Goodbye Sicily, Hello Corfu, Julian, Claire & Maximilian
13 May 2014 | Kassiopi, Corfu
Ness
After almost three weeks with Hayley on board Paradise with us the time has come to say goodbye. We made our fond farewells and dropped Hayley at Catania airport. This was all quite exciting being Hayley's first independent flight. All of us had thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and adventures together and we both knew we were going to miss Hayley very much. It was a very quiet Paul and I that made our way back to Paradise that morning.
Soon we were off to our next planned destination, Siracusa. A charming city that is split into three areas; the Island of Ortigia, the Greek/Roman region and the modern seaside resort. On our first day we went ashore accompanied with our useful red trolley bag to buy some provisions. On our way to shore we noticed with excitement a boat we recognised. It was Brett and Jane on 'Amble' who we had met last summer whilst cruising Menorca. The bay was very choppy and as we were bobbing about all over the place so we decided to wait to visit them the next day.
So after a pleasant time catching up with Jane and Brett we set off to explore the Island of Ortigia. It was Sunday so we were surprised to see many markets selling fresh produce along the narrow streets. We had already stocked up the previous day but it added a lovely ambience as we wandered along. Then we heard some music so we followed our ears and soon met with crowds of people in an attractive square close by the city's cathedral, The Piazza Duomo. It was obviously a special religious festival day and we were excited to be caught up in the midst of it. It appeared to be a ceremonious re-enactment from the past, with a grand ornamental carriage being borne along at a respectful pace by elaborately decorated bearers. Our final day was very interestingly spent visiting The Parco Archeologico with its Teatro Greco ( One of the largest Greek theatre), The Antiteatro Romano ( theatre for circuses and gladiators) and the cavern Orecchio di Dionisio (Ear of Dionysius) I could write much more on the fascinating history of this city but I am already conscious of boring my followers!
Paul had been following the winds carefully on Passage Weather and he had 'ear-marked' Tuesday as the day to make our 50 hour sail to Corfu. The morning came and the window remained a suitable one so off we went!
Fifty hours may seem a long time to be travelling non-stop but once one gets into a routine of sleep, eat and watch shifts the time passes quite nicely and before you know it you are there...in Corfu! An uneventful passage compared to our last one, with only a visit from The Italian Customs Police at 2am on the first night whilst Paul was on watch and a couple of sightings of dolphins. Just as we wanted! We arrived in a delightful bay in Palaiokastrita, North West Corfu at about 3pm Thursday and were soon popping the cork from a bottle of Cava and sampling in the sun.
We soon made plans to visit Julian and his dear family after we had a few days recovery time.