for boats! Imagine going home on your private boat and entering your porch by water…

Once in the room we were relieved to find that Bilal hadn’t managed to lose himself in the city. Instead he had invested his allowance on coke (I told you, he is an addict).

We decided to see Venice by the night.

If witnessing Venice by the day is beautiful, Venice at night is an altogether different experience. The streets come alive with makeshift food stalls selling roasted chestnuts (the smell of which is irresistible) and hawkers trying to sell fake Rolex watches and Gucci bags. On some of the wider streets there are markets selling fresh fruits and vegetables (frutta e verdura). I was recording all these scenes on my handy cam when I saw some paintings on sale. I was looking at them through the lens when a hand blocks my lens and pushes the camera away. I was about to begin a fight thinking it was one of my brothers when I saw that it was some strange old man. After pushing me he rushed to his paintings and covered it. I was stunned for a while. I guess he didn’t want his signature pieces to be recorded.  Of course, my dearest brothers didn’t lose this opportunity to pull my leg. This was fodder for them to tease me for the rest of the stay there.

Dinner was at a fabulous Chinese restaurant. Great service and delicious food. Icing on the cake was the dessert-‘fried ice cream’ recommended by our Chinese waitress, a sweet lady who conversed in minimal English but spoke Italian like Italians do- incomprehensibly (to us).

The next day we set out earlier than the previous day. We boarded a ferry from Piazza Le Roma which took us to Lido, the last stop. We had planned to come back walking. What we didn’t know was that Lido is an island (one of the 117 in Venice). It is connected to the mainland only by boat. So we walked around Lido, which doesn’t look like Venice, with its broad streets and few people about. (My dad says it’s like nammude Fort Kochi). After an hour of wandering through this island we took the speed boat back. Once in Piazza Le Roma we went about souvenir shopping, buying plaques and mini Venetian masks.

Back in the room our luggage was all packed. It was 3 pm and we set our GPS Navigator back to Brindisi. The return to Brindisi was a 1000 km drive along the Adriatic coastline, with stops at Ancona and Bari, both sea side towns We spent Saturday night at Ancona,  after driving around 400 Kms from Venice. The last leg was another 550 Kms with an hour long break at Bari. We were back home by evening. That was the end of our 10 day tour. 

Writing this travelogue/ diary was very enjoyable- Relating experiences at different places, smiling when particular incidents came to mind and laughing at some private joke. I rewound and relived each moment of those wonderful 10 days. I hope you enjoyed the glimpses into our tour and maybe even motivated to travel to this part of the world! J