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| Arillas from Akrotiri Cafe |
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| Towards Agios Stefanos |
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| The track from Arillas |
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| Agios Stefanos from Akrotiri Cafe |
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| Arillas Bay |
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Is that a moose Greek God I see?! |
Back at sea level, we walked the length of the beach at Agios Stefanos, paddling in the warm shallow waters before, (surprise, surprise) taking a refreshing beer or two at the Havana Beach Bar as the sun sunk lower towards the ocean. There were not many tourists about giving the scene a somewhat surreal feel but we were enjoying the views and the weather...oh, and the beers! A little later, a couple of young women galloped past giving their horses some exercise in the surf, which they seemed to relish (both horses and riders). Time to return to our studio to freshen up and to decide which of the restaurants that were still open we might try for dinner.
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| Sunset at the Havana Beach Bar |
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| Yammas at the Havana Beach Bar |
We opted to try the Town Pizza, an establishment situated up the road from the Barras Studios. Ian had a pizza and I decided on a chicken pasta dish with a healthy serving of garlic! The meals were good and we shared the restaurant with one other couple.Two local folk called in to collect a takeaway meal and apparently, the Town Pizza was to remain open throughout the winter, albeit only at weekends. We made our way back to the Barras and enjoyed a quiet drink or six! talking to some of our fellow guests.
The following day we decided we would take a walk to the neighbouring village of Avliotes. This village, with its very narrow main street, lies on the main route from Agios Stefanos and Sidari and onwards to either the north coast or across the mountains to Corfu Town on the east coast. We had passed through Avliotes three times by bus to date, the first time on our arrival day and the second and third times on our excursion to Parga and Paxos. It was a testimony to the drivers skill and nerve that they could manoeuvre a large coach through such a village without hitting either a stationary vehicle or indeed a building.
We set off up the main street in Agios Stefanos that climbs steadily upwards but which afforded us some fine views. It also made us think how busy the resort could be in high season, when all of the shops and apartments would be open. We were soon walking on a more shaded stretch of road with olive groves spread out on both sides. Netting had been unfurled and tethered under the gnarled old trees to gather all of the precious olive crop. As the groves fell away into the deep ravines alongside of the road, it was possible to imagine how much hard physical work goes into harvesting the olives. It is as well that harvesting takes place in the winter months when the temperatures would be much cooler than the stifling heat of a Corfiot summer.
As the road wound on we came to a petrol station and a junction , which from memory was where we turned left towards Avliotes. A little beyond the petrol station stood a fairly new church, alongside an equally new piece of road that was not yet open but which would presumably bypass Avliotes. (More on this later). In total, Avliotes is about 5km from Agios Stefanos and it was approaching 12.30 when we arrived in the village. Very little was happening and very few people were on the street. In fact very little was open, although there did seem to be many shops, bars and small restaurants, a bakery, butchers and chemist. We were both quite thirsty and it looked as if we were going to be unlucky in finding anywhere to quench that thirst at first but did find a potential bar open with a couple of old men sitting outside. We approached smiling and uttered our welcome. "Yassas" (hello). This was returned with a nod and we ventured inside. It was indeed a bar but with a small supermarket at the rear. This was obviously very much a 'locals' establishment but a young woman served us with a couple of beers and we gratefully took a seat at one the tables. The only other occupants was an elderly man, who sat at another table but without a drink and who we thought looked like he might have been stood up by his friends, and a younger chap sitting with a beer at the bar. His working clothes suggested he may have been a painter/decorator.
The shelves of the supermarket were pretty sparsely filled as were the freezer units sitting behind us. Were they also preparing to close for the winter or perhaps just kept a very moderate stock of goods? Things livened up a bit after a bus pulled up and a few children disembarked. The school children on Corfu start their day at 7.30am and finish at 1pm. A tall lad and a younger girl crashed into the bar and were obviously the owners children. As with school children in the UK, these two abandoned their school bags and immediately went in search of snacks and drinks. A few other people had turned up and were now sitting outside the bar and it appeared that the lunch hour rush had commenced! We ordered another beer and the young lad served us. His English was quite good and as he towered over his mother we asked him how old he was. 11 years of age he told us and yet he must have been well over 6 feet tall with broad shoulders. Perhaps he played basketball we wondered thinking of his physical attributes. Apparently, his sport was wrestling! Interesting we thought and decided not to pick an argument with this young 'Hercules'. A little later a man-mountain appeared on the scene and we quickly deduced this was 'Daddy'. It was easy to see whose genes the lad had inherited!
After settling our bill, by far the cheapest beers we had consumed thus far, and saying our thanks we left to explore more of the village and hopefully find somewhere open to get some lunch. We could smell the enticing scent of food being prepared but it must have been from private dwellings, how tantalising! Walking a little further we saw a sign for the church and decided to go and see it. A fairly lengthy set of steps lead us up to the church that sat atop of the hill and afforded a spectacular view of the surrounding village. We couldn't help but wonder how the elderly and infirm managed to get up here as there was no apparent vehicular access. The church was locked but the decorations outside were impressive with such vivid colours. Photographs taken, we made our way back down to the village and continued our quest for lunch. We saw somebody enter a small building on the street and as we passed saw our painter/decorator chap inside drinking a beer. As we poked our heads in this chap smiled and greeted us like old friends pointing to his beer. This bar/shop was even smaller than the previous one and waving to him decided there was no prospect of lunch here save for maybe some crisps and excused ourselves.
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| Villa in Agios Stefanos |
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| Theresa bar and pool Agios Stefanos |
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| Stairway to Avliotes Church |
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| Avliotes Church |
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| Avliotes Church |
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| View over Avliotes towards the coast |
Just past the village square we saw a sign for a taverna and sure enough, 30 feet up a sharp hill to our left was a small taverna with two people, who we took not to be locals, sitting outside at one of the two tables. We stepped inside and a pleasant young lady provided us with two beers and a menu. We took our drinks outside and perused the menu. It transpired that the young couple occupying the other table were English and after introducing ourselves they told us that they were staying with the girls parents who lived in the village. Whilst we were still deciding on lunch we were given a small platter of cooked snacks (mezze) to accompany our beer. It was, so our new friends told us, the speciality of this taverna to provide a mezze dish with drinks purchased, and they were delicious and very welcome as we were both pretty hungry. We ordered a meal and over a further beer chatted more to the young couple. Apparently they used to run a bar in the nearby resort of Sidari but unfortunately things had not worked out and they had been forced to sell up and return to England. Far from being bitter, they both looked back on their experience with fond memories and still loved Corfu.
We ate our lunch had another couple of beers and decided that we should begin to make our way back to Agios Stefanos before it became dark. The taverna Spiros was very pleasant and very traditional and the young girl serving spoke good English and we told her we would undoubtedly call in again at some time during the remainder of our holiday. As we walked back through the village, the other bars and shops that had previously been closed were beginning to open up and it was noticeable that more local people had also appeared on the streets. Perhaps it was the time of day with the temperature dropping and the working day over.
The walk back seemed to be quicker than on our outward journey and perhaps more downhill and we reached the church and petrol station junction in good time. We had discovered that when they started work on the new road they had been remiss in not realising that there was a right of way across the road to the church and the only safe way of achieving this was to build a bridge over the road. Apparently, there was no budget for such a construction so....the new road remains closed so as not to interfere with the religious aspect of this problem. For the life of us, we could not understand why a simple pedestrian crossing could not be used thereby allowing the road to be open and take away the hazardous journey through Avliotes. Greek logic maybe!?
Back on the outskirts of Agios Stefanos we stopped for refreshment at a residence called the Kapitano, situated on the top of the hill leading down into the main resort of Agios Stefanos. It seemed a pleasant establishment with the accommodation hidden away behind the trees bordering the swimming pool. We stayed for a couple of hours, chatting with a delightful couple of ladies who were staying there and who had befriended each other as both were travelling independently. Leaving the Kapitano, we next came to Theresa's pool and bar and seeing lights on we decided to call in here also. There were about half a dozen people watching live football, in fact two matches were being shown on two separate screens so we could take our choice. We stayed for a couple of beers and then made our way back to the Barras. It was now 11.30pm and George and the boys had obviously decided to close for the night. The El Greco adjacent to the Barras was still lit and it was to here that we retired for yet more drinks! We met a lovely couple, Charlie and Beryl, who were staying at the Thomas Bay Hotel next door to the Barras and chatted with them. I was admittedly slightly merry and, as they informed me a day or two later, I had a bit of a stagger on when heading for the toilets that made them giggle.
I'm not quite sure what time it was when we eventually went to bed but it had been a good day and we had met some nice people yet again. It was one of those days when we hadn't planned anything as such and it is often the case that these are the best sort of days. Yammas.
