Corfu, Greece
This year I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet another Greek island.
This year was Corfu.
I had plans for the holidays.
I took my notebooks, my planners and all my working sheets.
Time was something I wouldn't lack once on holidays!
But it was my cousin who alerted me:
No! She said more or less in an austere tone, "You're going on holidays to enjoy it and to keep work aside."
Do not forget, but do not think about it.
The hint was pretty much this.
The truth was that I accepted and allowed myself to think about nothing.
It felt so good.
And gratitude for being able to enjoy a whole week in a resort, delighting ourselves into small luxuries like all inclusive, cocktails at silly-o'clock, great kids club, bright blue swimming pools and a breathtaking sea view with Albanian mountains in the horizon was priceless.
Except for the weather.
It was all lovely, but I must repeat:
Except for the weather.
If we had a complaints' book, the discontentment would clap because:
June + Greece *does not equal* to 3 days of torrential rain.
We were unfortunate, I acknowledge that.
For obvious reasons, we almost expect the guarantee for blue skies, sun shining for us while we parade our 7 holiday-exclusive-outfits, but recognizing that the global warming has, in fact, a real, palpable impact on these absurd and radical weather changes (and also considering the island's geography) is also important.
But the weather didn't stop us from exploring the island.
In our tiny rented Peugeot we drove to the capital, Kerkyra a great and weird combination of Greek and Italian architecture while pouring from the skies, cobbled streets, paint peeling fom the buildings, absolutely narrow and unexpected streets and shops in each corner with exorbitant prices to fool us all, tourists.
The transparency of the greek waters was absolutely amazing, even with all the water that was falling from the sky, charged with dark, heavy clouds. The potential of those waters was splendid and idyllic...
But what's the point of thinking about the 'potential' when we are wearing trousers, shoes, soaked socks, hair dripping, jackets glued to the body and those silly plastic raincovers on top?
Right?
Between torrential rains, we crossed the island's national roads (with little signposting, absolutely missing roadsides as well as road separators) up and down the immense mountains of Corfu - dense, green, vertiginous and decidedly dangerous.
We faced heavy fog at the very top of the mountains we were driving through, we descended breathtaking curves without being able to see more than 10 meters of road in front of us and finally reached the Monastery of Paleokastritsa.
We also fed a hand full of stray cats and even took on an excursion to the picturesque port of Kassiopi where the sun made some attempts to explore through the clouds.
In general, it's almost impossible not to like Greece and almost inevitable to celebrate the good times spent in there.
Corfu is definitely different from Rhodes - up to this day, it remains my favorite Greek island, even though I know I still have so much to explore...
Not only the seas that bathe the islands are different, the influences of their locations are visible in the architecture and general feeling of the islands - Rhodes being warmer, closer to Turkey, wilder, more arid and dry; whereas Corfu is denser, more humid, mountainous and more susceptible to weather changing suddenly.
Hiccups on the way, we'll always have, but to value the experience and the fact that we have made a trip safe and sound is the lesson we learn and the experience made us richer.
To complain less and to praise more, becomes the message of the day.
. . . . Read my previous blogpost . . . .