First trip to Ioannina - part 4

Now we've got here, we spend over one hour circling where our hotel is meant to be. The directions are quite clear, after all the preliminaries, we should turn left at a certain junction and the hotel is literally a few metres from where we should be! Down the side-road five times in succession trying, first to find the hotel and, second to find the private parking they boast about! Only on the 6th attempt do I spot the building, 20 metres back up the road we had been driving down to the now infamous junction. In a place we would least expect it and no sign of any available parking. So, it's round once more, slow the car down so Barbara can rush across to this hotel whilst I do the circuit one more time. This time the owner rushes over with Barbara, gets in the front seat and directs me around a block of back alleys which bring me onto the main road again now pointing in the opposite direction. Double park outside the hotel - "put alarm!!" Hazard lights on, we unload our bags and are now joined by a stalwart of the hotel owner who will now accompany me to this private parking which turns out to be a public parking garage! We get the car parked up and I'm glad the next time I see it will be when we leave the hotel and head for IKEA to do some shopping!

Dump our stuff in the room, a back room over-looking nothing very nice, in fact something quite horrible. The front rooms facing over the beautiful park are not in our price range this time round, so put up and shut up. Fortunately, there's lovely coffee shop nearby where we salve our minds and bodies before heading out to the old castle.

I know this is a bit out of sequence, but I had to mention the hotel bit!!

First trip to Ioannina - part 3

The castle at Ioannina overlooks the Limni Ioanninon, or the Lake of Ioannina. On an island on this lake the Sultan Ali Pasha hid up for three years during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. As the poet Rigas wrote in his war song poem -

"Better one hour of free life,
Than forty years of slavery and prison."

A sentiment being expressed perhaps by the rioters in Athens at this moment against the EU "bailout" of the Greek economy.








More....... later when I resize some pix

First trip to Ioannina - part 2

One of the reasons for this trip was to see the snow on the mountains.....







....and the castle.





Once you get into the town, it is very pleasant.
Apparently the first human remains found here go back 38,000 years. But the thing that makes Ioannina famous is it's part played in the Byzantine period and its fame for producing scholars during the period of Greek Enlightenment which followed.


We decided to visit the castle and the Old Town which unfortunately has been "redeveloped" under a European Union grant into something resembling a modern housing estate ringed with occasional pieces of antiquity.



However, one of the sleepy residents didn't seem to care what the EU did, or does for that matter.




















As we approached the castle we saw this ancient tree providing shade for a kiosk.








An interesting fact emerged as we read more about the history of Iaonnina - "The city was conquered in 1082 by the Normans under the leadership of Bohemond of Taranto, who repaired the existing city walls in order to repel the offensive of emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118). Alexios I nonetheless recovered the city in 1108." So not only did the Normans conquer England in 1066, but they were very active in the east too!!




The castle is surrounded by lovely lanes which reflect the style of life lived in the past. Many of these lanes house very interesting restaurants and what looks like a very active night life.









More to come.......

First trip to Ioannina - part 1

[ If you've reached this post via a Google search for IKEA in Yanina (Ioannina) - you can contact me for a more detailed description of where it is and how to get there. ]

A journey of discovery, not far, to rediscover mainland Greece. The last time we drove in Greece proper was back in 2001 when it was part of our drive from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to Amsterdam. So we were going to recreate the last few kilometers of that trip to Igoumenitsa in reverse! Plus, of course, there was the added incentive of visiting the newly opened IKEA and getting some goodies in addition to visiting the ancient town of Ioannina.



First pleasant surprise was how easy it was to get the ferry from Corfu. We arrived at the Kerkyra Ferries kiosk at 9:20 a..m. and were soon on the 9:30 ferry.



























Some different views of Corfu from the sea added to our joy of being on our way so quickly.






































A little bit of Chinese told us of the origins of the ferry!!














And true to the timetable, one hour twenty minutes later, we were docking in Igoumenitsa.

First Christmas in Corfu

Very quiet so far. It's the norm at this time of year that workers get paid extra in Christmas bonuses. That in turn affects the shopping etc. Also the last Sunday before Christmas is a day when all the shops open, normally they are closed on a Sunday. Last Sunday, all the shops were open, but very few customers showed up. All a sign of the austerity measures now beginning to strike home.

Talking of strikes, the garbage collectors in Corfu Town have been on one - the result being uncollected piles of rubbish which in turn attracts rats etc. Fortunately our local "demos" or council has had enough money to pay out salaries and bonuses, so our garbage is being collected - not so for the poor people of Corfu Town.

We don't see much of the demonstrations that have been hitting Athens and the large cities in Greece. As I said before, Corfu is a sort of law unto it's own, thus its charm.

Our main concern is that the bridge we use to access the main road is all but wrecked. The bridge crosses a normally dry stream bed which in the last deluge became a torrent that lifted the tarmac from the bridge and the approach road and left it in a rather fragile state.


A week or so ago someone came along and strung up some plastic netting that delimited the safe part of the bridge. We now squeeze our car across the bridge, hoping all will be well with the concrete substructure. The alternative is a 5 mile detour.

We're still driving over it, as are the bin men in their truck!!

The first real post about Greece

Corfu isn't really Greece. In fact many people in Greece consider it a semi-autonomous island that owes its loyalty more to Italy than Greece, some even think that loyalty leans more towards Britain. A little history come in handy when talking about these things so....

Here's Corfu's basic timeline

1. Korkyra - Phaeceans ... 735 BC - 229 BC
2. Roman Corfu ... 229 BC - 565 AD
3. Byzantine Corfu ... 565 - 1386
4. Venetian Corfu ... 1386 - 1796
5. French Corfu ... 1796 - 1799
6. Russian Corfu ... 1799 - 1807
7. French Corfu ... 1807 - 1815
8. British Corfu ... 1815 - 1864
9. Greek Corfu ... 1864 - Present day

So, it's had a varied set of occupiers, the last being Italy and Germany in WW2. The Venetians left the biggest mark on the place (in my humble opinion, that is) and built the huge Palaio Frourio or Old Citadel which dominates Corfu Old Town. Then there is the New Citadel which is huge also. It's a place that has been fought over for many years!!

Today it is peaceful and the nearest we get to any kind of dispute is when the bin men go on strike and the rubbish lies around for a few days. Not quite the Turkish army laying siege to the island.

We live in a very sprawling village called Pikoulatika, the center of which I'm still trying to locate! It's probably the most laid-back place I've every lived in, and I've lived in quite a few places. So, life is very pleasant, if a bit quiet.......

More to come when something happens.....

At last.....

The ferry sailed into Corfu as we passed Pantokrator which was being pummeled by lightning!

Fortunately the sun shone on us as we disembarked and set off homewards, just fifteen minutes drive from the port.




Well, the wonderful thing that awaited us when we arrived home was a fridge full of semi-rotting food. Since we had rushed off at such short notice we hadn't had time to clear the fridge by eating our way through it all. So, we left it to providence that things would be OK on our return. It seems that one of the storms had caused a power outage that in turn had flipped the fuse for that part of the house where the kitchen is! Bang went all our frozen stuff and whatever had been edible in the cool part. Fortunately we had raided Sainsbury's before leaving the UK, so a quick trip to Sconto for some chicken and a jar of Mrs Patak's best saw us OK for dinner.

The next day we picked up the cat from our vet and finally thought we were back home!!!