A Place in the Sun?

So I've been travelling. Me and Mrs Bucko have been looking for a small house in Corfu for some time, with no luck. The area we've picked seems to be a rather saught after location and there is also the Greek problem; there are many houses that are not lived in, but nobody puts them up for sale because they are owned by extended families and there is always someone who doesn't want to sell

Swap the car with a house and Hillbilly with Greek, and we're there

Anyway, a decent property recently came on the market. It looked like the right size (Small), the right condition (Requires total renovation) and the right area (Kato Korikiana, five minutes drive from where our friends live)

Due to the location and price, it's not expected to be available for long. We are not going back until May, so I decided it wouldn't be too much trouble to fly out there and take a look now

And there hangs a tale

I've been speaking with the estate agent since the property came up, but the earliest I could fly over was Friday 6th, so when Wednesday 4th came round and it was still available, I made plans to fly over

There are no direct flights from Manchester to Corfu at this time of year, so you have to fly first to Athens, then to Corfu from there. Four flights. But the return flight I was planning to book, had suddenly increased in price from £319 to £444. I thought they were supposed to go down as you got nearer the time? So I booked on two separate flights for the return journey, changing in Geneva

So that's two flights out on the Thursday, a stop-over in the area where the house is, a flight back to Athens on Friday evening, a stop-over there, then a flight to Geneva and a final flight to Manchester, then home to get fall down drunk

When you ask the question, 'what could possibly go wrong?', surprisingly little did. The first flight from Manchester was delayed by one hour and twenty minutes, which put me on a very tight schedule for the second plane, but after running at full pelt through Athens airport, I was there in time to have a fag before bording. The rest of the flights were actually on time or early. (Taking nothing more than a small carry on bag, also helped)

I've never done the short hop from Athens to Corfu before, but I've seen the small propeller planes that do it, and I've always wanted to go on one. (Long term readers may remember I have a fear of flying, but to me, if it's small enough to look like it should get off the ground, it doesn't bring on the fear)

So flying on a propeller plane was a new for me, but so was sitting next to a woman with a yappy dog in a bag. At the gate, when they were announcing the gate opening over the tannoy, you could hear a dog yapping in the background. I normally would have expected that to be sitting next to me, knowing my luck, but I didn't actually think people brought dogs on planes in bags, so was surprised when she sat next to me. Fortunately the noisey bugger went to sleep after take-off. You just can't write this shit

Sitting right at the back, I was first off the plane and first off the airport, with having no bags and there being no passport control, as it was an internal flight. I lit a cig outside, but only smoked half of it, as I realised there were only two taxis in the stand, and the rest of the plane was about to follow me out, so I went and grabbed one

The driver was interested in what I planned to do in Ipsos in January, so I told him. I also asked what the Greeks think of English people buying property there. He told me the Corfu Greeks love the English as we have history together. He then went on to explain that history for the next twenty minutes, without taking a breath

So I checked into the hotel (Basic, but not a flea pit) then set off at a power walk to the other end of the resort, where a Greek friend owns one of the few, year round bars, to see if he was still open. I passed another local who knows us from our vists and shouted, 'Hello', as I power walked it past and enjoyed the look of confusion cross his face while he wondered WTF I was doing there

The bar was open and our friends from Kato K happened to be in there too. I hadn't told them I was coming, so they were quite surprised and it could have turned into a messy evening, but I wanted to be in bed by midnight and be compus mentus for the morning, so I put my foot down after three pints and went off to bed (I first put my foot down after two pints, but they offered me a lift back if I stayed for another)

I woke at seven the following morning to see the sun rising over Ipsos beach, through the balcony windows. Not something I've previously experienced in January, and there's worse ways to wake up

 

So up and showered and I needed coffee, which wasn't available at the cheap hotel, so I set off for an early morning walk. Barely anything was open on the front, as it was so far out of tourist season, but there were a couple of places and I stopped at the first

The reception was very different at this time of year. Normally you'd be greeted like a long lost friend, even though they didn't know you from Adam. Sometimes they remember you and you're treated like royalty. This time it was as though I'd asked them what the star on the wall was for

Five minutes later though, I was sat supping the best cup of coffee I'd had in a long time. One more brew later and it was time to go meet the agent

I'll try to keep this brief. I went to see two houses, the primary one, and another which we thought was too far from our area, but might as well see it while I'm here

The first was a lot smaller than it appeared in the photos I was supplied. Also, the access was a little restricted, being a bit off the road and in the niddle of a few other, larger properties

There was no access to the land at the back. The agent said we would need to change the rear window into a door, but it didn't look structuraly feasible to me

 

 

The second house was far too distant and was a 'no', even before I'd arrived. I knew it was behind a village in the nearby mountain, but it was beyond this village, down the other side and up a second mountain (I always thought it was just one mountain). That was a pity, as the property was really good

So it turned out to be a washout. I only went becuase I was convinced it would be worth the effort and we would buy the first one, but it wasn't right, so no hasty decisions

I bid farwell to the agent back in Ipsos, then set off to a little cafe where I know people. I found myself power walking again, as I really needed to pee. Unfortunately the cafe was not open and there is nothing else in the area, so I power walked it back down the the front again, almost ready to wet myself

Fortunately, there was a restaurant guy we know who was unloading his car outside, and he let me use his toilets, which pretty much saved me from having an accident (Or maybe peeing behind a bush and encountering the only copper in a five mile radius)

After that, I set off walking down the front to find some food. I walked the entire length of the resort and nothing was open for food. We've been off season and there's always something, but not in January, apparently. When I reached the end, I just got on the bus into Corfu Town

There's a little cafe in the old town which we often go to, but that was closed, along with most eveything else. I managed to find a restaurant and ordered a spaghetti bolognaise, which was a bit big for my first meal of the day, but filled a corner that needed filling

After food, I went back to the main town to get a pint, as everything was open. Apart from the bars. I did eventually find one and relaxed for a while with a pint. It turned out Friday was a bank holiday, so I don't know if that explains the lack of stuff open, or if it's just normal for January, but it did mean there was only one bus to the airport, which I had to get, but it brought me there nearly four hours before my flight and the airport was deserted of other travellers

I walked out and took a wander, and managed to find one bar in the area, but he was shutting at three, so I had time for one beer only. The rest of my time was spent sitting around and going on Twitter. When the desk finally opened and I got my boarding pass, the security staff had to drag themselves off their arses while I went through. Other passengers eventually started drifting through and the plane took off about fifteen minutes early

My host for the night in Athens came to pick me up from the airport, but I got lost and could not find my way out. She found that funny as she thinks it's a small airport

Anyway, there's not much else to tell. I had a good nights kip, went back to the airport in the morning and flew to Geneva, where I changed planes for manchester. No issues

 

Alps

 

I'm not doing that again though. It was bloody knackering. When the next suitable property comes up, we will view it when we next go on holiday. If it's been sold by then, then it wasn't meant to be

I'm getting too old for that shit