A Postcard from Gouvia Marina Corfu

The first privately owned marina in Greece, not far from the International Airport and about 6 kilometres from the town of Corfu.

Fortunately for us too, a walk from our apartment.

Sail your soul ...

Even if you're not into yachts you will love the atmosphere here and the many restaurants and bars where you can sit and watch the world go by.

In fact the marina was our first stop by car where we ate our very first lunch and sipped our ice cold beer en route to Kontakali.

Celebrations ...

Today it was Malcolm's birthday and he had, from the time we left UK, decided where he wanted to eat lunch on his birthday.

So we sauntered down to Gouvia Marina and stopped for a Freddo Cappucino, which had become one of our favourite mid morning treats, prior to lunch.

Online booking ....

Kontokali Lake House has wifi, so we took the opportunity of booking Malcolm's birthday lunch online the day before. 

However, we hadn't received confirmation, so whilst Malcolm was having his coffee I popped along to confirm in person.  I received a very warm welcome and was told we could have a table overlooking the marina. 

Happy now :)

Olympia Mare here we come .....

And this is Malcolm's smug face when he gets what he wants :)

Bubbly?  Why not ..... whilst we choose from the delicious, get your taste buds going, menu.

Actually we had pretty much decided that we were definitely having fish.....and we weren't disappointed with our choice.

For me Tuna (which was huge!) and Malcolm had the 'catch of the day' Dorado.

Absolutely delicious.  Great food and very friendly service, along with bubbly and good company, of course, brings a smile to my face.

Now after that huge lunch we thought we ought to go for a stroll.  

And no better place than the Marina where you can get lost in a world of yachts. 

 And if superyachts are what you aspire to then this is the place to be.

Things you need to know:

• The Marina gets busier in the evenings so if you want to eat out booking is recommended.
• Changeover days for the yachties!  We found Friday and Saturday busy there and a real buzz about the place.  So if you like quieter days visit midweek.
• We highly recommend Olympia Mare for their food and service.

Thanks for visiting, look forward to seeing you again soon ...... wherever that may be :)

Travelling Means ... What Comes Next

Our first visit here ..... on arrival we had mixed feelings.

We hired a car .....

 

The car hire company were great, very pleasant and efficient, picked us up at the airport and took us to their office to pick up the car.

Malcolm always does the driving.  He's not a very good passenger with me driving at the best of times so in a foreign country probably even worse!

Whoopee - Lidl

Our plans were to pick up some shopping en route to the apartment, get a light lunch somewhere and then on to destination.

Luckily we didn't have to look far.  A Lidl directly opposite the car hire office.  That went without too much trouble, except, of course, we needed a coin for the trolley!  Great!  Oops ....we'd only just arrived so no coins :(

Luck was on our side, a loose trolley waiting for the foreigners who'd just landed :)

Shopping done, let's do lunch.

My advice to you if you're of a nervous disposition, as I tend to be if taken out of my comfort zone, is take public transport.

   

First we had to manoeuvre our way through drivers like we'd never seen before and I was getting closer and closer to the edge (edge of the road and my edge) and Malcolm was, shall I say, a little hot under the collar (heat and mood).  We had been up since 1am which added a little tension 😒 and as we travelled along the road the huge mounds of rubbish alongside actually wasn't helping our moods 😟in fact we became increasingly concerned.

31 degrees of heat and mounting rubbish didn't fill us with hope😟

(I'll digress a minute to give a brief explanation ....

We consequently found out from the owners of our apartment that there had been a disagreement over payment by the Mayor.  Hence mounds of rubbish not being collected.  

I will go on to say that a couple of days before our departure the Mayor must have changed his mind and paid up as thankfully the rubbish was disappearing )

Back to our arrival!

Is that a Marina and a Bar?

Some things put a smile on Malcolm's face and they include boats and a bar!  Whew!  We were both definitely in need of a drink.

To be honest just getting out of the car put a smile on my face ..... boy oh boy do either of us really want to get back in that car?

What?  No meat?

The Marina bar looked inviting and cool in the shade.  We were served by a very friendly waiter (who we actually saw several times later in the week too)

I opted for a Greek salad, one of my favourites and a nice cool beer.  To my surprise Malcolm chose the same,  no the beer not a surprise, but a meal with no meat?  Must have been the heat messing with his brain :)

Now that feels a little better and both, after refreshment, in a better frame of mind ....

We venture back out on to the roads ..

Not far away and a very very welcoming sign ..... Kontokali Lake House

So pleased to see this and it truly is welcoming with its pretty floral entrance.

As soon as we pulled up we were warmly greeted by Spiros.

Apartment full of everything you need and more

We were shown to our pretty apartment.

  

A kitchen equipped with all you need and more, and two spacious rooms, a lounge (come bedroom) with terrace and large bedroom with balcony.

Everything spotlessly clean and as we found out, to our delight, during our stay, is cleaned every other day.

The owners, by the way, are extremely friendly and very helpful should you have any queries.  Our only query was 'why so much rubbish on the island'?  And you too know the answer to that now.

We couldn't wait to explore.

Outside and at the bottom of the drive is the beautiful view over the water.

If you book early you may be lucky enough to get an apartment with a balcony overlooking this beautiful view.   We were late booking but we could get a glimpse from our bedroom balcony.

and one evening we sauntered down with a glass of wine and sat for a while.  It was very peaceful.

It is truly beautiful ...... and you may even get a glimpse of the wildlife!

Suffice it to say we settled in to life here and its peace and tranquillity and ended up having a very relaxing holiday.

Breakfast on our terrace, a stroll to the Marina or the beach followed by a bottle of the local village wine (which looks like it's in a sunflower oil bottle!) with olives on our balcony in the evening.  Life's not so bad here in Corfu.

The sunsets, of course, are lovely across the water......

and finally our version of 'a selfie'

Things you need to know:

• Kontokali Beach is a short walk from Kontokali Lake House (the blurb online says 200 yards - well maybe as the crow flies!) - let's say about a 10 minute stroll in 31degrees of heat. :)  We ended up going there most days.  There's a great Taverna, run by a couple who are relaxed and great fun.  It's right on the beach and not expensive.
• The Marina in Kontokali is about a 20 minute stroll and is worth a visit.  The Blue Pool Bar has just what it says .... a pool and a bar.  We ate lunch there a couple of times and recommend the Greek salad!  
• We also recommend the Olympia Mare Restaurant where we had delicious fish for lunch on Malcolm's birthday.  More to follow on that with pics as it deserves another blog me thinks :)
• The mosquitos love to bite at any opportunity!  I got bitten more than I've ever been bitten before.  Then we discovered an insect repellent at a local supermarket.  After which I didn't have any further problems.  It is Autan Family Care Repellent found on Amazon too.  Oh and by the way the ants don't like it either. :)

Thanks for visiting Kontokali with us ........ travelling means, what comes next ...... and there's certainly more to come.