Corfu, marked by the symbol of water was always part of Greek history starting with Greek mythology…

“Nausicaa: Never forget me, for I gave you life“ Homer- Odyssey

Back to Corfu! Driven by my curiosity I am always returning to places which are raising questions not answered yet.

The island of Corfu, the love nest of Poseidon and the nymph Kerkyra it is bounded by the water symbol and despite the tourism industry invasion still keeps some unaltered features. Since I have been there twice already, this time, I knew for sure where I want to go and what I want to see. As always, my aim was..the west coast…

For the two days allocated to Corfu, we chose to stay in the most spectacular resort and when I say spectacular I mean the scenery. Ironically, I can say we spend the least time there because we were mostly on the road wandering up and down the west coast. For a good reason, so little time so many things to be seen.

We stayed enough to visit the Paleokastritsa Monastery, though. There is something about that place which makes me return to it. Being there it gave me the sensation of being in a white fortress built upon the rock bathed by the sea waves. Also, it  is the best place to take some amazing pictures of the nearby coastline.

Paleokastritsa scenic beauty makes you realise that maybe it wasn`t only Nausicaa‘s beauty wich kept Odysseus longer on these parts of the world, Probably I should mention that Paleokastritsa is connected with the legend of Odysseus and Nausicaa. According to the legend, Odysseus shipwrecked on the coasts of Corfu and  met Nausicaa when she was doing laundry on the shore. He asked for her help so he can get back to his homeland. She helped him as well as she could but she also fell in love with him. Sadly Odysseus was not sharing her feelings being faithful to his wife Penelope.

“Nausicaa: Never forget me, for I gave you life“ Homer– Odyssey. This sentence seems to carry the entire weight of the mystery that lies behind this love story and these places.

From Paleokastritsa my destination was Angelocastro. Following the wise pieces of advice from my friend GoogleMaps I took to the road to Lakones and from there to Makrades village and from there to Krini. There is one thing that must be mentioned, the streets in Krini are very narrow and with a big car can be difficult to manoeuvre on those streets. Krini is old and the houses are typical for that kind of mountain village. From Krini the road is passing through an olive orchard and then straight to the castle.

There is no place in Corfu Island to be more impressive than Angelocastro. Built on the highest peak on the western coast it is the most strategic point of the island, from here it can surveil the entire coast to the south and north and to the east of Corfu Town the cruise ships from Corfu Town port can be seen from there.

I wandered through the ruins and I could not make myself leave, I was fascinated by the scenery. I could understand why despite numerous sieges this place was never conquered being one of the most important fortresses in Corfu.

If I had to name one place that can’t be missed in Corfu, Angelocastro is the one and only. There is nothing else that can surpass it. There is no other place that can offer a traveller on overview on the island like Angelocastro does and there is no other place which can offer such breathtaking views like Angelocastro does.

Left Angelocastro literally dizzy, my head was spinning and I felt so drunk by the beauty I was seeing around me. The beauty of nature is my drug. We wanted to follow the coastline going north following the indication of Google maps wanting to do beaching. What I did not know and I realised only when our car got stuck on a very narrow street was that google it might show you how to get to the place you want to see but it does not show if the road is suitable for cars or not, Our car was far from being suitable for those roads being a sports car not a terrain car.

Luckily for us, we were able to handle the situation without any help but definitely if I will ever return I will take a terrain car and drive on every possible road or path along the coast.

The next stop on the way to the north was Agios Gordios. The winding roads were taking us there and stopped for a while to look at it from above. I loved the colour of the sea and the intense brightness of the sunlight surrounding us.

The sun was heading to sleep getting closer to the moment of touching the sea waters. Well, few more hours till then but for me was a sign that we should head to Peroulades village to sunset beach, Loggas Beach. I could not have missed the sunset for a world when I was so close to the place where sunsets are most spectacular.

The sandstone cliffs carved by winds and water are so spectacular and looked like are made out of gold under the sunset light. The good thing about this place is that up on the cliffs 7th Heaven Caffe is the best place to watch the sunset while listening Budha Bar music and sipping an Ouzo….Which I did …

I love to drink Ouzo every time I am in Greece. It makes me feel like I am truly in Greece tasting all its flavours including this very strong drink which is not really appreciated by everyone because of its strong flavour. But I love it.

I felt inebriated by happiness and when I left I could not help it not to take this picture.

I keep looking back while I was leaving and felt so sorry that I did not capture the moment when the sun was falling in the sea`s arms.

Next stop…Corfu Town, We were hungry and in the old town, it was our favourite place with the best Gyros. I feel hungry again only when I write all this.

But before our delicious dinner, we stopped in Kanoni visiting the small church on Pontikonissi Island. Bening so close to the airport we stayed at the nearest coffee watching the aeroplanes landing while the sun was setting behind  the hills.

I might not catch the sun going down in the sea but I did  catch the aeroplane landing while the sun was going down. A great ending to a marvellous day, Well I can’t say the day ended that moment because we did enjoy the best Gyros only to try afterwards the most delicious pastries we could found in the old city of Corfu. I can’t say I ate in a specific place because we tried absolutely every pastries shop we could find…and it was delicious..and fattening..,But nobody cared? It was vacation time!

Another day , another destination. The Corfu Trip was over and I was waiting for the ferry to take us back to the mainland, I should have mentioned the trip to Halikounas beach in the south but since the pictures I took there do not help me very much although that beach is perfect for surfing and kitesurfing I decided that maybe some other time I will cover this part. For now, back to the mainland…and then…Lefkada!!!

Tips

Take the ferry from Igoumenitsa to Lefkimmi which is in the south of the island. It is cheaper if you have a car and besides it is good to begin your exploration from the south wandering through the olive orchards, trying the food at the small farms and taste the local wine and olive oil.

If you intend to do surfing or kitesurfing you are closer to Halikounas beach. That beach is amazing and less crowded.

As always, I will say concentrate on the western shores, are the most spectacular. Stay in Paleokastritsa, take pictures from Angelocastro, do surfing at Halikounas and watch the sunset on Loggas Beach at 7th heaven Caffe.