Kassiopi in Corfu

Next day, after another noisy night, we sauntered off to a nearby bus stop near the ferry terminals to catch a bus to Kassiopi, a small fishing village north of Kerkyra that had been recommended on TripAdvisor. It took about 20 minutes for the bus to show up from the city centre to our stop. Usually the buses had the destination marked on the front, but we couldn't find it on this one. Luckily, a local lady was going on the same one, and confirmed that's where it was going.

Unlike elsewhere, you actually entered from the doors in the middle, and instead of paying the driver upfront, we were methodologically seated (as methodologically as you can do it in Greece), and when the bus started, the conductor went around collecting the fare from everyone. The trip was 3.90 EUR per person to Kassiopi. The bus picked up people along the way, mostly tourists heading to where ever they were, and they were all seated in an orderly fashion, didn't care if families or friends were separated. Eventually, we had picked up so many people that some had to stand.

The road through the mountains was winding with hairpins turns that the bus negotiated with reasonable ease. Using the other lane for leverage wasn't unheard of, and if a car happened to come by on that lane, it was their duty to move out of the way. When a car filled with young tourists didn't realise this, and challenged the driver, nothing good followed and they had to give in. The rest of the journey we then listened to the driver's discussion about tourists. Luckily that was all in Greek, so we didn't understand it. 

When we finally arrived in Kassiopi, we didn't really know where to go. Consulting a map beforehand might have been a good idea, but hindsight and all that... I do as others do, so follow the people who seem to know what they're doing. Finally, we found a small beach and decided to have a couple of ciders by the restaurant/bar and watched the tourists drive by. 

I had a feeling of "is this it?" Should I stop trusting TripAdvisor on these things? Finally, I sacrificed enough mobile data and googled where we were. Turns out we were on the opposite side of the village, from where all the action is. Well, Mom was sporting enough 

to start walking by the scenic, oceanfront route, with its many beaches and sunbathers. 

We even managed to catch a glimpse of Saranda on the Albanian side. 

and eventually we came to the actual village centre, where the harbour/port was. It was a hive of action with tourists flocking to the restaurants and souvenir shops. There were also lots of different vessels moored in the harbour. 

We ended up having lunch at a restaurant by the harbour, where I had the best ever beef stifado. And that's not saying it lightly! Wish I remembered the name, but oh well. The return trip seemed to go through a road closer to the coast, which meant we could see even more places on the way. The bus dropped us off near the harbour and terminal, although there wasn't really a designated stop there, the driver just followed a passenger's instructions on where to drop her off. Fine by us!

Corfu - the island of the peaks

To get to Southern Albania, as was my main goal, we took a TUI flight to Corfu - Kerkyra airport. The trip made much more sense than flying directly to Tirana North Albania, where Albania's only airport is situated. I would've been happy with just a 1-night stay, but Mom, who was a little apprehensive about Albania wanted to spend more time in the civilized Corfu LOL

Even though the weather was warm enough when we left Finland, the real tropical warmth was balmy to my heat-craving body. The arrivals - part of the airport was small, and we quickly got out to hunt for taxis to take us to the hotel. 

The airport of Kerkyra is close enough to the city, so we could've taken the bus, but as we weren't quite sure where the hotel was, taxi was a better choice in the middle of the night. The driver took us to the hotel for 17 EUR, which I think was rather hefty, but beggars can't be choosers. 

The taxi driver took us to the hotel, not the friendliest driver possible, but he knew the hotel. Hotel Europe was one of over 70 EUR a night, and I guess by Corfu standards, it was fair. At such a late booking time, I wasn't able to get a better price at any of the better hotels by the port.

But, if you want a hotel by the port (to catch the ferry to Albania), don't choose this hotel. It is very old and dated, and VERY noisy. However: credit to them; Mom had left some of her clothes in the closet when we left, and I had left my coat... They had held on to them, until I was able to pick them up on our way back to the airport, some 2 weeks later.

Oh, and an important reminder: DO NOT throw toilet paper down the toilet!! I guess it's one of the rules for visiting Greece. Well, the only other time I visited Greece was in Crete, so I don't know about the mainland. 

We were exhausted after the journey, and looked forward to a restful sleep, which didn't come. In my desperation, I had to resort to borrowing earplugs from Mom, that's how bad it was. The hotel didn't offer breakfast, but the older lady at the reception was kind enough to show us to the nearest cafe about a block away. Due to her kindness or the difficulty of speaking English... The cafe/bakery seemed to be mostly frequented by locals, as was the area of the hotel. Lucky for us, they spoke and understood good enough English so we could get our order in. For about 8 EUR we got a coffee, tea,  sandwich and a pastry. 

Our hotel was better situated for the port, and not the Old Town. It was about a 20-30 -minute walk to the Old Town by the seaside road. The difference in time was due to mother being a bit slower. She insists she walks at a normal pace, it's the others (myself included) that are walking unusually fast. I do have to give her props, never did she complain it was too hard on the uneven cobbled stones, or that we walked too much throughout the trip. She is a real champ! 

So our daily trek to the Old Town took us by the seaside/harbour, until we hit the New Fortress.

To us it looked mighty old, but it appears there's a fortress that's even older, hence the name. (Never got to visit the "Old Fortress".) Finally, turning to walk along the fortress, we came to the streets of the Old Town and all it's shops and restaurants. There were lots of touristy shops abound, with souvenirs, spices, woodwork, soaps and so on. 

We wondered around quite a bit every day, and after each day, weren't quite sure how to get back to the hotel. We knew that if we saw the fortress, we could find our way back, but it was more difficult than one could imagine... On the first night, we accidentally managed to find our way back, but on the second night we were totally lost. We asked lots of people, with the help of the map we had acquired from the hotel, and everyone gave us different directions. The GPS on my mobile didn't seem to be much help either. I guess google wasn't too familiar with the the zigzagging streets. We picked up a better map at one of the ferry offices, but that was when we were about to leave already.

Finally, a guy in a restaurant told us to forget about the map, and just listen to his directions. And just like that, we had a clear view of where to go. Just go to the main shopping street, take a left turn after M&S and follow the street, you'll soon see the fortress. In any case, I now definitely know who I've inherited my sense of direction from. Or the lack thereof.