Our story didn't start with a romantic sunset, but rather with midnight chaos. We landed at 23:00 and dove straight into the nocturnal capital. The sightseeing had its charm, even though our attempt to conquer the closed city walls failed. So we treated ourselves to some "bourgeois" wine in the square and set off walking along the bus route until we got tired of it. Our first attempt at finding a place to sleep was very short—a homeless man chased us away. The second spot didn't exactly "smell great" once we lay down, but exhaustion was stronger, so we really didn't want to get back up.
Day 2: A Lesson in Greek Timetables
We slept for about two hours and got up early to catch the bus. However, it left right in front of our noses because we thought it would depart later. Lesson for next time: don't rely on Google Maps in Greece. After a futile attempt to understand the Greek timetable system, we walked another 6 kilometers to a cafe, where no one could help us either. After breakfast by the sea, we returned to the bus stop for the A12 bus we found on the official website. But the sign only mentioned line 7. We panicked, got on the number 7, and immediately realized that the A12 stopped there too, it was just delayed. On the way, we desperately tried to press the "stop" button to get off, but nothing happened. So we gave up and let it take us somewhere completely different.
Fortunately, fate blew us to the southern side of Corfu's highest peak, right onto the Corfu Trail. The path smelled of sage, we picked mandarins and oranges straight from the trees, and enjoyed the views of the capital and landing planes. At the top, a bizarre sight awaited us—a church or monastery with a giant transmitter standing right in the middle of it. Pizza and a glass of wine tasted heavenly here. On the way down, we met a turtle, bought wine, hot dogs, and pickled corn in the town, and went to sleep among the gardens. Cute migrating frogs kept us company. The weather was nice, so we slept under the stars in a spot that even had a pseudo shoe rack/nightstand.
Day 3: Monasteries, Torpedoes, and a Mosquito Lair
In the morning, right in the middle of packing our tent, we were surprised by a gardener. We almost accidentally stole her water, but we survived and bravely set off again. We reached a small town (probably Agi Douli), where we discovered excellent walnut cake and found out that they make iced Cappuccino Freddo in Greece. Along the way, we realized that parking a car right in the middle of a hiking trail is perfectly normal here. We wandered under the canopies of giant old trees and came across a church with a torpedo. At the end of the day, we swam in the sea and spent the evening in the Marina tavern. A Czech girl was working there, so we had a nice chat and got a shot of limoncello. Our plan to reach a cave for the night failed; we got delayed and ended up at the first possible spot outside the town. Unfortunately, it was a mosquito lair.
Day 4: The Princess and the Cat Hotel
Full of energy and mosquito bites, we scrambled up a donkey trail to a cliff, where we admired local rock climbers. After a demanding ascent, we had morning coffee in a village, met a photogenic donkey, and fed ourselves as well as a local kitty. On our way to the sea, passing plenty of abandoned car wrecks, we even stumbled upon a cat hotel. We realized that we had actually been walking half the route along the Corfu Mountain Trail. A swim followed, although one of our princesses didn't want to swim because her feet were too delicate for the local rocks—we had to buy her water shoes. After dinner in a restaurant, we had no choice but to crash in the bushes just outside town.
Day 5: Escape to the Cave
In the morning, we crawled out of the bushes, had a pistachio dessert with a mega portion of honey and a traditional Cappuccino Freddo in the village, and hit the road. We identified a fig tree and slowly descended towards the cliffs where there was a monastery and stairs leading to a nudist beach. We chatted with some Americans and admired interesting wall paintings and a house that looked like a garden in the nearest town. Since it was supposed to rain at night, we decided to sleep in a cave we found on the map. Of course, because of the mosquitoes, we set up our tent right inside the cave.
Day 6: The Mother of All Olives and Snakes
A path through an olive grove led us to Mitera—the mother of all olives. It was so huge we just had to take a picture with it. What followed was an endless march along a long beach between the sea and a lagoon. Very exhausted, we reached the town behind the lagoon, had dinner, and went to sleep a little way out of town. The man in the restaurant gave us a valuable piece of advice for a good night: don't go into the fields, there are snakes.
Day 7: Hospitality in the South
Our feet hurt more from walking on the flat ground than in the hills, but we heroically continued towards our goal. We walked past local swamps, met more migrating frogs, and ended up in a tavern in the very south of Corfu. A nice local man kept bringing us food there, even though we hadn't ordered any. At the end of the day, with full bellies, there was nothing left to do but walk to the sea and pitch our tent.
Day 8: A Pirate Farewell
Only one thing remained—to return to the capital and fly away. Today, we finally managed to find the right bus! We walked through the city center and the walls one more time, and then moved to the park near the airport. We walked all the way to the runway and watched the planes flying right over our heads. During our final swim, we even spotted a pirate ship. After that, just dinner, wine, and a flight home.