An Evening in Kassiopi

One of the advantages of staying in Agios Stefanos is having expert advice on hand at San Stefano Travel. Not only are they a mine of useful information (and very nice ladies), but they also organise regular tours. This is perfect for people like me who prefer not to drive in Greece. Plus, I’m on a bit of a mission to show that the Greek public transport system isn’t something to be afraid of. Greece is a very car-centric country, you can usually tell by the lack of pavements. Where there are pavements they may have trees or lamposts slap bang in the middle of them or they may be used as a temporary/permanent car park. They’re definitely not for pedestrians! I like the Greek bus service (where it exists) and travelling this way always adds an element of adventure to the experience.

This evening, there is a trip to Kassiopi on the Northeast coast of the island. I had spoken to friends and family who’d travelled to Corfu and there was an overwhelming support for Kassiopi. One way or another I was going to visit it so this was the ideal opportunity. For 18€ per person, how could I go wrong!

The bus had several pick-up points in Agios Stefanos. Mine was the first stop at Aspa Supermarket a few minutes walk from Sun Sea View. The final pickup point was at San Stefano Travel. Once everyone was on board, we were advised to put our phones into flight mode because it was likely that data roaming would pick up an Albanian network. My network provider has a fixed cost fee for roaming outside the EU so I kept mine active.

The journey took about 45 minutes and we were dropped near the bottom of the main shopping street. We have just over 3 hours before we need to meet back at the bus at 10:15. I head for the harbour, a busy little hub surrounded by a wide choice of tavernas and cafe bars. It’s fairly crowded so I follow the harbour around to the right. A path leads me along a cliff edge that provides uninterrupted views of Albania. It is just 2km away and seems almost within touching distance. Sure enough, I received a text message from O2 roaming, welcoming me to Albania. I thought nothing more of it.

I turned back on myself and followed the harbour around in the opposite direction. A tree-lined path curved around to the left and led me to a small promontory jutting out towards Albania. To the left, to the right and at the tip of the promontory are the three small beaches of Bataria, Kanoni and Pipitos. They are all deserted and it is no wonder. Huge waves in close succession were rolling onto the beaches. Each incoming deluge would drag in a haul of rocks and swiftly deposit them on the shores. Rows of sunloungers had become immersed in water and were dancing in the shallows. A couple of brave souls from the nearby taverna pull them up to safety. Occasionally an extra large wave would smash onto the rocks sending large sprays into the sky. It was quite a sight and several people came to watch the spectacle. Although the stormy seas were good entertainment, I can also see that this is a prime location to watch the sunset. I had just 20 minutes to wait until the sun dropped down behind the nearby landmass, backlighting the waves as it went.

I checked the time and saw that I still had plenty of time to kill. I took a slow amble back in the direction of the harbour. Over in Albania, there was just the tiniest hint of a rainbow. The landscape over there was just magnificent. I’m tempted to do one of the excursions to Albania once I’ve moved on from Agios Stefanos. Several years ago I visited Tirana, the capital city of Albania whilst on holiday in Montenegro. I would definitely go again, but we’ll see how things pan out.

Once back at the harbour, I tried to find the entrance to the castle. By the time I did find it, it was getting dark and to be honest, my heart wasn’t really in it. I was hungry so decided to seek out a taverna.

I found a taverna called Strofilia located very close to the meeting point for the bus. I still had bags of time left, in fact, more time than I thought I had. If didn’t know better I’d swear that I’d been caught up inside of a time warp. How on earth am I going to spin a meal out until 10:15! I ordered a green salad and lemon chicken and a small bottle of my favourite ouzo – Plomari. Not that I’d be able to drink the 200ml bottle by myself but I’d have a good go! I wouldn’t have far to stumble to the bus anyway.

During the meal, I fell into conversation with a lady at the next table. She was wearing the most beautiful silk Tangzhuang jacket so I complimented her on it and the conversation went on from there. She was travelling with a group of friends and had broken away from the party of 8 with one other friend who happened to be an ex-boyfriend. Periodically he would disappear to smoke a cigarette and during this interval, the lady and I compared the joys of solo travel versus the downside of having to fall in with a crowd. I think she was a wee bit envious that I had the freedom to do exactly as I pleased. No negotiation required. Our conversation certainly helped pass the time.

I checked my phone and I still had another hour to pass, so after paying the bill I decided to head to the cafe bar across the road for a cup of tea. As I walked out onto the street I could see a bus and a group of people boarding it. This couldn’t be my bus surely! I asked if this was the bus to Agios Stefanos and the driver replied in the affirmative. I just couldn’t fathom what had happened. My phone still said 21:15 I knew that I hadn’t misunderstood the instructions of what time to meet. I was a little bit perturbed by the fact that I had almost missed the bus. Had I not left the restaurant at that exact moment in time I’d have been stuck in Kassiopi and that would have been an expensive taxi journey back.

Anyway, as I sat on the bus swearing under my breath, I realised that when my phone connected to Albania, it put my phone display time on Albanian time which is one hour behind. Hmmmm, lesson learned!