Go west

Corfu Town

Today I go west by moving from Benitses to Paleokastritsa with an exploratory stop in Corfu town.  As I had woke early, I thought I’d grab breakfast as it opened at 0730 and try for the 0825 bus.  This was to avoid the heat.

I was in Corfu town by 0900 and started my walkabout.  I cut right through the old town and headed to the Old Fort by the water.  The Palace of St Michael & St George which housed the Museum of Asian Arts didn’t appeal to me so I continued along the waterfront  to where I could see cruise ships.  There I paid too much (EUR4) to briefly visit the Antivouniovissa Museum, housed in the church named after Our Lady of the same name.  Yes, the icons were nice but I’ve seen a fair bit in my time.

When I got a view of the New Fort, I cut inland to the centre of town where I found the church of Agios Spyridon.  I took a brief visit.  With plenty of stops and water, the 1h30 of walking with my 7kg backpack and a starting weight of 3kg water, I think I did well for age 53.  But I wouldn’t have enjoyed hiking up the to the new or old forts with the weight, so I didn’t.

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Paleokastritsa

I stopped for a light lunch before continuing the walk to the Green Bus Terminal where I just just made the 1200 bus for Paleokastritsa.  The bus wasn’t very often so it was crowded.  It didn’t help that it was a long-distance type coach rather than a suburban type bus.  The sandwich glass next to me had filled with water sloshing about whenever the bus braked; quite a nice bit of entertainment.

With Google Maps helping me, I got off the bus 1 min before the Phivos Hotel, my home for two nights.  But that translated to a walk of around 10 minutes.  I got some fruit and water while waiting briefly for my room to be fully ready.

In the afternoon, I walked north to explore and find the various spots.  Nearby was the grotto, a swimming spot.  And beyond that, Akron Beach Club where the beach was quite nice.  I descended by steps and found that the price was EUR10 for a lounger.  That’s far too pricey compared to the EUR3 back at Benitses or a EUR3 minimum purchase of food/drinks.  I decided I’d just leave my stuff on the nearby public area tomorrow while I swim.

Looking on the map, it was too far and hot to go to the monastery so I thought I’d le ave it for an early morning walk tomorrow.

I had a cool dip in the pool before dinner at Spiros restaurant next door.