Corfu is delightfully delightful
I left you last at the ferry terminal in Brindisi. My ultimate destination was Sarandë, and there were a few direct options to Albania from Italy, but none to the south, and all were overnight which I wasn’t interested in. So I booked a ferry to Igoumenitsa, a place I had never heard of (who has?!), but it is close to Corfu, which is close to Sarandë. A bit of a runaround — good thing I like boats.
Before I boarded the ferry, I texted my next host to let her know I was en route. Her reply was, “Ok! Just warning we will be full capacity for a couple of days. Then we can juggle people around.” Ummm how about I give you all a few days to sort things out? So my overnight stop in Greece turned into three nights, which I didn’t realize how badly I needed (until I started to write my review ha ha).
Boarding the ferry in Brindisi was an adventure. The ferries are predominantly used by truckers, so I walked in between the massive lorries carrying everything from produce to live cows, to get to the ship. I found my way to the bar and dining area because where else do you start your 8 hour ferry trip. It was full of large, male truck drivers eating their free meal before they went to sleep. I got a beer and found a nice corner to claim, when I was promptly greeted by a cheery British woman. She was relieved to find another solo female traveler with whom she could take shifts watching each other’s bags while the other went to the loo.
Other than her incessant chatter, the ferry ride was fairly uneventful and peaceful. The sea was flat calm and it felt good to be putting space between me and Italy. I didn’t realize how emotionally exhausted I was, and was happy I was to have a few days to myself. I had one night booked in Igoumenitsa and would figure out the rest the following day.
Upon arrival in Igoumenitsa, at about 11pm, the British woman and I were informed that we were the only two walk on passengers on the entire ship, and we would have to wait until all the cars disembarked before we could leave. About an hour and a half later, when people started arriving on the ship, I lost my shit. Fuck this, I’m walking off this damn ferry. Again, we weaved in and out of the semi trucks in the dark, and wandered through the industrial terminal trying to find a way out. There was no path, no lights, and nobody cared. Finally we found someone who directed us, saying that obviously we had to go to terminal 1, which was not marked as such but hey, at least we got out of there.
By the grace of the travel gods, and some good planning on my part, we popped out on the street right in front of the hotel I had booked for the night. I hugged my new bestie goodbye and rocked up to my hotel, accidentally knocked on a guest’s back door before finding the front door of the hotel, and crashed into bed around 2am.
I had booked my hotel based on its location and the reviews of the breakfast. After serving hotel breakfasts for a month, I’m an expert, so the next morning I wandered down to the patio and was served an entire table of food for just little old me. It was all delicious and made me very excited to maybe never even look at a plate of pasta ever again.
It didn’t take very long to figure out that Igoumenitsa doesn’t have much to offer, so I booked the 12:30 ferry to Corfu. Getting on another ferry didn’t sound super appealing, but getting to a nice Greek island did, so I packed up my bags and hiked down to the local ferry terminal, a few blocks away. This ferry was smaller and much more manageable, and the tea that I bought for €2.50 cost half as much as the ferry ticket itself.
Once again, in Corfu I booked the cheapest hotel that was closest to the ferry terminal, because my bags have gotten heavy as I have acquired more shit, and I hate feeling like a touristy pack mule when I walk around with all my stuff. But such is the life of a backpacker. It’s better than listening to the chchchchcrrrrrrrscrapeeechchchccrrrrrrrrof a rolling suitcase on cobblestone streets with uneven sidewalks. I arrived at my hotel and took a long nap before going to explore.
Corfu town was delightfully delightful. Charmingly charming. I generally like any town on the water, with interesting history and cute cafes, and Corfu has a lot of both. The buildings are painted yellows and pinks, and I got northern Italy vibes, which makes sense because Corfu was a part of the Venetian empire for like, 400 years. But it is still very much Greek. I walked the narrow streets of the old town, saw the old fortress, ate delicious Greek food, avoided buying all the cute stuff and remembered how refreshing it is to travel alone sometimes.
On my second day, I intended to go to the archeological museum, because yay history, but as I was walking there I came across a lovely beach and ended up spending the day swimming, reading my book — I finished Anna Karenina!! — and just took it easy. I took another walk in the evening but it was a very mellow visit. Just what I needed.
I’m now on yet another ferry from Corfu to Sarandë, and excited and maybe just a wee bit nervous for what is to come. I’ve grown quite used to having my own en-suite in a nice hotel, and I don’t think the accommodations at my next Workaway will be as plush. But hey, maybe it will be a more stable and a less emotionally terrorizing (not my words) place. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.
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