Flying

It wasn’t immediately easy to get some sleep. The people in the room next door – perhaps involving others down the corridor – had a very loud and door-slamming argument. Fortunately, it was over after half an hour. I woke in a panic at 3:30 am, thinking I had mis-set the alarm, changed it, and then, after thinking about it, realised I was wrong and put it back.

We were up before 5 am, but the walk from the hotel room to departures, through security, and into the Duty Free area was almost exactly 15 minutes. That alone made spending the points on the hotel room worth it.

Breakfast was an underwhelming bacon bao at Itsu – PY’s porridge seemed much better. Then the gate was announced, and it took a very long walk to get to gate 34. There did not seem to be that many people around and, indeed, the flight was not full.

Boarding was very orderly. I don’t think I have been on a flight that well organised for a while. We found we hadn’t got an aisle passenger on our row, and so had it to ourselves. I tried to sleep for most of the way as I felt a bit groggy, which I guess was due to a lack of sleep.

I don’t know exactly where we were when I took the picture, but the landscapes for the hour before arrival were stunning.

Passengers disembarked at both the front and rear of the plane. We were in row 19, which was probably the middle. It meant we were on the second bus to the terminal and quite at the back of the passport queue. But it was all very fast. With no idea if twilight-checked bags came off first or last, we were prepared for a long wait. They arrived very much early, although definitely not first.

The queue for the tour company desk moved swiftly. As we knew we were crossing the island, we paid a bit extra for a speedier transfer. When the driver arrived, we realised we were getting a direct taxi to the hotel, which made the 20-minute wait for him worthwhile.

The drive took about half an hour and was accompanied by the sounds of a local radio station, Kiss FM. Whenever I hear that name, I always think of the London dance music station, so indie guitar and oldies (Elton, Queen) amused me as we drove through some narrow roads across Corfu.

We arrived at the hotel behind a party disembarking a shuttle bus. But the paperwork was quickly completed by PY. I am not sure why all the details are not provided to the hotel in advance. Hotel check-in is the most unnecessarily laborious process I can think of. We were given a plastic blue wristband to indicate all-inclusive.

Our room was one floor up. A porter took my bag, which meant I was scrabbling for some Euros to tip him. But he took us to our room and opened the curtains, revealing a magnificent view of the bay. It was quite breathtaking.

As described in the literature, the hotel is a little dated but it’s clean, serviceable, and so far, friendly. Its location is second to none.

Lunch was still being served, so after a small amount of unpacking, we ate. I tried a variety of salads, including one made from Brussels sprouts.

After lunch, we did a bit more unpacking, took a walk to the beach, noted where the bus departed, asked at the local tour office for prices, and had a nap. Then we had a beer at the rooftop pool bar – leaving as they were trying to encourage somebody – anybody – to play volleyball.

Dinner was another great selection. The aubergine imam was a highlight. We took our drinks to an outside terrace afterwards, looking at the view until we could take the small, but very loud, group near us no more. We found some steps down to the coast road and took a walk to see what the local area had in the evenings.

Given ours is the biggest hotel here, and most guests appear to be all-inclusive, there were a lot of other restaurants and tavernas. So, if we do get bored with the daily selection, we have alternatives.

Back to the bar, where there was a 90s disco. We found another outside terrace seat, behind the bar and out of the breeze, and found ourselves enjoying the music. The 90s quite quickly fell away to include a lot of 80s music too. I went to the bar and, for PY, I asked for a brandy and coffee. I assumed they’d be served separately, but in fact, they were mixed. And it was a nice nightcap. I gambled on one before we headed up.