We got out and about in the hire car today. We decided to visit Mount Pantokrator, the highest point on the island at 906M, as it had been recommended both in the books and by the local guide.
You can drive right to the very top of the mountain and as it is a very steep ascent the road is very winding. As I have previously stated the drivers in Greece are not the best and there are few road markings meaning that it is not uncommon to find a driver appearing round a blind corner on your side of the road. Fortunately it is also out of season and so the traffic was light.
The lower part of Mount Pantokrator was tree lined and offered great views down to the sea below but the higher we climbed the bleaker it became. I’m told that on clear days you can see as far as Italy, today it was a challenge to see too far into Corfu.
We didn’t stay long at the top as, to be honest, it was dull and chilly, so we travelled back down and headed along the coast to some of the towns before finally landing in Kassiopi for lunch. I ordered Kalamari and a whole octopus arrived!
After a long day exploring we started to make our way back to the hotel. Corfu is a small island and the majority of roads here are what we would classify as B roads in the UK. Many are pitted and uneven in a way that makes the UK roads look as smooth as a billiard table, although that doesn’t excuse Wokingham from sorting out the roads in Earley.
It also quickly became clear that roads are not a big priority for the Greeks as not only had no money been spent on road repairs, road signs were also in short supply. I guess that they must be spending Germany’s money elsewhere. Anyway, even though we were armed with a map it was almost impossible to navigate around as no towns introduced themselves and we frequently came to a junction with no signs whatsoever. In the end we found ourselves in Corfu Town, a long way from where we wanted to be and the only landmark we could find was the airport. At least we could navigate to the hotel from there having done it a couple of days before. Tomorrow we’re taking the bus!
