The CD's didn't play music, or hold data, and I certainly didn't pay to put my images on them in TESCO. The silver discs look tacky when you see them at home, where they rid birds from play areas and farms. Here, however they look in place, and mirror the mirror image of the sun sparkling off the sea in the distance, as they dangle from the balcony ceiling.
Here, you overlook the long concave beach that is Agios Stefanos. Unlike its namesake on the opposite, most Easterly point of Corfu, this town is busy, but never feels saturated.
The long walk toward the valley town meanders past houses similar to the one at its peak. These houses have been turned into simple apartments that provide enough privacy for the tenants, whether you're there for a few days or several months.
The town offers what we would consider pubs rather than clubs. Nonetheless, dancing is encouraged, your own freeform or an opportunity to become part of the entertainment with traditional Greek dancers. Dancers, of whom seemed to please the majority of female traveller, for some odd reason unbeknownst to myself.
Back at the CD's, the view of the beach offers an inviting change of scene - as opposed to sitting privately, poolside in your peaceful villa, watching the birds as they feel comfortable enough to sit with you at the water's edge, and take a drink - the sea, sand and serene views of miniature islands a few hundred metres off-shore, cause even the most imaginative travel writers to fall back on mundane, mediocre metaphors... or alliteration as the case may be.
The path directly from the apartment opens up onto a part of the beach more peaceful and relaxed than that of further down. Although slightly more populated, this busier part of the beach has more opportunities for the tourists. The beach bar sat next to the beach volleyball court is twenty yards from the beach ice-cream van that nearly hides the beach sign offering some fun for the more ambitious fun lovers.
I met an older gentleman in the pub/club the previous night. He made me an offer. Unfortunately he was not interested paying a million pounds for my wife but instead offered a boat ride for the equivalent of about 20 pounds. No ordinary boat ride, this involved sitting on a rubber ring that was tied to the back of said boat as he hurtled around the quay.
They may not be from TESCO but the CD's do hold images of some sort. These images represent the family that own the house you stayed at, and their home downstairs. They are of the Greek Dancers, or being dragged along the water by a tugboat that looks like it can't reach 5 knots, let alone leave you shaking when you get off. These images are of Corfu, Greece and they will most definitely come up when scrolling through that ever-growing list, of where you'll want to retire.
Yes, no. White, black. Ying, Yang.
Most places often provide a middle ground; a maybe, a grey, a Yong perhaps? Cities, countries and the world as a whole has places that it can call ‘not so bad’. Dubai is unique, in so many ways.
On one hand Dubai is the most wonderful area, one combining natural beauty with genius man-made creations. These structures would make God regret not hiring the architects himself. The sand dunes are like the ocean. When looking out over these white powdered waves there is a sense of nothingness, until you turn around and find that the size of the mall in front of you equals that of entire cities. The detail 100 feet up the side of the building is the same detail that is just above the beautiful doorframe you enter. At night each bit of detail is lit up and amazingly seems even more inviting. Inside, you have a maze of attractions and if you’re tired of shopping you can step out of Dolce & Gabana, turn left and walk through an aquarium, or once you’ve stopped for a coffee, rent some blades and head out onto the ice rink. The big, bold and exciting can all be offered in one massive, completely air-conditioned set of walls.
You were waiting for it, so here’s the other hand. Anyone with a sense of culture will have read about Dubai being the modern country. But what is so unwritten about is its sense of half a job done. The buildings that are complete are the only thing that is complete. Throughout an entire day the building sites will have at most 3 or 4 visitors that appear to be builders. The people that aren’t Sheikhs are sitting outside with their dogs on the street or scraping by, running local shops.
A lot of this may be due to the world’s recession. There seems to be a constant source of trucks running through towns and cities, heading somewhere with a lot of building materials but where they end up, it’s not known. The evidence of development is thin.
It will be interesting to see what the country looks like in 5 years time, in 50 I have a feeling it will look like a modern America, but for the moment it’s either good or bad, and slowly but surely it’s working on the ugly, trying to find that middle ground.
The Golden City, city in black and gold, the hundred-spire city. For a place to have this many nicknames you know it has to be good. Prague may not be as epic as Sydney but it’s real, it may not have the future of Tokyo but it holds so much in it’s past, and it may not be as respected as London but it’s beauty excels.
In many ways this city is a well-kept secret, but still it attracts thousands of tourists a day, so how has this juxtaposition become what it is?
Prague has a history that very few cities can compete with. America craves history so much because there is such a lack of it in the States, and while the British history is long and exciting, it gets flashed about due the glory that has come from it.
The history of this Bohemian land is on show everywhere you go in Prague. From Charles Bridge to giant babies climbing up a television tower, the city is a never-ending fountain of knowledge, not flashy but interesting.
A perfect example of history in the making is St Vitas’ cathedral. The cathedral is the central masterpiece of Prague Castle and building it took nearly 600 years to be completed. In 1344 the architects had a gothic architectural building in mind but as time went on, architecture itself changed and when it was finished in 1929, topped off with a renaissance style roof on the top of the tallest tower.
Old Town Square is always a buzz of excitement. Throughout the day there are constant presentations, market stalls, social occasions taking place and at night it reinvents itself. The churches and beautiful decorative buildings are lit up, the restaurants come alive and the beer starts flowing.
Beer in the Czech Republic is something else, to brew it you have to pass several laws and guidelines until it can be sold, so even the cheapest beer is still better than the expensive ones elsewhere. The country cousins of the Czech people always seem to be promoting their flavour of the month as well. Borcak is a Moravian wine with a sweet taste that has the essence of a punch or a cocktail but the character of a zinfadel.
The Orloj is what everyone goes to see on Old Town Square. An astronomical clock that tells you more than just what time it is. While the Orloj is only the world’s third oldest astronomical clock, it is the oldest still working machine and the level of care and thought put in to this clock (from 1410) is truly… astronomical.
Prague is also a relatively safe place. There are of course the stories that someone you know, knows someone who heard that their friend might have had something stolen. And it’s probably true, there are a lot of pick-pockets in the area, but there is never an essence of danger here. As long as you have your wits about you then there shouldn’t be any problems.
Realistically Prague will never be on the top of anyone’s list as a ‘must-see’ city but for every single person I’ve met that may have just ‘passed through’ or had a spare weekend free, all of them say the same thing. “I can’t believe we never went before”.
