In August 2015 I started travelling with my girlfriend, after 2 months of relationship. Until her, I have never had a person with the same interest in exploring the entire world like her. So we started to think about destinations.
First one? Corfu.
Why? Because it was near our country, Romania and it was very cheap for a very hot month like August.
We started to make some phone calls and talk with some travel agencies (back then we didn't know how to travel and how to plan a trip, so we needed help).
So, In July we had our plane tickets and our hotel reservation. Everything was set up.
After almost 1 hour of flight, we reached Corfu. A shuffel waited for us at the airport and took us at Acharavi, in the North side of the island.
Just to mention, our travel scope was to know each other better, to understand our daily routines and needs and to explore the island and meet the local people and tourists. We wanted to see how's life in such an incredible place. I my youth I spent some months in a very poor village in Greece and I wasn't sure if I had the proper image of the country.
After unpacking, a local company rented us 2 boogies (one for us and one for some frends that came with us) so we started exploring. This was my first time on a boogie. Incredible mix of feelings. I've went from fear to trust in a couple of minutes. The speed, the empty roads, the views, the woman near me and the clear sky were the perfect ingredients for a perfect time.
We spent the first 3 days exploring the beaches near Acharavi, such as Apraos Beach, Acharavi Beach, Sidari and Canal d'Amour, Akra Drastis and Loggas Beach, as you can see in the images below:
In the 4th day we rented a car and we went to Palaiokastritsa, a place for snorkeling and for boat trips. I recommend you to take the yellow submarine :). It's really a submarine and you can see underwater. Funny thing : we saw some statues in the water and I'm pretty sure that they were placed there for marketing purposes.
Anyways, the place is very crouded, with lots of parking spaces and shops. A lot of fish grills were made in that day on every street.
The water is very clear, but there is no sand. If you don't have special shoes, you can hurt your feet so be aware. Also, there are a lot of Sea Hedgehogs.
In the 5th day we wanted to see the most crouded place in Corfu, the capital of the island named Kerkyra. A small town, but very crouded, a lot of historical buildings, with extremely wanderful views and two big castles. An old one and a new one. The town gave me a very good vibe. All the cheese smell, together with the colors and the mediterranean architecture made the experience very cozy.
In the last two days we had time to relax and enjoy a quiet time, on some wild beaches from west and north side of the island, where the food recipes were traditional and the dry wine was very intense (I recommend the local dry wines because they have a very soft taste). In none of the countries that I have visited, I never experienced such good dishes. Greek food is the best in entire Europe.
Also, we managed to climb by car the highest peak from the island, called Pantokratoras, that has almost 1000m. A superb view, from where you can see Albany. Too bad I didn't have battery and I couldn't take some picture, but the view is breathtaking.
By night, we spend some time at a really lovely place, with a live band and lots of lime trees in the garden. The Greek music and the spontaneous dancing moments were the the icing on the cake.
In conclusion, it was a very nice trip in a very romantic place. We met some interesting people in the places that we went. We tried lots of dishes, lots of local beers and wines, we rented cheap cars and boogie and we discovered each other. No traffic jams outside Kerkyra and no buses made the boogie trip very smooth. The wild beachs are the best. My advise is to avoid the crouded beaches, if you don't like the noise of the little kids or the splashing of the people who jump from the cliffs.
We did't had time to see the entire island, even if we've spent 7 days. I've heard that in the south there are a lot of clubs with English and Russian people. We wanted to explore, not to party so I cannot give feedback for that part of the island.
I recommend you to see the island, feel it, get used with the mediterranean air, meet the friendly local people and enjoy a very good traditional dish.
Next stop? Belgium!