Sara had planned a day cruise for everyone attending the wedding. The meeting point for the cruise was at the wedding venue at Katerina Estates. The plan was to load into two 12 passenger vans, drive to Lefkimmi port, board a boat and cruise, swim and eat all day. That’s a pretty good gig.
We left our apartment at 7:20am, intent on walking to the central square of Corfu Town to catch a taxi to the Katerina Estate, with arrival time about 8:15am. When we rounded the corner of our apartment building a taxi was waiting for potential customers, in this case, us.
The woman driver was happy to have customers and quickly we were on our way. After about 15 minutes we came to the turn up to the Achellion Palace, very near the wedding venue. The driver did not make the turn. Instead she went straight while saying, “I want to show you something, it will only take a minute.” She drove us to her home town just a few minutes away and proudly drove its’ narrow streets, point out the town square, the philharmonic and other sites she was proud of. A few minutes later we returned to the main road, back to the turn off and up to the ridge that the Achellion Palace and the Katerina Estate share. We had her drop us at the Palace.
We walked down the other side of the ridge until we found the gate and drive up to Katerina Estate and began walking up.
The driveway makes 6 tight, steep switchbacks up the hill to the estate. Had we known more, we would have had the taxi drive us up. We finally summited and found the estate to our right. Goodness!! What an amazing place. The position is amazing, as are the grounds and the villa. Even though it is perched right on the narrow ridge, there is ample level ground for spacious lawns and patios, a swimming pool and a tennis court.
We knocked on the door. Andrew answered. We introduced ourselves. Andrew led us in through the main hall and out the back to a patio with tables chairs and a view looking out over the northwestern part of the island. He offered us water. One by one the couples of the wedding party appeared on the patio and we got a chance to meet nearly everyone. Andrew’s parents were at the airport picking up two couples flying in from Athens. This was Ron and Terri, Dan and Monic. With Bill and Sharon, Andrew’s parents, they had chartered a sail boat and had spent the previous week sailing in the Aegean Sea. As they made their way back to the villa, we loaded into two vans and headed down the steep driveway. Andrew was coordinating a meeting point at his and Sara’s villa, just below theirs.
All the parents, except Alan and Heidi drove in the one van with Andrew. All the “kids” drove in the other van. It gave Sally and I a chance to get to know Ben and Sharon and their friends.
At the dock we piled out of the vans and into our “party boat” for the day. Quickly underway, we had a DJ on the upper deck playing tunes constantly, a couple deck hands and the captain. We headed over to the Greek mainland, our first stop at a large cave big enough to drive the party boat into.
Next it was the Blue Beach. We pulled into a sparkling turquoise bay, set anchor and swam for the next hour and a half. The water was comfortably warm and crystal clear with a large grain sandy beach.
Lunch of Greek Salad and Grilled Soulvaki and we set sail for a seaside Greek village that has since become a tourist boat (such as ours) destination. We had about 45 minutes to walk the town and look in all the trinket shops before we headed for another beach and more swimming. During this time we got to know everyone that much better. It was a splendid day.
We returned to the island of Corfu about 5:00pm, road back to the villa the parents had rented and were sharing. Sally and I were prepared to hire a taxi to get us back home, but the van driver said they could drop us in Corfu Town. Perfect.
The van dropped us on the west end of Old Corfu. We walked back through town to our apartment, satisfied with a thoroughly enjoyable day and pleased with Sara’s choice of a partner and the entourage that accompanies him. All kind, quality people.
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