Quad Safari in Corfu.

My week in beautiful Corfu was concluded with a self-guided Quad Safari around the island to check out some of the hot spots. My co-worker and new friend from New Zealand and I managed to finagle a full day off together out of our boss, and took advantage of the chance to explore for the day. It was such an escape to get away from the hostel, and see the true Greek culture for another day. Our adventure began with a brief quad lesson from the Palace staff, and a quick circle in the parking lot before taking off to the open road on our own. I had scribbled down a few notes about where to go and how to get there, but every cross road felt like a wild guess. As we motored towards Corfu Town, we stopped only once to ask the window washer on the road side, in my broken Greek, if we were traveling even remotely in the right direction. Following his gestures that kindly suggested we continue down this road, we eventually reached streets that were full of shops (closed for Sunday of course) and people wandering about. Our first loop around the town took us past the water front and then through a few squares surrounded by beautiful buildings, both old and new. As an older Greek man shook his finger at me with a look of "tisk tisk" I quickly learned that the little signs with a red "X" through the center are really the equivalent to an American "Do not enter" sign. Pulling a quick U-turn, also not permitted of course, we parked and wandered the streets looking for lunch. After finding one of the few cafes that was open and having a quick bite we headed towards the waterfront on our bikes. As per usual in Greece, the water was picture perfect. Looking out from the city center, to the left sits the Monastery and Old Fort, Palaio Frourio, while the right hand side has a boulevard made of stone that stretches out into the water where people are sun bathing and enjoying the afternoon. In the distance you can see the hillsides of some neighboring land, that we later clarified was Albania's coast. We puttered around the busy town for a while and enjoyed the sites before taking off towards Peleokastritsa beach. 

Impressing myself with my ability to navigate my way across the island, we arrived after only asking for directions a handful of times and one wrong turn. The journey to the beach was much further and more complicated than to town, but upon our arrival we were not disappointed. As we climbed up the hill towards the town of Peleokastritsa, and turned a corner to the look out point, suddenly we were surrounded by rocky green hillsides that sunk into the perfectly blue sea, so clear that you could see straight to the bottom. We drove down to the edge of town and after settling in at the beach we didn't spend much time admiring the view before diving in. The water was calm and perfectly warm, but still refreshing after spending the afternoon riding around in the hot sun. The trip across the island was well worth it, and even though we could have stayed all night, our curfew had been set because the bikes had to be returned, so after a great swim and some more pictures to remember sites we packed up and headed back.

Quad adventuring was the perfect way to spend my final day in Corfu, and gave me a chance to see so much more of this beautiful island. Tonight a new adventure begins for me as I board the ferry to Italy!