General Chat

Dear Purple

Hello

Why are we waiting?!!

We want the next thrilling instalment of your holiday.

You should turn this saga into a book.
Could be even better than Michael Palin's journeys!

I hope things got better!!

Best wishes to you
xx

Ann, they didn't add the whole lot together when we came back so had to pay but am going to complain as when we got back we weighed the bags before opening and they were nowhere near what Corfu airport said, and we had used stuff too. Had to pay that end too! Hardly bought a thing to bring home and what we bought were tiny very lightweight items, a couple of little lace things and a tiny bottle of Kumquat liquer.

K had moved some things from his case to his hand luggage which is 5kgs, same as Ryanair when I went to Malta, and typically, when it was checked, his shoes had a large bottle of mouthwash inside which was confiscated, brand new bottle and a third of the price of stuff in Corfu so ended up with none to use while away. I hadn't seen what he had transferred to his bag and he hadn't taken in anything I'd said about not carrying anything over 100ml
I am supposed to use mouthwash twice daily cos of my gum problems, have to have a deep clean soon.

Right, next episode.....

As we were getting sorted out that first morning all we could hear altho still dark, were cockerels crowing and dogs barking. The noises had been mentioned on reviews so we weren't surprised but the sound was annoying. We both woke about 11am and sorted ourselves out, sun was shining and lots of blue sky, then went to the bar/cafe/restaurant which was also the main 'reception' area. We met the owners who are a very friendly and helpful couple in their early fifties with a daughter of 5 and a barman who is the cousin of Elana the 'boss' We explained we had asked not to have a maisonette apartment and she said we could change to a two bed apt on one level but that Thos Cook were late sending info through cos we booked late and they had not requested anything more than a two bed place. We went to have a look at the apartment but when we realised it had a smaller kitchen area and no stairwell area where we could put one of the plastic tables etc if we wanted to eat inside, we decided to stay put and it worked fairly well except we had to buy a second supply of toothpaste and shower gel because of having seperate shower rooms on different floors.
We then finished our unpacking and the maid came and made up one of the single beds upstairs for o.h. We were able to get toasted sandwiches etc at the cafe bar and attended the Welcome meeting but didn't book any trips as we had seen on reviews that it was cheaper to use a particular agency locally. We complained about the transfer rep as did three other couples so hope she got a lesson in helping people move into their holiday homes.
Trying to have showers we found we couldn't get any hot water so had to tie my hair back under a kerchief and we went to the village for provisions. There was a well used pathway through a field of olive trees and shrubs next to the complex and alongside the apartments we had turned down when we read bad reviews about dirty sheets and disgusting mattresses which was interesting as we hadn't realised the two complexes were next door but there hadn't been much difference in price and we definitely got the best of the deals. It was only about a quarter of an hour's walk through the field to the village and we soon got some cornflakes, milk, fruit,eggs and bread etc for breakfast and snacks and wandered back. Despite my moans about cooking on holiday I cobbled together a dinner of beans on toast and poached eggs before we had an early night - wouldn't go out till I could have a hot shower and wash my hair lol
The hot water problem was sorted out the next morning (Wednesday) - it was solar powered and boosted by a boiler for cloudier days - and we were able to use all the showers and basins etc, so went out to explore the village more. The beaches weren't very impressive, very scruffy and quite stony, lots of cigarette ends in the sand and the sea wasn't as clean and clear as Kefalonia but lots to see, plenty of tavernas and supermarkets etc and all in all we were satisfied. Everyone seemed very friendly, especially a woman who originates from Belfast but is married to a Greek man - she worked in a bar/restaurant and was another Liz, altho known as Lisa there. We chatted with her every time we went by and we did use the restaurant a few times too. K took a pic of us before we came home and titled it The Blarney Sisters lol. She was great fun.
We picked up info on trips to make a decision later on, went back to sit in the sun on the balcony and booked up for the Greek meal the bosslady was making for the Wednesday evening as it was a good way to get to know the other people in the apartments, 12 in all. We were in an apartment furthest from the pool, as requested, so nice and quiet except for the cockerels but after a few mornings we became more used to them and weren't disturbed much even tho they crowed most of the day.

On the Wednesday evening we both had a snooze before getting dressed to go and try out the Greek Sausage salad with tzatziki and the Stifado, a beef stew with onions and roasted potatoes, Corfu style. Elana came down and knocked for us as she was worried we had fallen asleep and was about to dish up, so we went down to eat and met many of the other guests. The food was great and afterwards Elana announced that instead of the Greek entertainment we would be playing Silly Bingo which is not something o.h. and I are into. However, we had a go and what a laugh, certainly broke the ice and there was great hilarity.
Every so often instead of a line or whatever being called, Elana would ask who hadn't had a number to cross off on that call or who still had a line uncrossed etc and those people had to answer a question, except when you got it right you had to drink a tot of liquer, varying from the local syrupy Kumquat one which is delicious, to a Curacao to Ouzo and grenadine! I think I ended up drinking about five and was feeling a bit merry after a while lol and at the end one chap who did finally call house got 20 euro prize. It was a fun way to spend an evening and I slept through several cockcrows that night lol

More later....

Always difficult the first night/day to get your bearings etc and it sounds as if all in all you enjoyed it. Strange that the weight was wrong in Corfu, have you checked your scales against something that you know is correct? But what you are saying is that you had a different weight in UK to Corfu is that it. It is very unusual to add the whole weight allowance together though, usually they just add the two allowances for the hold, and I don't remember ever having my hand luggage weighed. I expect K forgot that the mouthwash was in his shoe, silly mistake but easily done, we see it every time. Makes you wonder what happens to all those full bottles doesn't it?

Ann, my son and I had our hand luggage weighed in Luton airport with Ryanair, when we flew to Malta two years ago. Will tell more about the chaos at Corfu when I get to the end of the diary lol

Maybe it is the budget airlines that weigh hand luggage then, although we have flown with Thomas Cook before and they didn't weigh it then from Gatwick that was.

Was Thos Cook this time and they did it in Corfu too, saw lots of people having theirs weighed. Apparently very strict in Corfu airport.

Lizx

We'll stick to Tenerife then!!

Liz,

At least you had SUN..!!

We had torrential rain here in Devon while you were away.

Sounds as though you had a good time...

Now the next chapter PLEASE......LOL

And it poured while we were in Dublin and you were in sunny Corfu, we still enjoyed our holiday though as it was nice weather towards the end of our stay.

Wendy

Right, Thursday 24th Sept....
Had a lazy day sunbathing on balcony overlooking olive trees and with the mountains in the background, wonderful views and peaceful most of the time. The family who run the complex built it 14 years ago on part of the olive grove owned by Andreas' father as they weren't making enough from the olives, seems to have happened a lot on the island. Andreas' father comes most days on his scooter to help work on the gardens and lawns and greenhouse etc. Soon they will have to put out the nets that are kep rolled up under each olive tree so they catch the harvest. Poor old chap had a bump with his scooter near the end of our holiday and broke his ankle but the next day he turned up on his scooter again! One day he was trying to start the mower and after lots of noise, and muttering, he stomped off to the greenhouse area and came back carrying a scythe, the old ways are the best lol They have a big greenhouse to grow lots of stuff and pride themselves on using as much homegrown produce and fresh stuff in the restaurant. We didn't eat there very much as we like to wander round the village in the evening and try lots of different tavernas and restaurants when we go away. unfortunately we were put off some places as they had big screens up showing football, what a way to spend a holiday stuck in a bar watching a screen all afternoon or evening! We did see some Greek dancing one evening and another time watched a Freddie Mercury look a like, he was not bad and big laugh was had by all with some of his antics. He was English, there were lots of English people working there, some owning shops or bars. Seems the English girls get off with the men while they are on holiday because the men work such long hours they don't have time to meet Greek girls. One chap had married a girl from the North of England only three or four weeks ago, and she has now come back to England, and he will join her for the winter when the season ends later this month. She showed me her wedding album and said that they will have a blessing next March for the family and friends who couldn't get to the Greek wedding. Another young woman helped in her husband's restaurant, and also teaches aerobics, Pilates and Yoga, while looking after two small children, she first went to Corfu at the age of 16 and met her man, and has now been married for 15 years, altho her children are very young so they must have built up the business first, as did the people where we stayed. Their little girl of 5 is entertained a lot by the holiday makers, she had one chap colouring in pictures with her before she joined some others including my o.h. playing with a beach ball in the pool. Her parents are on the scene all the time in the bar and cafe area etc.
All the tavernas were vieing for custom by offering special meals every night. We tried the Kleftiko a few times, and it was made differently each place we went and none like the way Kefalonian tavernas make it. It is basically lamb with onions and feta cheese, the lamb chop or steak is placed on chopped onions on a piece of a foil or greaseproof paper, feta put on top and then wrapped like a parcel, it comes to the table ready to be opened up, with potatoes and sometimes other veg, at least it does in Kefalonia.

In Corfu we had it served in an individual casserole dish, a paper parcel, and a foil one as well as in pastry, that was my favourite. Not much feta used tho, one restaurant said a lot of visitors didn't like it so now they leave it out or use ordinary cheese - ugh! i love feta and have made the Kefalonia version at home before now. One time it came with big chunks of lamb on the bone but it was very fatty and fiddly to find the meat. That restaurant told us that Kleftico means stolen (reminded me of kleptomania) and means that the people used to use whatever they could find (or 'steal') to put in, so sometimes it had carrots and or peas, or tomatos in or whatever was available. I enjoyed that one the least. I did eat other things as well tho, moussaka, stifado, and more ordinary dishes like chicken stuffed with cheese and bacon, or Gyros Pork, and some other Greek food. At least our wanderings gave us an appetite and we got to know many of the taverna owners. as well as a charming young man who has opened a supermarket where we mostly shopped when we wanted things, he asked if we have donkeys where we live, not sure what tales people have been telling him about England but I said I would send him a postcard when I got home but he gave me his email address so I will be sending him some info on Norwich and the Norfolk coast, with the donkeys on the beach at Gt Yarmouth lol He is hoping to visit a friend of his who has moved to London, what a difference he will find there.

By now we had booked a couple of trips out, one for the Sunday and one for the following Wednesday.

Next day, we had a wander round and found a nice little piece of beach to sit on and swim/paddle from - it wasn't very wide and had lots of grass and shrubby area behind, but was away from the main beach with all the sunloungers etc which was very scruffy with discarded water bottles and cigarette butts. Also there was an area of trees and shrubs where about 1 dozen horses were tethered. They had plenty of hay strewn around to eat but I never saw any water about. People could go there for riding sessions, but I just felt really sorry for the horses, it was a bit like donkeys on a beach - the horses were just a way of making money and they couldn't get to the sea to go in the water, it would have been dangerous anyway as very rocky and stony on the beaches and the level dropped away quite suddenly in some places. I was surprised that I didn't see one shell on any of the beaches we used, don't know why. Across from the beach at the north of Corfu you can see to Albania and at one point further round to the east coast, it is only a very short distance across, less than a mile I think it was so swimmable or rowable. Seems years ago there used to have to be patrols to stop people coming over without official paperwork. There are trips available but apparently they are better than they were but still a bit regimented. Years ago anyone going on the trips had to stick together as the people were so poor children would beg and muggings happened if you went off alone but I think it is safer now and not so bad, and they are beginning to make a tourist industry of sorts. Had I been in Corfu longer I think I would have taken a day out to go and see what it was like. Our cleaner was Bulgarian and altho she could speak Greek she couldn't read it, and it was hard work when she came to the apartment to make her understand anything. She would diligently tidy the top sheet, and blanket if used on the beds, and put the pillows tidy but when you went to get into bed, the bottom sheet would still be wrinkled and all over the place, very odd I thought. Some days she would change sheets and towels, other days empty the bins from the loos ( you mustn't flush loo paper in the toilet as the pipe work in Corfu as with much of Greece, can't cope with it so it has to go in bins in the loo and be emptied often. Same in restaurant loos too. I don't think I would want to visit when the temperature is at it's highest lol Pipework is gradually being replaced over the island so that in future loos can be used as we do here.)
Another thing I didn't like was that people could smoke in restaurants and bars and there were no smoking or non smoking areas so people were lighting up while others ate, which is something I hate.
I think everything is very lax on the island, motor cyclists and scooter riders are supposed to wear helmets but it is not enforced so there were lots of people riding round without them and with children perched in front of the driver of the scooter and so on. I dread to think of the hygiene situation really in lots of restaurants but luckily o.h. and I are fairly strong stomached so were ok where ever we ate.

On the Saturday o.h. and I walked to Acharavi the next village along and sat on the beach there for a while, it was much wider and longer and quite pleasant, again with views to the Coast of Albania and behind us the wonderful mountains with little hamlets stuck halfway up or the odd villa nestled in the fir trees and olive groves. At night they would be all lit up but I am not sure I would want to be up there in the winter time. One day we got talking to a couple who had met on Corfu in the 1970's and then returned for their honeymoon. Since then they had holidayed there some times with their family and now, after buying a plot of land 12 years ago, they were there to choose the final finishing touches for the villa with the aim of retiring next year and moving to live on the island. I thought that was such a romantic story and hope all their dreams come true and they have many happy years on 'their' island.

As we walked back from Acharavi, after having a coffee and snack at a taverna on the way, and learning that it had been a hard summer for the owners, due to lack of holiday makers, we saw a lot of beautifully decorated tables set up under an awning, then we saw a bride and groom and all their guests coming down the path to the waiting cars, all trimmed with white bows and ribbons. After many photographs being taken, the couple drove off with the guests following in their cars and all hooting and whistling madly and you could hear them for ages as they went round the village streets. Later that evening we could still hear the music and laughter of the reception even tho it was a few miles away, with fireworks being set off till midnight.

http://bluegardensapts.blogspot.com/

This will show you where we were, our apartment was the middle tall one of the row, so a short walk to the pool and bar/restaurant area, 2 mins away. Walk further up the concrete slope and reach the road, walk down the road facing the oncoming traffic - amazing how many people wearing dark clothing walked along the wrong side of the road at night. There are no pavements, so at night I carried a largish white plastic carrier bag which I waved about so it caught the lights of oncoming cars letting them see us from a far enough distance to move out and miss us! It was downhill to the village and uphill on the way back so helped to walk off the calories we consumed with the lovely meals lol


Off to bed now, more about Roda and our holiday tomorrow night.

We are out to dinner this evening with o.h.'s family for his stepmother's birthday and his sister's 50th birthday (belated as she celebrated it travelling back from Corfu last Friday the 2nd. Their flight was delayed going back as was the flight we went out on, meaning the people going out to Corfu on Friday last were as late as we were) We met up with them during our holiday, for a meal and a drink. We should have made contact sooner, as they had hired a car and her husband drove her to lots of little villages in the mountains etc - he drove really well on the 'wrong' side of the road but they had to return the car the day after we met up.

Night all
Lizxx

Marilyn and Wendy, sorry you have had so much rain, it's been chucking it down here all night but not as bad as when we had the thunderstorms in Corfu a couple of days and nights.

Hi Liz,

Enjoying the book so far...........any handsome Greeks in it ????

Could you spice it up a bit.......LOL

Really enjoying your descriptions.A trip down memory lane for me.Seems nothing much has changed since the early 1980's when I was there..i.e. the loos and the narrow twisting roads.Of course Albania was just a place of mystery then and a no go area.
Looking forward to the next chapter.

Brenda x

Morning all, oh how I wish I was back in Corfu, it's cold, dull, rainy, miserable here, typical British weather and not even an Indian summer to look forward to!!

Marilyn, sorry hon, nothing spicy, except the food lol To be honest I didn't see one Greek man I could have fancied - now had I been several years younger there were some rather dishy looking lads around but having one failure with a 'toyboy'...... can't really be bothered. The young man with the supermarket is very nice but spoken for but no one set my old heart fluttering!

Brenda, I am glad I am evoking old memories for you.

Will post more tonight if I am sober enough, I have put my foot down and said we are taking a taxi out so I can have a drink or several. O.h. always ends up drinking too much and can't see to drive in the dark well anyway so I end up having to drink fruit juice or something so I can drive home from anything like the dinner out. I had decided not to do that and then his son who is coming over from Stowmarket with his partner rang to ask if we could pick them up from the station and take them back afterwards, o.h. was blithely agreeing (they are using the train so they can drink) when I piped up, We can't, we are using taxis. (We hadn't talked about that part then) O.h. says to son, Oh sorry, I have just been told we are using taxis, didn't know plans had changed. What plans! Let them get a taxi back to the station. O.h. got stroppy afterwards and it is obvious I am the wicked witch of the west again and will get the blame for not helping his son. He spent several phone calls to his father of 78 and others trying to arrange a ride back to the station for his son, fgs, the old man is taking his wife for her birthday dinner as well as the sister's belated birthday celebs, why would he be expected to drive his grandson around the city, miles out of his way, at 10pm!

See you later
Lizx

Hi Liz

Sounds beautiful, I couldn't make your link work but I took the http:// bit off and it went through okay. The site looks nice and clean and not overcrowded. Glad you had a good time

Wendy

Oh Mac, bless....

Had a reasonable time out to dinner with o.h.'s wierd family but he drank too much courtesy of his son who kept pressing drinks on him ( not hard to do) and he became very belligerent and stupid, got home and he slumped in chair and fell asleep then got up and went to bed. Was much better in Corfu with other company to talk to so could ignore him.

Came on here to read Stephen Gateley from Boyzone has died in his sleep in Majorca. Then I saw on facebook that my good friend in Germany has just lost her father in law, he had a stroke a few weeks ago and developed pneumonia. He was the carer for her disabled mother in law, luckily they all live next door to one another but it is my friend who will get the brunt of the responsibility as her husband is busy with the new care home they are building, her daughter is at uni and her sister in law works full time as a teacher. The old lady has been ill recently too, she will be devastated. It is only 4 days since the anniversary of my friend's father dying here in England a few years ago, she had to fly over urgently and just managed to spend some time with him at the end. Now this for her to cope with.

Don't feel like adding holiday stories now so will be back Sunday night.

Lizx

Liz I saw the apartments and the picture of the owners on Tripadvisors site, just typed in the name of the apartment the write up is very good , lots of praise for the place .... hope you have felt the benefit of the change of scenery and of course the sun....


love Jean xx

Hi Jean, and all who were reading this saga of my holiday...
I hope you enjoyed your holiday, do you have another coming up soon?

Am not feeling very good, really tired and low since my return so am sure it is something to do with this house, altho there is no central heating only the gas fire in the lounge and a few of those wall gas heaters which are never used and we have a carbon monoxide alarm, the battery operated sort. Am going back to see the doctor when I can get an apptmt, she only does a few mornings which I don't do, and one late afternoon evening on a Monday so is always hard to see. It was great on holiday to feel well enough to walk into the village and round the little streets, even to the next village one day, and go on trips where I walked a lot, yet now I feel like a wrung out rag again.
Will try and add some more to the diary later on.


Lizx