July 3rd 2007
Back from Corfu
Our ferry boat approaching the port in Venice. It takes the 24-hour trip from Venice to Corfu
The boat crossing the Lido channel
Piazza San Marco as seen from the boat.
Archive for July, 2007
July 2nd 2007
Basel
July 1st 2007
Burning Corfu
By burning, I don’t only mean figuratively but literally as we saw on the ferry tv news that over 120 fires have broken out across Greece the last two days!
Good grief… and I thought the 45 - 50deg C was normal to the islands, little did we imagine that a heatwave was happening! I felt it really bad as we were only living in a very small boat, and there was no breeze at all, and I was forever bathed in sweat and to cool me off, I had to jet-hose myself every few minutes. Mid-days were like holidaying in purgatory especially that the air conditioning compressor of our car hasn’t been working for the last five years! Thank heavens the nearest hotel in the marina has wi-fi facilities so we passed the hottest hours of the day surfing in the air-conditioned lobby, spending only 3euros for a big mug of Mythos (Greece’s one and only beer). I am telling you, an icy-cold beer can satisfy your thirst more than water or coca (that’s how the French call “coke”)!
No wonder, few times we saw on tv (while lunching at a taverna) that a program showing almost all day long has the tv presentors, in their swimsuits/trunks, interviewing people in the beach and at the bottom right corner of the screen, island temperatures are shown - from 42 to 50degC. A video clip is inserted every now and then giving demonstrations on what to do when the mercury rises to the highest level.
For example: at 45deg, one must keep drinking water; at 50deg, to include water-hosing one’s head to keep from dehydrating.
You won’t believe it if I tell you that our water thermometer meant for the boat but accidentally left in the car actually exploded (its maximum threshold was only 50) spluttering bits of mercury all over the seat and the car floor. One day, I found my plastic haircomb in the dashboard warped in the shape of a letter C! (I lost it anyway…)
I was actually counting the days to our departure! The island is very pretty but never again we will go there in June-July-August or even September!
The last 3 days, we were in the company of husband’s couple-friends from way back university. They arrived from 20deg-raining-on-and-off London and what a big shock especially for dear Priscilla (the wife) to be practically frying in Corfiot heat. Instead of us showing them around, half of the time we were taking refuge to their air-conditioned holiday apartment, dipping into their sun-heated pool which was a real delight! But of course, we did some swimming in the Adriatic Sea accompanied by husband’s now-becoming-most-requested grilled fish and Greek salad prepared on the boat!
