Monday… what a wonderful day of the week! Then again, maybe I currently feel this way because my day off is on Monday, and on Mondays I get to explore. Winter has officially hit Corfu, which means no tourists, closed shops, colder temperatures, and last, but certainly not least, rain. This past Monday was no exception, but we decided to rent a car and drive to the other side of the island to a town called Paleokastrista. A town that, according to my roommate’s guidebook is, “the most beautiful spot on Corfu.”

It took about an hour to get to Paleokastrista. We stopped at the bay which is said to be the place where Odysseus disembarked and met Nausicaa for the first time. Which is why I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go swimming (The change from two sweatshirts and a raincoat into a swimsuit was quite chilly!)



Our next stop was the Paleokastrista Monastery. Founded in 1225, although the current building was constructed in the 18th century.



The grounds around the Monastery are very attractive, it has arched walkways and beautiful flowers and plants growing everywhere. There was also a large number of cats and kittens.



Seeing an actual castle that was built in the 5th century is a completely surreal experience. We drove up another winding road a few miles out of Paleokastrista and when we reached the final turn we saw the castle Αγγελόκαστρο:Angelokastro (occupied by the early Byzantine period), perched upon the top of the mountain with sheer cliffs around it.






On the way back across the island we saw a sign that said “sunset road.” We of course, did not want to pass up the opportunity so we turned up the narrow dirt road that went pretty much straight up.
After about 10 minutes on this road we were greeted by another spectacular sight: