Cor-phew on Corfu

Friday 18th October,2013

Pool rules at the Barras Studios

 The Barras three, Dimitri, George and Spiro

Barras Friendly Family Studios

4.30am anywhere in the world is not a good time

Agios Stefanos beach

and so it will come as no surprise that as my alarm chirruped annoyingly I decided it was not a good time either. That said, it was the start of my holiday break to the Greek Island of Corfu, so the incentive to actually get out of my warm bed and ready myself was somewhat greater than it would normally be.

Together with my friend Ian and after a cup of tea and and a shower (not with Ian), we awaited the arrival of my sister Sandra who had kindly agreed to drive us to Stansted Airport for our 9.15am  flight. It's only a 50 minute journey but we needed to check-in 2 hours prior to departure, in order to pass through the security checks now so essential for all flights.

The flight was comfortable and the 3 hours or so duration passed fairly quickly in the company of a couple who were taking a Cruise and stay holiday commencing in Corfu. It also became the first opportunity for me to unashamedly push my book and these poor souls left with my business card and a promise to purchase a copy. (http://bit.ly/TMdIWF)

For anybody who has visited Corfu before you may well remember the runway at the airport heads straight for the lagoon and on more than one occasion in the past aircraft have not quite made it before ending in the water! Our pilot however was a consummate professional and executed a textbook landing and we were soon stepping out into that lovely, hair-dryer warmth of a Mediterranean climate. Passport control was somewhat haphazard and we were waved through before I could fully extract my passport from my hand-luggage. Likewise the baggage was soon appearing on the carousel and as usual I was relieved when my bag chugged its way along for me to collect. Touch wood, I have yet to need to make a claim for lost or delayed baggage in all my travels.

The Thomson holidays representatives were waiting to direct us to the correct coach for transfer to our resort. This was my first package holiday for many years and I was reminded vividly of my stint as an Overseas Representative on the Greek Island of Crete in 2003, and the many hours spent waiting at the airport seeing off departing passengers and awaiting the next incoming batch.

We were staying in the resort of Agios Stefanos, on the North West coast of Corfu and the advised transfer time from the airport was 1 hour 45 minutes. This is to allow for drop-offs at other resorts and the twisting and mountainous roads on this part of the island. As we sat on the coach waiting to depart, I realised that I had been bitten by a mosquito. That was possibly a record for me, less than half an hour after arrival...how sneaky and my deet spray repellent was inside my suitcase!

In actuality, the transfer was about 1 hour 20 minutes as we only dropped off passengers in the resort of Sidari en route to Agios Stefanos. As we approached our resort we were treated to a spectacular panoramic view of the coast and the resort laying below us down the narrow, curving road. I was surprised to see that the wind had whipped up the sea into a series of white-topped breakers despite the very pleasant air temperature. Being mid-October and the last couple of weeks of the season we had been expecting the possibility of cooler and wetter weather conditions but so far things looked great, with a cloudless blue sky and warm sunshine. Apparently, the previous week, Corfu had experienced heavy rain and strong winds, so our packing had reflected that particular climate possibility.

We were met by our host at the Barras Family Friendly Studios, George, and directed to our studio where the keys were in the lock. I was impressed with our room, clean and simply furnished but larger than I had expected. Our balcony which looked out onto the Barras swimming pool, was bathed in bright sunshine. It was apparent that the accommodation was only moderately occupied but, again with it being the end of season this was perhaps to be expected.

Having selected our respective beds, Ian and I part-unpacked and hung trousers and shirts in the wardrobe, had a quick freshen-up, read our welcome note from our holiday representative advising us of a welcome meeting the following day, and then made for the bar and the time honoured ritual of first beer of the holiday...cheers or yammas in Greek. George seemed like a nice chap and one beer turned into a few as we relaxed after the journey and asked George a number of questions about our locale, which he seemed more than happy to answer.

We decided to go for a walk around the resort, and checked out the beach first. It has a wide, hard-packed sand surface and was relatively empty.The sea-weed that had been deposited in fairly large quantities along the shoreline was evidence of the previous weeks stormy weather. It was noticeable that many restaurants, shops and accommodations were closed for the season and, some looked like they had been closed for some time. Had we come to a partial ghost town? There was definitely a lack of people about, but what the hay, the sun was warm and we were not about to let this upset our holiday. In some ways I had a feeling that this would be ideal for a quiet-ish (if you know me well, you will be raising your eyebrows about now!) autumn break.

Back in our room, getting showered and changed for dinner, we discovered the joys of Greek bathrooms. Unlike many previous bathrooms I have experienced in 'modest' Greek accommodation, this one did have a shower curtain and a tray. However, this did not prevent a mini flooding of the room after each of us showered. A handy mop and bucket were provided in the room for just such occasions and so we were able to dry the floor somewhat.

Now that darkness had fallen, the temperature had also fallen somewhat also from a pleasant 26c to something approaching 17c. Not cold by Northern European evening temperatures but cool enough to bring out a pullover or light fleece in my case. As we were tired and the prospect of finding alternative eating possibilities were limited, we decided to eat at The Barras. There were about four other tables occupied but we were made to feel very welcome by George and his sons Dimitri and Spiro, and we were soon tucking into a Beef Stifado (beef stew with onions) for Ian, and Lamb Keleftico (slow cooked Lamb with a seasoned sauce) for me. The meal was delicious and as we discovered later was prepared by Dimitri's wife, hence the 'Friendly Family' tag. Obviously, in high season other staff would be employed to cook and wait tables but at the tail end of the season it fell to the 'family' to keep things running. George had already renamed us, Yannis and Andreas to give us our Greek names. A few beers and to finish off, a couple of Metaxa 5* Greek brandies, and we were ready for bed at the relatively early time of 11.30pm.

So far so good...I was more than satisfied with everything thus far and went to sleep with positive thoughts about the rest of our holiday to come.