My summer in Corfu
remarks on a week in the Emerald Island
Introduction
I met Greece for the first time in the summer of 1994. My Italian teacher was exasperated because my literary school productions sound like an XVIII century piece. I have been reading Emilio Salgari’s masterpiece, Sandokan in that period. To lead my Italian back to the XX century, she recommended me “My family and other animals” by Gerald Durrell, as a summer reading. It was an epiphany! The book talks about the author’s childhood in Corfu. He spent his time observing bugs, turtles, and birds in the olives' groves, while many other funny things happened with his family. Theodore Stefanides was his friend, one of the last polymaths. I lived in an Italian province, with streets made of the concrete and anonymous building. What a dream feeling the grass under my feet and wake up in an olives’ grove.
I read the Corfu Trilogy (My family and other animals, Birds, Beasts, and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods) again in 2020. Because of the strong lockdown, traveling was impossible. I had to run away, suddenly. Those books bring me back to Corfu with Gerry, Larry, Teo, and Spiro. It was like a glass of fresh water after a long walk under the midday sun.
My family and I choose to spend our holidays on Emerald Island this year. We choose to do it partially on Durrells’ footprints.
Travel Planning
Making a trip plan is like analysis for software. Maybe the most exciting part.
Corfu is the great of the Ionian Greek islands. It lays in front of the Albanian coast. With the islands of Paxos and Antipaxos, Fanò, and others, it creates an archipelago. You can reach those other islands by boat.
You can go to Corfu in two ways from Italy:
- using a ferry from Brindisi or Bari. It needs 8 hours trip;
- using airplane. It takes 1 hour or 2, based on your starting point. For example, it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes from Rome.
Traveling by ferry is a suggestive one. Lawrence Durrell did in 1935:
But once you strike out from the flat and desolate Calabrian mainland towards the sea, you are aware of a change in the heart of things: aware of the horizon beginning to stain at the rim of the world: aware of islands coming out of the darkness to meet you. — L. Durrell, Prospero’s Cell.
The travel by ferry is the hardest one from Rome. You drive from Rome to Brindisi (600km / 370 miles more or less) and then spend 8 hours on a ferry. This is why we choose the airplane trip(the prices were comparable).
You could stay in one of many centers in Corfu: Italian travel agencies choose Ipsos. Ipsos is the town where Italian teenagers accommodate. Discos, late-night pubs, and noisy crowds are as common as mozzarella cheese in a Margherita. This is why we preferred Dassia instead.
Dassia is a family-friendly center with ταβέρνες in front of the sea and quiet studios. It is a well-served town with supermarkets and pharmacies. It is 10 km far away from Corfu Town too.
Other centers, like Kavos or Kanoni, are too far away from the beaches in the north or, like Sidari and Roda, too far away from Kerkira.
My wife and I did many searches on specialized sites. In the end, we chose the hotel represented behind:
The hotel host helped us contacting a car agency in Dassia. They bring the car to the airport and driven us back to our left.
From a tech point of view: Greece adopts the European GSM standard for mobile communications. According to EU law on international roaming, you can use your national plan without extra effort. I had no problems roaming over Wind GR. I had only one limitation: 5 GN for data usages.
From an electric point of view, Greece adopts a standard voltage of 230 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz. No adapter needs if your devices expose a schuko socket.
We flight to Corfu on Wednesday, and here are the places we visited.
Barbati — Μπαρμπάτι
Barbati is a little tourist center 10 km far away from Dassia. You take the road to Kassiopi. Closed to Ipsos, after some hairpin bends, you reach the Barbati area.
Take one of the roads on your right: everyone will bring you to the beach. Drive slowly! Barbati beach is one of the most equipped ones: some tavernas are there. You can rent a couple of sunbeds and a sun umbrella for 7€ per day.
Mount Pantokrator, the highest hill in Corfu, dominates the beach on the land side.
The beach is made of pebbles, so you need rock shoes to take a bath. The water is crystal, but there is no sea life close to the beach. Olives and tamarisks trees are all around you: if you would like you can lay in their shadow instead of a sun umbrella.
Barbati is where The Angry Barrels, the last chapter of Birds, Beasts, and Relatives, is set. Here is Gerry’s description:
[…] we reached our destination, a half-mile-long beach that lay under the flanks of Pantokrator. Here the olive grove came almost the sea, separated from it only by a white stripe of shingle. — G. Durrell, Birds, Beasts, and Relatives.
I wasn’t able to locate Mr. Stavrodakis’s villa if some of you have more information, let me know.
A geek note: the 4G technology works well, this lets me use social media with good bandwidth. All tavernas allow you to connect to their wifi: the signal is good at the tables, worst at the beach because of the distance.
Kalami — Καλάμι
Kalami is the place where Lawrence Durrell and his wife Nancy chose to live. Here stays the White House:
A white house set like a dice on a rock already venerable with the scars of wind and water — L. Durrell Prospero’s Cell
Today it is a hotel with a nearby taverna: you can book it at its own website. It became a brand: souvenirs, books, postcards are all in the name of The White House. The commercial transformation of this place did not dispel the enchantment of the place let Nancy fall in love with it. In fact, Nancy, with help from Teo, discovered this little piece of Eden.
To drive to Kalami, follow the street to Kontokali, climbing on the shoulders of the Pantokrator. You find a deviation from the main road which brings you to Kouloura and Kalami after 16km of bends.
Be aware of the street: no guard rail is for the steep downhill. Stay safe and enjoy the stunning landscape while going down.
Kalami is a little town full of studios for renting, with a couple of supermarkets and restaurants on the beach. Houses are embraced by olive groves, cypresses, and judas trees.
There are pebbles on the shore and in the sea, this is why you need rock shoes. The bay is small with cold transparent water. You can find two piers where guys enjoy dives. You can rent a kayak if you like.
Kalami is one of the preferred places for sailboats to dock: there are a great number of boats off the shore enjoying a bath in those crystal water. The bay is closed on the right sight by the White House and by a cliff on the left. The Albanian coast is only 5 km far away from you.
Geeky note: your smartphone will hang the Albanian network many times: check your plan before trying to take a call or using messaging applications. The net is not very good but free wifi, or the one from your taverna, could help a lot.
Saint Stefano — Αγίου Στεφάνου
Following the main road to Kassiopi, you’ll meet another crossroad that brings you to a small bay. Here a town, embraced by olives’ grove, lays. It is Agios Stefanos.
The street is winding and steep, be aware and enjoy your trip. It will end at the shore.
The bay is like a swimming pool. It is as wide as 1km and the water is no more than 10 meters in depth. It is perfect for a family with small children. Do not forget your rock shoes if you would like to swim! You cannot approach the water without.
If you look into the bottom, you will see sea urchins living between the rocks. Many tourists catch them: I think you have not to do it, sea urchin is an endangered species as in Greece as in Italy.
You can lay under the big tamarisk tree shadow that dominates the bay or have a walk and start exploring the Erimitis natural park. We stopped here, it was too hot for us.
Many sailors like this part of the islands, which is one of the less touristic ones. They anchor off-shore or in the bay to enjoy a swim in those crystal waters.
Palaiokastritsa — Παλαιοκαστρίτσα
Palaiokastritsa is one of the most snapped areas of Corfu. This is not a beach or a town, as many think, it is an entire district. It counts more than six bays.
The most known beaches are
- Agios Petros
- Agios Spiridon
- Ampelaki
Reaching Palaiokastritsa is quite simple. You have to follow the signals from the Gouvia’s crossroad. The street will guide you directly to both Agios Spiridon and Agios Petros beaches.
Beaches are little bays here with pebbles beaches. If you would to rent a couple of sunbeds and a sun umbrella, wake up early in the morning. We could find none at ten a.m.
The water is cold, crystal, and full of sea life: small fishes swim around your legs while you are choosing to swim or go back to the shore because of the iced water.
Paleokastritsa is well known for the monastery that on top of the hill dominates the bays. A steep street guides you to its door. I recommend you to have a walk to the monastery, to enjoy the view of the area when ascending.
When you’re on the top of the hill, you can see a small island opposite Agios Petros. A legend told us this is the Scheria, the boat used by the Pheacis to bring Odysseus back to Ithaca in the myth. According to the legend, the boat was transformed into an island when it came back from Ithaca. Another island pretends to be the Scheria: it is Vidos, which lays in front of Kontokali. Many agree to identify Corfu as the island of the Pheacis in the myth of course.
Larry agrees with the first version of the myth:
Odysseus must have met Nausicaa at Paleocastritsa; it is not possible to believe otherwise. — L. Durrell, The Greek Islands
If you are not interested in religion, you’ll enjoy its garden and the museum, instead. It’s a luxury roof garden, where judas tree and purple flower rule. The iconography is typically byzantine: blue, gold, and red are the main colors.
Geek note: the 4G technology works not very well at the beach: I had small bandwidth and the What’s App application takes a while to send messages.
Corfu Town — Κέρκυρα
The architecture of the town is Venetian; the houses above the old port are built up elegantly into slim houses with narrow alleys and colonnades running between them; red, yellow, pink, umber[…] — L. Durrell, Prospero’s Cell
Corfu Town is the main town of the island: you can feel its Venetian spirit having a walk throw the old town while you’re being insane with the color of the palaces. You can think you’re in French when having a coffee in a bar under the Liston as well.
One of the most attractive parts of the city is the Old Fortress: many ways and passages drive you here. It stands upon the old port and the Saint George church. The church is peculiar for foreigners because it looks like an ancient Greek temple. Many remember it because the Duke of Edinburgh was christened here as a member of the Greek royal family.
The island is really the Saint: and the saint is the island. Nearly all the male children are named after him. — L. Durrell, Prospero’s cell
These few works depict very well the relationship between Saint Spyridon and the island. There is a Saint Spyridon dedicated newsstand at every crossroad at every remote place. Well, calling a child Spiro is not a missed custom: I met more than five Spiro in a week! The younger is closed to fifty.
The church bell tower is visible everywhere. The bells sound the hour and you can hear them everywhere in the city. If you’re interested in listening to them, have a youtube search: many videos are.
There is a place where you can turn on candles as a pray just outside the church. You could bring your own, or buy one. Then you could access the church and visit the saint.
Saint Spyridon lays in its silver coffin in a small room on the right side of the iconostasis( I’m catholic if some greek orthodox is reading, please correct me). Images of the Archangels frescos the room, while ex-votos are pending from the ceiling. Taking pictures is not permitted, but official ones could be found on the net.
Who visits Saint Sypidon, kisses his coffin, relies on him, then comes out backward from the church.
Geek note: the phone works great in the upper part of the town: near the fortress, closed to Liston, and near the new port. It doesn’t work into the Old Town. It is not a problem: leave your phone in your backpack or use it only to take some pictures. Sit at a table and order ouzo!
No one is ever in a hurry in Corfu, siga siga! (slow, slow!)
Equipment & Bibliography
I’m not a professional photographer or an amateur, and my equipment is not professional. Here it is:
- Camera: Sony DSC-WX350
- Phone: Xiaomi Redmi 8
- Software: Gimp 2.8.22
The citations are from:
- Lawrence Durrell, Prospero’s Cell
- Lawrence Durrell, The Greek Islands
- Gerald Durrell, The Corfu Trilogy
Conclusion
This story is not to be intended as a full travel guide to Corfu, its landscape, and its history. Many others tried to do this, and in a better way than me, of course. One of them was Theodor Stefanides himself.
Many must-see places I did not visit in a week: Port Timoni, Erimitis beaches, the Mouse Island, Kaiser William II Observatory, the Achilleion … and as many as an island with the history and immense nature like Corfu could offer.
I hope you enjoyed my piece and that in some part of your spirit you’re considering Corfu as a place to visit.
All the best, Yassas!
