#blogentries

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Somewhere on the Adriatic Sea; En route: Ancona, Italy to Corfu, Greece; Sunrise. 

At 13 I caught glimpse of what I thought was my name on a globe. Though it read Adriatic, the resemblance was enough to deem myself and my accounts eponymous of it. This body served as my sole connection to a land I could only dream of visiting, perhaps upon retirement...Through blessings and an 18-hour, sleepless ferry ride, retirement came a little early.

This ferry ride was bizarre, to say the least. My friend and I had zero idea what riding a ferry across the sea would entail; we expected much less than what we experienced. We boarded a Titanic-size ship alongside Italian students, Turkish families, English road trippers, and fellow Eurail pass holders.  I’d be lying if I said that my motivation to take this ferry was for mere research purposes. My long-term attachment to this water body made the round trip coupon all the more allusive. 

[arrmagellan-blog]

Corfu Port, Greece. July 18th, 6:00 p.m. I met these two guys on the way to Greece, and rekindled on our way back. They too were Eurail passholders for the summer, though their adventure contrasted from most other passholders I met. From Denmark, these friends spent the past month venturing through Italy and Greece, sleeping on beaches and benches, eating spam and canned beans, bathing in the sea and the sea alone. Their tranquility and experience did not match; they road a harrowing wave with ease and gratitude. 

[arrmagellan-blog]

Found in abandoned prison cell of fortress, dating back to the 13th century, in Palaiokastrites, Corfu, Greece.

[arrmagellan-blog]

Corfu, Greece; July 18th, 10:36 a.m. My final morning in Greece was spent between a conveniently placed right angle of dock stone and rock, on the Ionic Sea, journaling about where I was and why I was there. With continuous exposure, different people, different places, the foreign became less obscure and rather dismiss-able. I replaced awe with acceptance, not out of want, but mere reaction, or lack thereof. Journaling throughout this trip allowed me to ground myself where ever I was. I included a s need for a journal in my Magellan budget, and am incredibly glad that I did. 

From this day’s journal entry:

“I am just now feeling tied to a place, this exact place, and feel an anxiety un-accepting of departure. I could stay here forever.” 

[arrmagellan-blog]

Palaiokastrites, Corfu, Greece.

Supporting small businesses one boat ride at a time: privatized boat services owned by island natives filled the docks along Corfu’s western coast. 

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Corfu, Greece; July 16th. 

Tourists scurry to obtain tickets for Green Buses: a private transit service on the island of Corfu transporting passengers from Corfu Town to the Western, Northern, and Southern coasts of the island. Though one would expect most of the passengers to be tourists eager to explore opposite the island’s capital village, many Corfu natives too use this system for it’s stops at small villages en route towards the blue, tourist-attracting lagoons. 

[arrmagellan-blog]

Corfu, Greece; July 16th. En route: Mon Repos to Paliaokastrites. 

Urban planning on the Island of Corfu proved to be largely dominated by cars and mopeds, with established bus routes and taxis, but no train or Uber services. Car rental businesses dominated inner-island commercial areas. Luckily, Green Buses, as shown above, provided other means of navigating the island where travel by foot was not an option. Signage on the island provided perhaps the most aid in discovering and manuevering the limited transport systems.