Back in the Saddle, but no bridle...

Well we’re off again, after a three week break we resume our adventure. On the morning of Wed 27th April, with my daughter Lisa and my sister Pam, we got up very early (03.00am)to drive down to Stanstead to catch the 07.30 Ryanair flight to Perugia. Needless to say it was a relatively quiet drive down, very little traffic and even less conversation, I guess we all had our own private thoughts. It didn’t take long before Lisa fell asleep (just like her mom), but it was early, and she was missing out on her beauty sleep!! For those of you who don’t know Lisa, (and Jonathan, lisa’s husband will confirm this), you don’t mess with Lisa’s sleep ......heheheh (just like her mother actually, if truth be told probably more like her father!!). Anyway we arrived at the airport in plenty of time and with tears in our eyes we said our goodbyes and headed out through the departure gates. The butterflies in our stomachs were in abundance, accompanied with a degree or two of anxiety, for once again we were stepping out into the unknown, but at the same time, both excited and looking forward to the challenges ahead of us.
 

We landed in Perugia at 11am and were delighted to be greeted by a smiling Andreas, who drove us back to Colleverde Country House. We were thrilled to see Alba & Valentine and after a very warm welcome we set about getting our stuff together ready for the next stage of our journey. The Bike had been well looked after and was, I’m sure if it could talk, tell us how pleased it was to see us. A turn of the key and a press of the starter button and the engine burst into life – the magnificent sound of those cylinders as they roared into action. We loaded the bike and after a coffee and chat with Alba and the Beautiful Beth (Giovannis English girlfriend, whom I forgot to mention in the previous blog who also plays a part in the running of the equine side of the business), we waved an emotional goodbye to all at Colleverde, very much hoping to return at some time in the future.

The local weather in Perugia, unlike the Uk, where we’d experienced the most glorious sunshine during our return home, was unusually overcast, with the distinct threat of rain in the air. We had preset the satnav for our next destination Brindisi, on the south east coast of Italy 430 miles away, where we hoped to catch a ferry the next day, 28th April, to the Greek island of Corfu. We had arranged to meet and catch up with Ron and Jill Chetter, a couple of long term friends,(well over 20 years - poor sods), who have retired onto the island about eight years ago and built their own home in the village of Kavallouri, to the North of the Island. We were really looking forward to seeing them in their new home and excited at the prospect of our first ever visit to Greece and the Island of Corfu, another country, another culture, on the next leg of our journey.

 

At 20.30 pm, after seven hours of steady riding, including a number of ‘pitstops’ and a little rain here & there, we arrived unscathed, if not a little tired, into the city of Barri approximately 70 miles from Brindisi. It was getting quite late and we’d decided that it would be easier to find affordable accommodation in a large city rather than a small port town; Blimey what a joke that was. After numerous aborted attempts we eventually found a hotel that was just slightly less of a rip off than the others we tried - I have to say that I don’t fully understand how the Italians can justify their hefty room charges!!!! Anyway, we unloaded our kit off the bike, threw some water on our faces to freshen up and went to find something to eat before falling into bed after a long and tiring day, (we’d been awake for over 20hrs ).

 Thursday 28th April: We woke at about 9am, showered (the best thing about the hotel) and were away on the bike before you could say ‘jack Robinson’ (why Robinson, i’ll never know). The ferry was due to leave the port at 12.30 and we had to be there approx 1hr before. We only had 70 miles or so to cover and about two and a half hours to do it in, most of it on dual carriageway, so we were not troubled by this prospect as long as there were no major traffic delays. Well, we arrived in Brindisi in plenty of time and rocked up to the Terminal pretty damned pleased with ourselves (after our previous experience in the port of Valencia), only to be told that the ferry departure time had been delayed by two hours...!! Well, the way I see it, every cloud has a silver lining and this one gave us time to get something to eat and also fill the tank up with petrol, as we suspected the price of petrol on the Island might be slightly inflated – we were right, 1.80 euro per litre!

At 14.45 the ferry ramps were lifted and the ship set sail for Corfu, we were on our way and would arrive in Corfu harbour at around 22.00hrs, later that evening, where we hoped Ron and Jill would be there to meet us. The weather out at sea was sunny and warm and the actual journey time of six hours (there’s an additional one hour time difference between Greece & Italy, making a total of two hours difference between Greece and the UK – hope that’s clear), seemed to fly by, before we knew it, we were pulling into the Port Harbour of Corfu and prepping to disembark from the ferry.

As we travelled down the metal ramps on to terra-firma we were delighted to see Ron & Jill waiting to greet us. After a warm embrace (though no kisses from Ron –tut tut) and some words of welcome, we set out from the port to travel to the town of Roda where we were going to have a bite to eat. The 40 minute journey to Roda took us up over the mountain along some narrow and twisting roads, with some of those lovely hairpin bends. Fortunately for us we were following a posse of cars, so we had to take it at their pace, which was quite slow and enabled us to follow Ron (AKA Aerton Senna) with relative ease. We were of course aware that he would try and lose us, but we were following closely on his tail, he did however overtake several cars on one stretch of the road in an effort to get away from us, but I just opened the throttle and stuck like glue to his ass. After some food and liquid refreshment we rode back to Ron & Jill’s place where we sat up talking till the early hours before retiring to bed.

Friday 29th April;   kate and Wills big day!      After a good nights kip, we eventually surfaced and ventured out to look around the house and garden. I have to say we were massively impressed at what we saw and the view from the first floor balcony was delightful, a beautiful green rural landscape scene, with the mountain as a backdrop. It’s a real testament to the hard work and practical skills they have both brought to the project. I never in the reign of Sam thought that Chetter had such skills; I knew Jill was very gifted with plants and gardening, but what they’ve achieved together is outstanding, they really have produced an awesome and very comfortable house to live in. So now that I’ve bigged them both up and earned us a few days free lodgings, I’ll move on and talk about the Island of Corfu hehehehe.

After a walk round the ‘estate’ breakfast followed, over which it was agreed we would watch the wedding, but only up to the point where we knew Ron would start to blubber. So, as Will started to say those immortal words ‘I Do’, we turned the TV off and went for a drive to the nearby coastal town of Roda, where we walked along the sea front, admiring many of the empty shop units. It seems the season has not kicked off just yet, it’s not far off, but I think the Greek way is a bit like the Irish way, “we’ll leave it till tomorrow”. We had a drink at a cafe and then returned home to find out how Will had got on with his new bride!!

That evening we had a lovely dinner and then walked up the road into the village of kavallouri where the local people were celebrating the festival of Panaguira (Village Saint) – there was plenty of Greek food, music and dancing. You know, it crossed my mind (not for the first time), how similar the Greeks are to the Irish, they really know how to enjoy a good ceilidh and plenty of craic, at the drop of a hat - they both live for the moment.





Saturday 30th April –Sunday 08 May.

We’ve spent our time touring and sightseeing around the island, from North to South, East to West, on the bike, and in the car with Ron & Jill, It is a lovely green and pleasant island. We’ve both really enjoyed the time here with Ron & Jill, it has enabled us to relax and recharge the batteries after recent events. Now, we are ready to move on, and tomorrow (Monday 09th May) we are saying our goodbyes to Ron & Jill, as we intend to catch the ferry to Igoumenitsa, on the Greek mainland. From there our intention is to make our way down to Prata in the Region of Peloponnese, ultimate destination Athens – our adventure continues!!!



Ron Trying to be over familar with Tony



 



 Love to all back home

 The Corfu Cruisers xxxx