Morning came and I had my swim. Trish, Helen and I — Becka volunteered to keep an eye on Di for the afternoon — got in the car for a scenic drive to the north. The road got wide enough at one point for there to have been painted two white lines down its center, although the lines were so faint they looked as though they had been painted about the time Charlie and I were married.
Beautiful scenery, beautiful villas and pebbly beaches. We stopped in Agios Stefanos for a dip in the sea, at least Helen and Trish did. We then had a drink at The Wave taverna on the beach — I had another Corfu Red Ale and the girls had virgin umbrella drinks and split a wicked looking ice cream and crepe mid-day dessert.
Then to the shopping at a couple of the usual souvenir shops. Postcards, stamps, some clothes and for me two sets of “hand-made” glass Greek coasters, one for Mike and one for myself. The woman in the shop (Delfini Traditional Crafts) gift wrapped both sets in the same paper so I don’t know which is which; guess I’ll find out when Mike chooses his.
One of the problems I have when going into these types of emporia is that I still think like a woodshop teacher and look for things I could have had my students make back in the day. Yeah, I once again found items I’d not seen before — dirty word, dirty word, dirty word.
On the way back to the villa Helen saw an unattached trailer by the side of the road built by the company of a Welshman she knows. (Ifor Williams Trailers LTD) She insisted we stop and we pulled into a turnout; Helen literally hopped out with her camera and walked back to the trailer to snap a picture. She hurried back to the car — I snapped a couple of pictures of her hurrying around the bend — chortle.
Also, we came upon a working garbage truck and crew emptying bins by the side of the road — It appears to me at least, as though they are still catching up to some of the refuse left over from the strike they were engaged in when we arrive in Corfu two and a half weeks ago. A quick stop at the “super” market and we were home.
After seven we again headed down to the harbor to catch a boat (think water taxi) to a cove north of us and dinner. We were landed at the White House Taverna for dinner. Di had difficulty navigating the steps and ramps to our table overlooking the water, but we made it. They had given us the table with the longest walk, not seeming to notice that Di’s a bit disabled. (If you come to Corfu, remember these people have nothing like the ADA to help the physically challenged more easily cope with life.)
The house was originally built by Gerald Durrell‘s brother Lawrence, which disappointed Di as it wasn’t the house the family had had in the 1930s. It also did not have many pictures nor much memorabilia, nor did the staff know much about the family’s circumstances or other houses on the island.
Service was a bit slow, but we enjoyed our food. Di was a bit disappointed as her salmon filet turned out to be a bony salmon steak a bit overdone to her taste. One sister gave her some of her lamb, again a bit done for Di’s taste. My meal, however, was quite good — the White House version of seafood pasta — although someone needs to teach the chef how to de-vein prawns as I had to complete the job for him on the plate. (In addition when the waiter took away my empty plate of befores, a pair of very good Greek sausages, he also took away my silverware. It was a few minutes while my dinner was cooling before I could get his attention for a replacement set — I really didn’t want to eat my seafood pasta with only my fingers.)
There was only one toilet for this, large, restaurant and it was a long walk and up steps for Di. She was quite weak after navigating between tables without her wheelie and we seated her nearer to the dock to wait for our taxi rather than return to our table.
The full moon was up; the breeze was cool and the ride back was a highlight of our stay in Corfu. The trip was a bit longer on the return as we also picked up and dropped off another family on the way. Nissaki harbor was cool and we were soon back in our villa. Trish and Helen returned the rental car and the girls, Di, Helen, Trish and Becka played several games of Bananagrams. We didn’t get to bed until one-thirty Thursday morning — it’s now ten.
(to be continued)
(more photos below)