(Continued from the last post...if you haven't already, you can read it here)
PART THREE: Corfu North
In order to travel up to the north coast of the island, we went back into Corfu Town to catch a bus. The oldest daughter of the hostel family told us the night before that she could give us a ride into town at 9am. Perfect! Though the 9am slowly turned into 12:30 (what did I tell you about "Corfu schedules"?), we eventually made it into town (along the way we also picked up a friend of hers). The bus ride took us through the north central part of the island, which is by far the most mountainous. We also drove through some more small villages, which at times I thought the bus wasn't going to be able to squeeze through. It was nice to rest the legs a bit (and by this time my cold was getting pretty bad).
We arrived in Sidari with enough daylight left to walk into town and marvel at the sea side cliffs. The town itself felt like a deserted beach town (probably picks up once the summer weather is here), and really wasn't that pretty. The beaches however, were stunning. The north coast is scattered with tall rocky cliffs. You can see the layers of rock as they climb up the cliffs... it's really quite something! Our hostel was absolutely great as well. For just 13 euros a night/person we had our own room with a small kitchen and balcony. I really felt spoiled! Though we missed the home cooking of our last hostel, we enjoyed cooking for ourselves and I definitely enjoyed being warmer at night. For the rest of our time in Sidari and the surrounding area, we hiked, found some amazing beaches, and watched probably the best sunset of our lives!
Below: a Sidari bus stop.
On our way back to the hostel that evening (Good Friday evening) we came across a processional through the small village of Peroulades. Earlier that evening, we witnessed some young boys laying palm leaves and branches throughout the streets. At the time, we had no idea that later we would witness the whole town population gather by candlelight and proceed from one church to another, following the trail of palm leaves. On one hand, we felt like we should have joined in, but we decided to duck into the side of the street and just take it all in. I snapped a few photos, but did not go overboard as I did not want to be disrespectful. It was perfect timing that we ended up there just as the town was gathering together. It was amazing to see this.
PART FOUR: Easter in Corfu Town
If there's one thing we were told we HAD to do while we were in Corfu, it was to get to Corfu Town on Easter weekend. It is huge. We were told that people even from mainland Greece try to get to Corfu for the weekend's festivities. Starting Friday evening there are services and processionals leading up to the main events on Saturday. Our goal was to be there in time to see the "Pot throwing" custom, which happens at 11am sharp. This is when the people of Corfu throw down large clay pots that are full of water from their balconies to smash on the street below. This is an act of ridding of all evil, and is in anticipation of the Resurrection of Jesus which is celebrated later that night. Red cloths are hung from the balconies representing the blood of Jesus.
So did we make it on time? Sadly, not quite. Instead we have a funny story (of course). The morning of Easter Saturday we were still up in Sidari (north coast). Long story short, a lady named Maria (who was friends of the lady who owned the hostel), let us borrow her car for the weekend. Yep, that's right, she had met us once and let us borrow her car for the sum of 20 euros. How it happened was kind of ridiculous... she picked us up in the morning in a hurry saying she could give us a ride (she knew we were trying to figure out a way to get into town). However, she had to pick up some other people and take them to the airport...so why don't we just take her car? She had no idea if we had our drivers license, let alone if we had ever even driven a car before. The only connection we had made was that we were Canadians and her son now lives in Winnipeg (gotta love being a friendly Canadian, eh?). She didn't even know our names at the time. So, off we went! We made arrangements to stay at a hotel on the outskirts of the town, and basically because of the congestion in town we didn't make it in time for the "Pot throwing".
Though we missed out on the actual smashing of the pots, it was still interesting to see the aftermath. Clay pieces scattered on the streets throughout town, crowds of people in town square, and a marching band sounded overtop of all the voices. It was a huge celebration- and the finale hadn't even come yet. Later that night, again people flooded back into the centre of town, this time by candlelight. It was such a sight to see. People out in the street, on their porches and balconies, families gathered together, couples, singles, young, old... everyone awaiting the midnight fireworks, transforming the town into a soft candle lit glow. Once the fireworks happened, what else is there to do, but to celebrate some more? This is definitely the biggest party that happens all year.
Did we stay to party it up? I never thought I'd say this (I've never been one to turn down a midnight celebration), but maybe this is a sign of us getting (no Sarah... don't say it!) old? There, I said it. We were so tuckered out, the thought of staying up for one more minute did not sound appealing to either of us. Also.... we had one more day in Corfu. AND we unexpectedly had a car to use at our disposal... just THINK of the possibilities....
When we got back to the hotel we set our alarm for the next morning. I think I snapped back to the little kid in me considering how excited I was. South Corfu, we're comin for ya!!
PART FIVE: Corfu South
All thanks to Maria from the hostel in Sidari, we were able to drive down to the most southern part of Corfu. We didn't really have much of a plan for the day, but we knew we wanted to see more of the island and take advantage of this car that just fell into our possession. The south part of the island is much skinnier in width and flattens out quite a bit geographically. Here's a photo I snatched off google for you:
Do you see the most southern town on the map, Kavos? We were there by 10:30am that morning (leaving from Corfu Town by 9). There really wasn't that much to see (compared to the West and North coasts) and seemed pretty desolate. We walked the beach and enjoyed the peacefulness of the flat, sandy beaches. Kavos was similar to Sidari.... a deserted beach town. Maybe things pick up in the summer time. We didn't run into any other people, though we did meet another doggie friend.
After walking the beach on the southern coast, it was only noon. Our flight didn't leave until late that night, so we made the decision to head up to a town on the West coast named Palaiokastritsa (North of Pelakus Village, where we stayed at the beginning of the week) that we had heard had some of the best coastal views on the island. We covered a lot of ground that day! Check out the map above... Palaiokastritsa is on the map (most North-Western coastal town). The drive was fantastic. Winding through small villages, and with it being Easter Sunday in Greece, we witnessed many family gatherings and even saw some traditional Greek dancing in someone's back garden. So, I guess this last part of my post is back to Corfu West. I'd say we liked the west coast the best.
Along our way up to Palaiokastritsa, we stopped in a small village for coffee. The town was buzzing! Everyone seemed to be out for coffee.. maybe they were out for a "pre-Easter Dinner" coffee? (The people on Corfu partake in a huge Easter dinner of lamb that is roasted on a spit. I have a few photos below). I had a traditional Greek iced coffee with frothed milk. Delicious! Throughout our week on the island, no matter where we were we saw people drinking these coffees, so I just had to try it out.
Happy Easter! I saved an Easter egg from breakfast for a snack for later ... :)
We eventually made it to Palaiokastritsa and the views were amazing....
Cooking the lamb for Easter Dinner.
We made our way back to Corfu Town that evening and were able to take in the sunset before catching our flight back to England (photo above is in Corfu Town).
What an adventure this was. From our West coast adventures on the Corfu Trail (with and without Susie!), to stunning sunsets on the North coast, and last but not least, taking in the cultural festivities of the Easter break, this was a trip I'll never forget.
Thanks for the good times, Corfu.
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