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Post by artisans on Sept 14, 2013 19:48:58 GMT 2
Laurence Durrell's character Ariel, in Prospero's Cell, famously said that "somewhere between Calabria and Corfu, the blue really begins." Well it began on a startlingly clear day, today, as the wind cleared the humidity and the dew point dropped. It gave us the perfect day for our trip to the very top of Corfu at Mt Pantokrator. In all the years I have been coming here, I have never made this journey - it is not for the faint hearted, but it is so rewarding. The monastery, rebuilt in the 17th century, and aerials sending signals far & wide from over 900 metres, similar in height to Cadair idris in Wales, can be seen for miles around. The last kilometre or so of road is tough on drivers, as is the turning area at the summit. Views over Ag Sarande and Ksamil in Albania are second to none and the aerial view of Corfu Town is stunning.
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Post by janiemou on Sept 14, 2013 19:53:25 GMT 2
What Steve didn't say is that I drove the whole way. Quite scary for me as I don't do heights, hairpin bends or vertiginous drops, and only my second day driving with the steering wheel on the wrong side! We completed the trip by driving down to Ipsos via more scary stuff to have a meze lunch at Agni. A quite brilliant day.
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Post by artisans on Sept 14, 2013 20:08:20 GMT 2
Jan driving through Spartilas with views over Ipsos, and down to earth again at Taverna Nikolas in Agni.
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Post by Gil on Sept 14, 2013 20:29:11 GMT 2
We have done that trip up to Mt Pantokrator a couple of times and agree that although a bit scary driving up there and having to turn around on a patch the size of a postage stamp the views are spectacular and would recommend it to anyone. And Steve I must commend you on your photography some cracking shots there with brilliant clarity well done. It is also said that on a clear day you can just about make out southern Italy but on both our occasions the cloud cover did not allow us the privilege and Strinilas another stop off point for us for a lager and sit on the veranda of a taverna looking down towards Corfu town (sorry cant remember the name)
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Post by artisans on Sept 14, 2013 22:41:25 GMT 2
Thanks, Gil - the clarity was courtesy of the day as we picked the clearest day for a long time for our expedition. I did see cloud banks over Italy on a very clear winter's day last year ... and that was from sea level. Is the taverna you visit in Strinilas or Spartilas? ... Strinilas views tend to be more towards Avliotes and the north-west coast. Thanks to a bit of zoom, this is what we could see of Corfu Town today:
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Post by Gil on Sept 15, 2013 9:05:51 GMT 2
Hi Steve I stand corrected it was Spartilas always get the two confused. Regards Gil
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Post by holidayman on Sept 15, 2013 9:24:37 GMT 2
Stunning pictures Steve - Thanks for sharing.
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Post by stevie on Sept 15, 2013 11:48:06 GMT 2
Great pictures again Steve :-)
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jacks
Roda Anorak
Posts: 3,853
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Post by jacks on Sept 15, 2013 14:41:36 GMT 2
What Steve didn't say is that I drove the whole way. Quite scary for me as I don't do heights, hairpin bends or vertiginous drops, and only my second day driving with the steering wheel on the wrong side! We completed the trip by driving down to Ipsos via more scary stuff to have a meze lunch at Agni. A quite brilliant day. Well done, Jan! xxxx
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jacks
Roda Anorak
Posts: 3,853
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Post by jacks on Sept 15, 2013 14:44:23 GMT 2
Fantastic pics! Loved them.
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Post by artisans on Sept 15, 2013 16:14:49 GMT 2
Another view from the top, and one from the other end at sea level. The pilot's moped can be clearly seen ....
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parsonsgang
Roda Anorak
Roda Riddler 2009 - 2013
Posts: 1,722
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Post by parsonsgang on Sept 15, 2013 22:15:24 GMT 2
Wonderful pictures Steve, they look almost 3D. We haven't done this trip since before the kids were born so must put it on our list of things to do in the near future. And well done to Jan. I've always been too scared to drive in Corfu but manage to drive Mike mad as I'm not a very good passenger
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Post by artisans on Sept 21, 2013 0:18:42 GMT 2
Mount Pantokrator from sea level in less than a minute .... apologies if the first few seconds disturb you!
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jacks
Roda Anorak
Posts: 3,853
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Post by jacks on Sept 21, 2013 1:24:07 GMT 2
Not letting me view it. Photobucket is possibly down. Will retry tomorrow. xxxx
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jacks
Roda Anorak
Posts: 3,853
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Post by jacks on Sept 21, 2013 13:59:42 GMT 2
It's amazing! Doesn't look like it's going fast enough to take off!
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