Greetings from Benitses

There is a knock; in my finest nightgown, I open the door and Mama Martha brings fried delicacies filled with feta. Still warm, freshly prepared, vegan goodbye. And it tastes good; we enjoy our last breakfast before we pack. Somehow the suitcases are already fuller, no idea why. At 12 o'clock we say goodbye to our innkeepers and roll to the bus. Villa Martha - it was wonderful here!

By chance, the sister realizes that no one is leaving, not for another 2 hours. Stupid... Unfortunately, Dercia did not consider the weekend timetable, so I run back into the familiar arms and ask for help. The host Dimitri arranges a taxi for us, which takes us to the rental station. Just quickly inspect everything and then off we go, first to Lidl, because here we can shop cheaply for the coming days. I have a scratchy throat and want to buy lemons for tea, but forget it🤨.

The white Carlos, or rather Anticarlos, drives quite well, uphill only in first gear.

I drive us to the Vlacherna Monastery and later the boatman takes us to the nearby Mouse Island. The Ionian island, which is only about 1 hectare in size, is just a few meters from the mainland on the Kanoni peninsula. Kerkyra, the island's capital, is about 4 km away. Pontikonisi - actually only 2 meters above sea level - was artificially filled up in the 11th/12th century and a Byzantine chapel was built on it. The chapel is surrounded by many tall cypresses, and the white stone staircase leading up to its entrance gave it its nickname "Mouse Island" because it slithers like a mouse's tail.

Despite its inconspicuousness, the little island is probably the most photographed sight in Corfu. No wonder, because Pontikonissi is not an ordinary island, but... a transformed ship! According to Homer's Odyssey, Corfu was the last stop of the hero Odysseus before his return to Ithaca. The sea god Poseidon had an enormous anger towards the resourceful Odysseus, who defied all the traps and obstacles imposed on him. That's why he caused a storm on the hero's planned journey home. Odysseus' ship shatters, he himself saves himself on a plank, the surf throws him against the cliffs and pulls him back into the waves, swimming and severely injured he saves himself to the shore, hides in a pile of olive leaves and sinks into a deep sleep. There he is found by the daughter of the king of the "Island of the Phaeacians" and takes him to her parents' palace. The Phaeacians entertain him and eventually bring him to his homeland Ithaca, which he finally sees again after a 20-year journey home. But the vengeful Poseidon transformed the Phaeacians' ship into stone in front of the townspeople's eyes.

That's the way it is, that's the way it was.

Today there is also a small shop with such beautiful dishes on the island, Dercia and I snap it up. Furthermore, we enjoy the - rather short - hike across the island and are amazed at how damn close the airplanes come to us here. No wonder, because just behind Anticarlos' parking lot is the runway. Every time we are fascinated when a plane lands and we can experience it so closely. With these impressions, we make our way to Paleokastritsa to our second destination. It becomes more mountainous and we see more tourists. But it's still beautiful. Betty greets us kindly and reminds us not to throw toilet paper in the toilet 😖.