Good morning to you. This has got to be a quickie – there’s way too much to do this week, way too much to do today . . . really, I shouldn’t even be typing right now, I ought to be sorting through stuff and packing bags and calling Air Canada . . . but what can a few minutes hurt, right?

So – clearly – vacation is over. BUT, it was lovely despite complications.

We arrive in Corfu two Saturdays ago about 11pm and grabbed a taxi to Kavos. That was the first experience, swervingbetween cars like the driver was in a racing slalom, passing three cars at a time, passing cars that were passing cars,  running off the mopeds and doing 90 km through villages. And yet I wasn’t scared. It was fun.

Then we arrived in Kavos. If whipping along the narrow, busy streets of Corfu doesn’t scare you, arriving in Kavos will do the trick. All I could say was, “Oh my God.”  Choked full of Summer-breaking Brits ages 17-23 having a good time, the taxi was forced to crawl its way along the main road as smashed, high and horny throngs of kids swelled through the road . Panty-dropping pop music didn’t just blast, it kaboomed from every single club (one after the other after the other after the other) trying to compete for attention. It was a bit hilarious, if not also horrible. The taxi driver couldn’t stop laughing.

Anyhow. That was my first impression of Kavos. The noise, the crowd, the party. That Saturday it lasted until about 4am (and yeah, our incredibly well-priced apartment, very clean too, was right over the street in the restaurant area – so it could have been worse, but it was still rather loud) and Zsolt and I used ear plugs to try and get some sleep.

Next morning – Catherine was grumpy.

However, thank goodness my bad impression didn’t last forever. While I’d never again return to Kavos no matter how inexpensive the accommodation, the locals were fabulous and helpful in ‘how to enjoy Greece when there is nothing Greek around you’.

[Interesting aside, I heard a British tour rep call Kavos a ‘resort’ . . .not a town, but a resort . . . as though it had been crafted for the leagues of young Brits that arrived every week. And while I – with my North America gone south experiences of Mexico and Antigua – would never call the vomit-stinking streets (the smell wears off around noon each day) and trashy parade of bars a resort, I can absolutely understand that this town has bent itself to appease the British crowd. It’s basically the American equivalent to Cancun or wherever people go in Florida for spring break. Every restaurant sells Mexican, Texan, or British food. Greek is available, but must be sought out carefully.  Anyhow, she called it a resort, which I thought was sad because it takes away the local identity of those who live and work there – the lovely Greek people with their good humour and long stories. ]

And so we began to explore.

It was a very, very good time. We rented some quad bikes, roamed around the island – driving through olive tree forests at sunset, curving  cliff side roads to the beach, off route farmer’s tracks over to abandoned monasteries, puttered through the quad-bike-wide streets of an unexpected, totally beautiful, and absolutely tiny village on a hill, visited a little restaurant that overlooked the amazing turquoise sea . . .swam, swam, swam . . . and enjoyed, enjoyed, enjoyed.

We even found a ‘secret beach’ which the owner of our hotel let us know about. Only a 40 minute walk from Kavos (20 minute drive on the quad bike), this place was gorgeous, empty and just . . . just a perfect escape from the world.

Despite the first night’s madness (I avoided that scene for the rest of the week, instead at night we played Uno in the flat, or went to the beach, or walked. Once we went out dancing, but I can’t take late nights anymore and abandoned the endeavour about thirty minutes into the evening, letting them go on without me – stupid post-chemo buzz killer.) By the end of the week, I was really freaking pleased with the break. Greece turned out to be an excellent escape.

I am very glad we took the time for a little adventure.

And now – now . . . NOW . . . it’s time to move to Canada.

PS. Another wonderful thing, wearing my bikini – loved it!