Corfu and First Impressions

A Rocky Start - “Are you the travel writer?”

Pete:

I was sat on my bed at Salisbury District Hospital. Not exactly where I wanted to be with only 24 hours before being re-united with Erin at London Gatwick, and then catch our flight to Corfu the same day. 

I was anxiously watching the clock in hospital and constantly looking down the corridor to see if I could see any doctors: I had said to myself that if the doctors didn't come by noon I would probably not be discharged quickly enough to make the flight the next day.

On top of this I was getting sick and tired of nurses taking my blood pressure and asking “Are you the travel writer?”, and saying how lucky I was, like I worked for Lonely Planet and made a load of money and lived this glamorous life style or something. I was getting a bit sick of having to explain it isn't like that at all, and I only make a few Euros an hour, and it's pretty much “the starving artist” lifestyle. I must have come across as a grumpy bastard!

So, thank the gods that at 11.30am the doctor came to see me.

I explained that I was feeling much better after a night of IV antibiotics, but they were still concerned that the shadow on my right lung could be a blood clot. I was frustrated because I was sure it was just a nasty chest infection or the beginnings of pneumonia that I caught before it developed into something really nasty. But in retrospect I understand that they had to be sure.

I explained to the doctor the situation and she took sympathy on me. She said I needed one more CT Scan just to check what was going on inside my chest. I said that's fine, and I could walk down myself and get it done. She said okay, let me just make a phone call...

I was getting anxious and frustrated again, but as I looked down the corridor I saw her on the phone, and looking over at me. Then a minute or so later she walked over to me with the thumbs up. My heart jumped. She said if you can walk down now they will see you now and bump you up to the top of the queue. I jumped out of bed and raced down as quickly as possible.

True to her word I was seen before 5 other people who had gotten there before me. Then I went back upstairs and again waited around for them to get the results back. It was make or break time.

At this point it was about 2.00pm. My Mum and my friend Brian came to see me which elated me somewhat as we chatted.

Finally, about 15 minutes later the same female doctor returned, I put my thumb up and mouthed “Okay?” before she even got to the bed. I was so relieved when she nodded “yes” and then said that the shadow on my lung was still there but seemed to just be a particularly nasty chest infection (I was coughing up blood the day before) rather than anything more sinister. They just figured it was damaged bronchial tubes from me coughing so much, since I responded so well to the antibiotics.

I was so grateful that they bumped me to the top of the queue because they knew I had a flight to catch that I felt a little guilty being grumpy! I thanked everyone on my way out, nurses, the tea guy, the sister and the doctors. Say what you want about the NHS but I really lucked out with the staff on this ward.

So, at around 3.00pm I was discharged and given 2 types of antibiotics to take for a week afterwards.

As soon as I got home I showered, packed, ate some sushi quickly and headed straight to bed, exhausted after only sleeping about 5 hours in the last 48 hours.

Corfu - “It's not the years honey, it's the mileage...”
After getting some much needed sleep, I had no trouble getting up at 6.00am to be driven to Gatwick by my parents. 

We rendezvoused with a very tired Erin who had already flown from Calgary to Toronto and then - after a delay in Toronto - to Gatwick.

After not seeing each other for 3 months as Erin went home to Canada and I dealt with a year that was plagued by health problems, you can imagine how happy I was...Happy and very relieved! It had been a crazy 24 hours.

After eating lunch with my parents, we said farewell and headed through security.

Fast forward 5 hours, and we touched down on Corfu, 1 hour late. We were both hitting a wall at this point and were both exhausted. I was still struggling with my chest and Erin had just done a bat shit crazy 36 hour journey...I really cannot do those kinds of soul-crushing journeys any more. As Indiana Jones said “It's not the years honey, it's the mileage.”, and after travelling for long periods of time since I was in my early twenties, I have racked the miles up...

We finally got a taxi to our Airbnb, except that the the Airbnb was not where google maps said it would be. We walked around pretty aimlessly looking for it before eventually just asking a hotel if we could borrow a phone. The guy at reception was really friendly and let us phone Spiros, the owner of the Airbnb. Erin phoned and he said he'd be there in a couple of minutes.

True to his word he appeared 30 seconds later apologising for the problem with google street view. He explained they hadn't updated the address yet on Airbnb so guests were getting lost all the time!

After being shown round the place, we found a place still open that was serving big takeaway hotdogs. We ate and then collapsed into bed.


Old Town - “Ciao”.
After a good nights sleep we were both desperate now to get outside and see what Corfu had to offer and get something proper to eat for Brunch.

After finding a sea side restaurant with a hilariously charismatic and upbeat manager, we had a delicious Souvlaki and enjoyed a beer while admiring the view across the Ionian Sea seeing the epic Greek and Albanian mountains.

After this, we rounded a corner and saw Kerkyra's beautiful “Old Town”, and to be honest, I was surprised. I hadn't researched Corfu at all and only really knew Kavos was at the southernmost tip, so I didn't have any idea what to expect from Kerkyra.

Well, Kerkyra was a really nice surprise: Venetian style houses and cobbled back streets reminiscent of those Central European towns like Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, all terracotta roofing and medieval squares.

We walked around pretty aimlessly, getting happily lost in the maze of backstreets, some selling hilarious t-shirts, others selling incredibly beautiful statues of the gods and goddesses of Greece. If I had the room I would've bought a proper small statue made from marble and bronze, but instead I coughed up a small bronze fridge magnet of Athena, who I had developed an attraction to over the past year.

We stopped at a beautiful restaurant and bar that claimed to be the oldest in the town and had a beer and just soaked up the atmosphere before we headed back.

Walking back we were talking about how it would probably be easier to just learn Italian when we were moving to Albania the next day via the fast hydrofoil ferry. I said about the only word I knew was “Ciao”. We then started mimicking Eddie Izzard's famous stand up comedy show in San Francisco when he is talking about Italians driving scooters around Rome and saying: “Ciaaaooooooo....”. 

Then this further progressed into a game where you had to say “Ciaaoooooo” every time you saw a scooter and then the other person owes you 10 Lek (about 10 cents as it turns out). The problem with this is that every 10 seconds you see a scooter on Corfu so we ended up so transfixed on this game that we decided to quit after 10 minutes...

That evening we bought takeaway Souvlaki (every Souvlaki is dramatically different from place to place, but it's always really good and very affordable) and some beers and the criminally cheap local wine that cost 2 Euros for a litre at this shop around the corner from our Airbnb.

After reflecting on how much we enjoyed Corfu and how incredibly friendly everyone was in Greece so far, even taxi drivers (which is a rarity), we were somewhat sad to leave the next day via the Hydrofoil.

Albania – First Impressions
Arriving in a new country by boat was not something I had ever done before. The Hydrofoil took only 30 minutes to get from Corfu harbour to Sarande. Then it's just a matter of of going through immigration control and you are out: No customs or anything.

The two border guards were surprisingly friendly (border guards are often grumpy at the best of times) and they didn't even stamp our passports, instead they scanned them into a machine and that was it. So unfortunately no stamps in the passport (though these days that is more of a blessing than an annoyance) and now we have to remember that we have to leave in 90 days (90 days out of 180 is the limit for Albania).

So when we got out of the ferry terminal we hailed a taxi driver and he took us to the place where we were supposed to be meeting Leo, the guy recommended to us by the Albanian Expats online group for apartments to rent long-term.

Leo owns a hostel in Sarande too, and is a very friendly guy with an American wife and 2 kids. Him and his mother had been cleaning the apartment we are renting now all morning and it turns out we really have got a bargain.
Leo explained everything to do with the utilities and paying bills, as well as giving us tips on nearby beaches that only locals know about.

He introduced us to his mother (who does not speak English) as Petros and Erini – the Greek version of Peter and Erin as it turns out! We thanked them as they left and settled in to our new place that we are currently calling home.

Having been here now almost a week, my first impressions of Albania are thankfully pretty good. Prices of groceries and eating out are up there with the cheapest of them (Georgia, Ukraine, India etc.) and rent is almost the cheapest that I have ever come across aside from India and Nepal.

As for the culture? Well, it's distinctly influenced by Italy, especially in the food: Spaghetti and pizza is available pretty much everywhere, but on top of this you have Pita Bread that is stuffed with your choice of filling for about $2 or $3, ranging from salami, to meat balls, to delicious vegetarian ones which include olives, Mediterranean vegetables, melted feta cheese and chips. It's delicious and has become a staple of mine like Souvlaki was in Greece!

The attitude of people is very easy going, as is typical all over the Mediterranean. Service is very slow, but this is more a cultural thing than anything. Pretty much everyone seems to speak a little English or Italian.

It's a poor country without a doubt, and it smells more like Laos than Europe! But extreme poverty does not seem to be an issue. It's just that unemployment is very high.

Socially it's pretty liberal. No one cares if you walk around with just shorts and sandles on. This is probably a key difference when you compare it to Asia which is overwhelmingly conservative.

And finally, the “People Factor”?

I usually hate writing or talking about this as people are generally the same the world over (pick up any Lonely Planet or Rough Guide and you'll always see written “The people are friendly” or “The people are warm and hospitable”). But undoubtedly there is some variation between countries due to the different cultures.

Albania has been overwhelmingly friendly so far. No scams or hassle factor to mention.

To give you an idea of just how friendly: Erin just got back from a shop as I am writing this and the shopkeeper pulled out a litre of Raki, the local moonshine of choice (like Lao Lao in Laos, Cha Cha in Georgia, and so forth). He then gave her a couple of shots, free of charge, as you do apparently when you go grocery shopping in Albania!

We haven't even been to the proper white sand beaches here yet such as Ksamil, which is a 1$ 30-minute bus drive south and looks like it can compete with Thailand and possibly even Malaysia and Indonesia in terms of crystal clear water, snorkelling potential and islands within swimming or kayaking distance only 100 metres off the main beach.

Nor have we yet visited the ancient ruins of a former Greek and then Roman city called Butrint in Albanian, which is an hours hike from Ksamil that apparently passes by some secluded coves en route.

So, in the next few days we will start striking out to these places before we have to head to Athens to meet friends and pick up our backpacks that we dropped off last year. This includes my prescription snorkelling mask which I am desperate for since September will see the crowds of Italian holiday makers dissipate somewhat as the kids start school again.