Nightmare on Sesame Street

Day 38 (Friday)

After a stormy night we awoke to an overcast day so we decided to walk to a taverna, have breakfast and do a bit of online admin.  When we got to the taverna the heavens opened and we had to wait over two hours for it to ease up (see short video clip below).

Our original plan was to catch the catamaran on Saturday to Corfu Town but as the weather was a bit iffy we thought it might not run so we changed to Plan B.  Plan B was to take the ferry to Igoumenitsa then go from there to Corfu Town.

On the way back to our room we called in at the ferry office to see if we could buy tickets.  The chap behind the counter said the ferries weren’t running today because of the weather but he was hopeful for tomorrow.  Gulp!  We didn’t have a Plan C.

The room we are staying in is part of a complex of twelve and we are now the only ones left there.  The man who owns them is a friendly guy who didn’t volunteer his name to us so we call him the Count as he looks and sounds like the Count from Sesame Street.  His office is on the ground floor and when we got back he said that he had just finished mopping up.  The path outside his office flooded and when he opened the door the water came rushing in.  He said that he mopped up five buckets of water, one, two, three, four, five.  We sympathised and went up to our room.

Day 39 (Saturday)

Awoke to an overcast day again but it looked more promising.  However, after we packed the rain came even harder than yesterday.  I went downstairs to pay the Count.  He was standing outside his office unable to get in because the path outside had turned into a small canal, if he opened the door he would flood it again.  “You see my problem”, he said?  “There is one small drain and six drainpipes pouring onto the path, count them”.  I counted them out loud, he loved that.

The one small drain was getting clogged with leaves and other debris so he nipped off to get a broom and kept brushing the leaves away until it was clear for him to enter the office.  I handed over the money and he counted it slowly, he loved that.  He kindly offered to phone the port authority and find out if the ferries were running.  The ferry had left Igoumenitsa but we were to phone again in thirty minutes to see if it had left Lefkimi.

Thirty minutes later the rain was worse so I went downstairs fully expecting to find out that the ferry had been cancelled.  I found the Count leaning out of his window with a broom, the path had flooded again and he was stuck inside and he could just about reach the one small drain at full stretch.   While he phoned the port authority I sheltered just outside the office, found another broom and continued trying to clear the drain before the Count was swept away.  A few minutes later he shouted out of the window, “The ferry is on its way, would you like me to call you one taxi?”.  “Yes please”, I said and went back upstairs to collect Tracey and our luggage.  When the taxi arrived the Count said, “I’m sorry I could not help you with your luggage but I am under seizure”.  I thought he was having a medical emergency but then I realised he meant he was under siege.  We left the Count leaning out of his office window frantically trying to clear the drain shouting “Please come back”.  We said we certainly would (especially if he could guarantee us the comedy).  Upon writing this I think perhaps he was asking for help, I do hope he’s OK.

As we were waiting for the ferry the Flying Dolphin catamaran service arrived.  One girl had to be carried off, she looked very green indeed and we so glad we changed our plans and have nicknamed the Flying Dolphin the Vomit Comet. 

It was sad to leave the island as Paxos is in danger of replacing Kefalonia as our favourite place in Greece.

It took a long time to get to Igoumenitsa because of the heavy seas.  It started to rain again when we got off the ferry so we found shelter for our luggage (and Tracey) and I went off to buy tickets to get us to Corfu Town.  The ferry was due to leave at 2pm, I bought the tickets at 1.51pm so I had to sprint back to Tracey then we had to run along the port to catch our ferry and just about made it.

The accommodation we have found in Corfu is a little odd (but cheap).  There seem to be over fifty apartments and we seem to be the only ones here apart from the four bar staff.  What we also failed to notice when we booked it is that it is situated at the north end of the airport runway.  No need to set our alarm clock for the morning.  It is described as a self catering apartment but despite a small cooker and some pots and pans there are no cooking utensils so we have just been to the supermarket to buy some supplies for supper and found a set of four wooden cooking utensils for the bargain price of 0.54 euro.  They will henceforth be known as our trusty travel utensils as we refuse to leave them behind.