Kerry left off with Patrick and his girlfriend Chloe arriving in Corfu for a week’s holiday. We had resigned ourselves to no sailing for the next week and aimed to become proper land-tourists, so we could enjoy ourselves with them. We arranged for them to stay in a rather cheap hotel, just along from the marina. Cheap or not, it would be better than squeezing onto Barberry with us! Unfortunately Barberry does not provide much in the way of guest accommodation, with no guest suite available, although we do have a modestly stocked minibar, but that’s about it.
Patrick and Chloe arrived late on Tuesday 14th, so we arranged to meet them the next day. Fold-up bikes were dug out of lockers, with Kerry carefully checking her bike’s battery was at full charge. I navigated to their hotel, with Kerry zooming along behind. The route looped us around the very large marina, then onto narrow backstreets, with lots of shouts of “car up” and “car down” from Kerry and I, respectively, as we wove through the traffic. It was exhilarating to be on the bikes again. Somehow the feeling of being so close to death makes us feel more alive!
It was great to see them and we were looking forward to planning a week of activities together. The hotel was not exactly paradise on Earth, but their accommodation did have bedroom, sitting room, shower room and tiny kitchenette, so I think they were happy enough with it. There was the odd ant or spider about, which Chloe didn’t really appreciate, but Patrick patiently removed them.
We jumped on a bus (there only is the number 7 bus, so the only mistakes that can be made are going in the wrong direction or missing the stop — what could go wrong?) and took them to the marina so that Chloe could have a tour of Barberry. This took all of about 5 minutes. Then it was swim time and we found a beach within walking distance to test the water. We forgot our beach shoes, so had to carefully negotiate spiny sea urchins as we waded into the sea. Luckily no thorns were impaled into our feet and the water was found to be ‘refreshing’ in temperature.
Kerry and I had thoughtfully tested Zorbas restaurant the day before, so we suggested it for dinner. We have found that Patrick and Chloe are very alike in that neither of them ever turns down the opportunity for food. Patrick had the enormous pork chop and actually finished it, whereas Chloe had a mountain of spaghetti bolognese, which she had to admit defeat to. Mind you, that was after eating more than half the mountain!
On Thursday we had booked parascending for the youngsters, something that Chloe had never tried. It was quite windy as we arrived on the beach and it was marginal as to whether it would actually run. Fortunately for them they did get a go and really enjoyed it. They were first to arrive, but it was cancelled after them, so the others in their group were offered either refunds or a spin around the coast, towed by a speed boat, on an inflated sofa. Some actually chose the sofa!
Patrick and Chloe headed into town for dinner that night, whereas the oldies were worn out from watching the parascending (and catching buses) so had a quiet night in.
The weather was unpredictable this week, after an amazing week of sunshine before Patrick and Chloe arrived. Rain was forecast for Friday, but Patrick was keen to try some cliff climbing, so his tour operators (Kerry and I) set to work to arrange something. Google is amazing for this sort of thing.
We found a company that could take them and even collected them from their hotel. It sounded like a great day out, with the rain holding off and Patrick trying some challenging routes, including one overhang. He has a light build and long limbs, so there is not much that he can’t get up!
Chloe tried climbing for the first time and did amazingly well. She just gets stuck into things and gives them a go, which is great. She certainly came back with enough bruises to prove she had been climbing!
Kerry and I had a less vigorous day on Friday and went to the local archeological museum, which was full of broken pottery (patiently glued back together) as well as a huge collection of coins, dating back over a couple of thousand years. It’s easy to forget how significant Greece was back in the day. They pretty much invented civilisation in Europe.
We had planned to take Patrick and Chloe out on Barberry for a day, but when we thought about it we decided it would be far better to get an organised trip boat so that we could all relax and enjoy the day. There are not many trip boats running in April, but we managed to find one with excellent trip-advisor reviews. They took us to the north east corner of Corfu Island, where we hadn’t been before, with promises of swims off the boat and all you can eat/drink beach BBQ. Kerry was also desperate to find a little bay that featured in a Mary Stewart novel (This Rough Magic) that was somewhere along that coast. I’m sure you have all read it.
It was a fantastic trip and all their promises were fulfilled with an amazing lunch for 16 trippers, all cooked on a big, flaming barbecue, right up on the roof of the boat! There was pork, chicken, fish, salad, mushrooms and toasted bread. Really yummy and washed down with unlimited local wine. The swimming was also great, with lovely clear water, although perhaps a little chilly for some. We could see Albania very clearly from where we were as it’s only one mile from Corfu at the closest point.
Sunday was forecast to be wet. When it rains in Corfu it really rains — it’s clear why the vegetation here is so green. We dared to go into town to see the old fort, but as we walked through the cobbled streets the heavens opened and we all got absolutely soaked. Three of us had coats, but Chloe was in her summer gear, as that’s all she had. We jumped on a random bus, purely because it was dry inside, and shot off down the coast to an unknown destination. We didn’t care, as we just wanted to dry out! Eventually the bus arrived at the unknown destination and then returned to Corfu town, where we found a dry taverna and got some lunch. We abandoned the idea of getting to the old fort!
The week flew by and it was finally time for Patrick and Chloe to fly back to NI. It was a shame the weather was not sunny every day for them (like it had been for us the week before!), but they seemed to enjoy themselves and managed to fit in plenty of activities. We’ll miss them when they are gone as they were great company, but we are also looking forward to our voyage further south into the Ionian Islands, which we have not visited since our first flotilla sailing holiday, more then 30 years ago. I wonder if it will have changed much?