Along the north coast of Corfu

Roda, the place in Corfu where we now stay, is located in the north and was originally a fishing village. There is still fishing going on, but now for supplying the many restaurants that are needed to feed all tourists. The many hotels and apartment complexes show that many tourists can be accommodated. We are about 150 meters from the beach, in a quiet side street and this first morning we first walk along the sandy beach that slowly runs into the sea.

Along the boulevard are souvenir shops interspersed with restaurants that sometimes only consist of plastic chairs on a deck on the beach to nicely decorated ones with paintings on the walls. We continue to find it strange that in Greece, especially in the places where you can eat, they usually have those hard, uncomfortable seats. At the bars where you can only have a drink, they often have comfortable sofas and comfortable armchairs.

From the village we drive along the north coast to the east, looking for a suitable beach for us, in the village we find it a little too busy. And at the village of Apraos we find a perfect spot in the bay of the same name. We can park our car at the top of the road and walk to the beach via a steep road. In the distance we see a row of beach chairs but our section is completely empty over more than 100 meters. And it is a sandy beach without pebbles. On the other side we can see the city of Sarandé in Albania.

In the corner of the bay is a house in a beautiful place and it is clearly rented. That would be a nice place for us, without neighbors and then with such a lovely beach next to your house. But we can not find anything on the internet about the house.
We have at least found a permanent beach spot for the coming week. The only disadvantage is that the beach descends only very slowly into the sea and that after 100 meters you are still standing in the water only to your knees. So for swimming I have to walk a very long way first.

After a long break on the beach we continue along the north coast of Corfu to Agios Stefanos which is less than 3 kilometers from Albania. It is a wooded area, everywhere you see green and occasionally a flowering shrub. Because of the many winter rain, Corfu is called the flower island or Green Island. The Agios Stefanos, where we stop for a break, is only one of several places on the island with the same name. Agios means sacred or Saint and is often used in place names throughout Greece.

St. Stefanos is a quiet town with a harbor full of motor boats and sailing boats. It seems that this region attracts many millionaires and celebrities because of the peace and quiet. We read that even James Bond has been here in his Lotus (the movie For your eyes only is partially recorded on Corfu). Corfu is a crowded island, partly because it is closest to Western Europe, but in this place it is probably so quiet because there is not really a nice beach.