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I am so glad we didn't have to go through all that palaver!
On our last day, Sunday, we did most of our packing and then went out to walk along the beach and take some final photographs. We had to take shelter as the rain came down so we went into one of our favourite restaurants, and ate pizza while chatting with the newly wed wife of the owner, and looked at her album of wedding proofs. I think she said there were 600 photos and she had to narrow them down to a more affordable amount! Bless her.
We then went along to a smaller area of beach, just little areas of sand and shrubbery and grasses away from the loungers and bars and took more photos and watched people go by, paddled in the sea and were generally lazy until 6pm when we went back to the apartment to get ready for the evening outing to the village and tavernas. We ended up at yet another favourite restaurant eating Kleftiko and after a final walk round we ended up at a bar with a Freddie Mercury lookalike performing, he was quite entertaining and we spent half an hour there keeping another guest from our complex company, before we went back to the cpmplex bar for a nightcap or two and our final chat with Kostas the barman. I really could have done with going to bed when we got back but somehow we ended up chatting with Kostas and the chap we had seen earlier watching F. Mercury and then it was time for bed knowing I had to be up and out of the apartment by 9.45am!
The holiday was almost over!
Lizx
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Hi Liz .
Although you had a good holiday...........with many known ups & downs in your story....................Think I'll stick to the USA .....LOL
I went to Corfu many years ago, and I remember my son had to jump in a ditch to avoid a coach.......he was 10yrs old and was ahead of us.we had to pull him out from the ditch......he's 40yrs now and still remembers that coach !!
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Marilyn, glad your son was ok, and it's funny how you remember dodgy things from way back lol There are few pavements on country roads in Corfu and those in built up areas are treacherous, as in many countries in Europe etc. As always o.h. was horrified to see electricity cables from lights etc just taped together and open to the elements - no health and safety in those places - I don't know how they get away with it. Many countries that belong to the European Union don't stick to the rules, to my way of thinking if they are going to make rules about straight bananas (now changed thank goodness) they should be making sure rules on safety issues are adhered to.
Lots of bodged up things all over the island, thank heavens for travel insurance lol
Lizx
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Strugggled to get up that last morning, showered and dressed and put last things in my case, ate a little breakfast and had a cuppa and took some hardboiled eggs and bananas with us and bottles of water, and off we went with our cases to the top of the cement roadway to wait for the coach. It was so sad to say goodbye to Elena, and her husband and father, and her daughter aged 5 called to ask me to read her a story, I wished I could have rather than leave!
We travelled to the airport in bright sunshine, taking in all the last views of the island and after a couple of hours, picking up others going home from their various locations, we arrived at the airport. To our horror, we weren't allowed in but sent to an area across the road from the building, with our luggage, and had to queue in a snake-like line under metal supports with canvas covering, some of it torn away, and just a few seats in the middle of the area. There was a snack bar to one side, very lucrative I expect but we were glad we had our snacks and drinks with us. It seems Corfu airport is too small to allow everyone in at once so just twenty folk were led across every so often and that didn't start happening for half an hour, we stood there in all around an hour, in bright sunshine, with no suncream on as we hadn't been told we would be outside at all. What utter chaos, I and others were suffering from having to stand so long, there were young people sitting on the seats who had no intention of giving them up and even had their luggage on the seat next to them,selfish behaviour. As we moved along the queue our luggage was collecting damp sand from the ground as it had rained in the night so there were puddles in places and it was all just sand and some grass. We finally got to check in and lo and behold, our cases were over the weight limit still even tho we had used things we had taken and left stuff like shampoo etc behind for the cleaner. We had bought nothing more than about 1 kilo worth of souveniers so were very annoyed to have to pay the charge for being over the weight limit and then were overcharged which is something I am in the process of be taking up with Thos Cook, it was supposed to be £10 a kilo and I was charged £12 a kilo but as I paid in euros I didn't realise till I saw my bank account. I wanted to pay by card but their machine was out of action so I had to draw out cash getting a further charge, and then pay at the office there. By this time we didn't have much longer till we boarded so o.h. went to get a pint !!!!!! while I used the ladies loo, and then we got on the plane. It was not a pleasant way to spend our last hour or so in Corfu and considering the amount of flights to the island, they should sort out the airport soon. It certainly put us off going again, as did the mossies and wasps, but I don't think it has put o.h. off altogether so was a good move persuading him to try flying again. Now I have to persuade him to renew his passport by next March or he won't be able to use it, it runs out in August next year and you have to have six months left on it to be able to travel.
It was lovely to visit another Greek Island and the people were so friendly but I wasn't that impressed with the island itself, Kefalonia had better beaches and cleaner water and maybe that will be our destination next year.
Lizxx
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Oh what a carry on at the airport LIz !!
Its enough to put you off that airport.......written that on in my diary ..don't ever fly to Corfu ..LOL
Its looks like its got much busier than when I was there many years ago.
Try Cyprus next time Liz....I go every January.less hassle..
Marilyn x
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Marilyn, our friend who is disabled was very badly treated at the airport, despite her husband telling the rep several times she couldn't continue to stand in the queue (she has chronic arthritis and uses a crutch) the rep just kept saying Oh it won't be much longer, and when she finally got into the airport she collapsed. A different rep told her she should have come straight in regardless of instructions and asked to be given priority treatment, but she told them she had already paid for that and told the rep outside to no avail. Of course, there were lots of apologies altho the original rep tried to lie and say no one had spoken to her, T. had gone to her three times for assistance and she kept fobbing him off. L. was quite poorly and stressed and it spoiled the end of their trip too. They are in the process of complaining.
When I spoke to our travel agent she said it was common knowledge in the business that Corfu and other airports don't keep their scales accurately balanced so are often already registering a couple of kilos over before the luggage gets weighed, what a con that is!
Lizx
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So sorry your trip was spoit by the travel arrangements.It was nothing like that when I went in the 80's,but then again it wasn't as popular as it is now.
It's a shame when they get so commercial but haven't the facilities to cope.
hope Kefalonia is better next year.We went to Crete about 6 years ago and I found it far too busy for my liking,but we did go on a lot of trips to Knossos etc and saw some of it's history.
Brenda x
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Liz
Oh dear... cant get any worse than that surley ...what a horrible thing to do to a passenger.
I hope she gets something in the way of compensation ...!!
Deffo put me off Corfu....big time ..!!
Marilyn x
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Met up with my disabled friend this evening, with one of her lovely daughters - we went to an evening with two mediums at the local Spiritualist church as we are both interested in hearing mediums.
One was The Laughing Postmen Geoff Phillips from London - he was a real character, and delivered his very good readings with great humour. The other was Grace Gray from Canvey Island and she was good too.
So something good about the holiday apart from the change of scenery, warmth, and interesting places to see etc was that I have made a new friend, one who I hope will be in my life for some time to come. Despite her ill health she is a lovely person and so is her partner and daughter, and we had a real laugh tonight.
Funnily enough I was in touch with someone before I went away who might buy a mirror from me, and when I mailed her to say I was back from Corfu, she told me her sister lives there in Kassiopi, lucky woman. That was one of the nicer places we went altho I am sure there are more, we didn't do many trips.
Lizx
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