コルフ島をレンタカーで回る Driving around Corfu island

友人のヨットに別れを告げて、コルフ島に戻り、レンタカーで島を回りました。コルフ島はメジャーなリゾート地のようで、頻繁に飛行機の離着陸が見られます。海を泳ぎながら着陸する飛行機を真下から眺めたのは初めてです。

After we left our friends' boat, we returned to Corfu island and drove around by rental car. Corfu seemed to be a very popular holiday destination. I frequently saw many aeroplanes taking off and landing. It was the first time I had seen airplanes just above me while swimming.

ダッシアのホテルを拠点として美しいといわれている島の北側を中心に回りました。たくさんのビーチがあったので、毎日何箇所かに絞って泳ぎました。なかでも一番のお気に入りは歩いて（か海から船で）しかたどり着けないビーチ（アジオス　ステファノスというところから歩きました）。暑すぎて歩くのはちょっと大変でしたが、海沿いの美しい景色が見られて、さらには人がほとんどいない美しいビーチで泳げて大満足。お勧めです。

We were based in Dassia and drove around mainly the north part of the island, which is said to be more beautiful. There were so many beaches that we chose the best ones to swim from every day. One of my favourites was a beach which was only accessible on foot or boat. We stated walking from Agios Stefanos and saw fantastic views alongside the coast, although it was too hot to walk comfortably. What's more, the beautiful remote bay was worth swimming in. I'd recommend it.

食事はというと、毎日トマトやアボカドなどの野菜にディップをつけて食べていました。みずみずしい野菜とギリシャのディップの組み合わせはこの暑い気候にあっていて最高です。タツキ（ヨーグルトときゅうりのディップ）、タラモサラダ（じゃがいもと魚の卵のディップ）（※日本のタラコといものサラダだと私は思っていたのですが、実はギリシャ料理だった・・・）、などなど。これに地元民の作ったお手頃な赤ワインを冷やして飲む（赤ワインをわざわざ冷やして飲んだのは初めて・・・）と、シンプルですが極上の食事でした。

Talking of food, we enjoyed fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes and avocados, with dips every day. The fresh vegetables and Greek dips were one of the best combinations for the hot climate there. We enjoyed 'tzatziki,' yoghurt cucumber dip, 'Taramosalata,' fish roe and potato dip, which I had actually mistaken as Japanese original salad with cod roe (pronounced 'tarako') and potato (pronounced 'imo'). Those simple foods became great meals with local reasonable red wine. It was the first time I had deliberately chilled red wine.

滞在中一度だけ雷と大雨に見舞われました。停電して、水も使えないのには困りましたが、雨水を汲んで来てしのぎました。後で聞くと別の地方では嵐で船が壊れるなど大変な被害にあった模様。まあ、そんな１日もありましたが、ほぼ天候に恵まれ（たまに暑過ぎましたが）、島を満喫できました。

During our two week stay, we had only one day when the weather was bad. We had torrential rain and thunder. That caused a power cut. It was a bit inconvenient not to be able to use water either, but we could draw rain water, so that was alright. Later we heard that the thunderstorm had caused a lot of damage in other areas, such as breaking boats. Anyway, we had almost perfect weather there, except for the sizzling heat and enjoyed Corfu island thoroughly.

ギリシャの海をヨットでまわる Sailing in Greece

夫の友人がヨットに招待してくれたので、ギリシャのコルフ島（ケルキラ島）に飛びました。コルフ島はイオニア海（ギリシャ西部とイタリア南の間）に浮かぶ島です。９月半ばにして連日３０度前後。うだるような暑さの中、１日コルフ市街を見学し、翌日友人のヨットに合流しました。

My husband's friends invited us to a sailing trip in Greece on their yacht. We flew to the island of Corfu (Kerkyra) in the Ionian Sea, which is between western Greece and southern Italy. In the middle of September, the temperature was 30 degrees or so, day after day. We went sightseeing in Corfu town in the intensive heat and the next day joined the yacht.

合計５人で乗ったのですが、ヨットは約１５ｍもの大きさで、広くて快適。トイレ＆シャワーも各キャビンについていました。十分な広さのベットと夜通し活躍してくれた小さな扇風機のおかげで夜もぐっすり眠ることができました。
暑いので（？）昼からビール。ヨットを走らせ目的地についたらそこで泳いでデッキで昼食を食べ、また移動してさらに泳いで夜ごはん。まさに夢のような１週間でした。イルカも発見！はじめ海に慣れず船酔いにやられていて、ずーっと海を眺めていたおかげでしょうか。

The yacht was 50 feet long and had plenty of space for five of us. Each cabin had a toilet(heads) and shower. The reasonably big bed and one small fan, which was working all night, gave us agreeable sleep.
It was so hot in the daytime that we couldn't refuse a beer. We sailed to one place, we jumped into the sea and had lunch on the deck. Then we sailed to another spot, we swam and had dinner. The whole week we enjoyed the sunshine and this dreamlike life on the yacht. Moreover, I was lucky to see a dolphin, which was actually because I'd got seasick and was focusing on the horizon.

～１週間の船上生活で思い出に残るベスト３～
-The three most memorable things on the yacht for a week-

１、青い洞窟にゴムボートで入ったこと
内部が青色に輝いている秘密の小さな洞窟に連れて行ってもらいました。壁の岩に穴が空いていて光がもれてきているんだそう。幻想的な青い光。言葉にならない美しさでした。

1. Exploring an blue cave by rubber boat
Our friends took us to a small secret cave which shone blue inside. According to them, there were holes in the rock which allowed the sunshine in. The blue light gleaming dreamily was beautiful beyond words.

２、ターコイズブルーの海を泳いだこと
断崖絶壁で陸からはアクセスできないようなビーチに連れて行ってもらいました。水がなんとターコイズブルー！岩からでる成分のためらしいですが、暖かい青い海に白い砂。まさに楽園でした。

2. Swimming in the turquoise blue sea
We reached a deserted beach which may be inaccessible from the land because of the sheer cliff. Surprisingly, the water was amazing turquoise blue!! That is said to be caused by the small particles in the water. The warm blue water and glistening white sand made me feel as if I were in paradise.

３、ヨットレースに参加したこと
レフカス島で毎年開催される「南イオニア海レガッタ（ヨットレース）」に参加しました。初心者の私は他のヨットにぶつからないように見ているだけでしたが、ヨットが風でかなり傾くのでスリルがありました。他のベテラン達は真剣でちょっとぴりぴりしていましたが、結果は例年にない好成績だったようでよかったです。

3. Joining a regatta.
We entered the South Ionian Regatta, which takes place every year starting from Lefkas island. I was a novice sailor, so what I could do was to be a look-out to help avoid crashing into other boats. It was thrilling that our boat was leaning over so far in the wind. The others, -experienced sailors- were a bit serious and tense. Anyway they seemed to be pleased to get a better result than they had previously.

番外、ウニ採集
泳いでいて浅瀬の岩場にウニを発見。早速夫を呼んで採集。喜んで（何しろウニは日本の珍味ですから。）１０個程採集しましたが、割ってみるとおなじみの黄色い部分がない・・・。日本で食べるウニとは違った種類だったのでしょうか。残念。

An extra; Collecting sea urchins
On swimming, I found sea urchins on the seabed in the shallows. So I asked my husband to pick them up with me with gloves. We were willing to pick them, for sea urchin eggs are a Japanese delicacy, and we got more than ten in a short time. However, when I split them, there were no familiar yellowy edible parts inside. They might be a different kind from Japanese edible sea urchins. What a pity!

ギリシャの聖地 The holy place in Greece

メテオラの岩の上に建つ修道院には入ることができるところもあります。
女性はロングスカートでなければならないので、観光客向けに入口で巻きスカートを貸出しています。

このメテオラも俗世間から離れた修道院として有名ですが、他にもギリシャには、ギリシャ正教の聖地、アトス山というのがあります。そこは入国許可が必要な自治区で、外国人は１日８名、女性は入国禁止、という山。なんと、家畜の雌も入れないそうです。
行ってみたいですが、無理なのでどなたか入国してみて下さい。ギリシャ１国で別の違う国に行ったことになるかも。パスポートにスタンプは押されないと思いますが。

Some monasteries on the top of the rocks in Meteora allow us to enter. Women have to wear a long skirt, so there are wrapped skirts available, to lend to female visitors at the entrance.

Meteora is famous for its monasteries which are removed from the ordinary world. In addition to Meteora, there are another holy place for the Greek Christians, Mt. Athos. That area has a self-governing system, which requires that tourists need permission to enter. Only eight foreigners per day can enter and women are prohibited. Also even female livestock are.
I wish I could go. Would you try to go there? It would be like entering another different country within Greece, though you wouldn't get a stamp of the holy country on your passport.

村と岩 A village and rocks

標識がギリシャ語、地図が分りづらい。
そんな中、レンタカーでテサロニキからメテオラに向かう途中、小さな村に迷い込みました。
人も車もいっぱいで、お祭りか何かあるのでしょう。
きれいな村で民族衣装をきた人もいて得した気分でした。

Signposts were written in Greek symbols, a map wasn't easy to read.
On the way to Meteora from Thessaloniki, we strayed into a small village.
There were many people and cars there. It seemed to be a day of festival or something similar.
The village was lovely and a few people wore folk costumes, I felt lucky to go there.

さて、来る途中の紅葉もきれいでしたが、メテオラに着いたらその巨岩はやはり圧巻でした。
メテオラはその奇石群とその上に建つ修道院、文化自然複合の世界遺産として知られています。
公共交通の便はあまりよくないようで（まあ、修道院は世俗から離れたところにあるものだから当然かもしれませんが。）、車で連れて行ってくれた友人に感謝！でした。車なしでは回れないくらい、あちこちに岩山と修道院が点在していて、「よくまあ、こんなところに建てたなあ」というのがとりあえず一番の感想です。

Also on the way, there were wonderful mountains covered in autumnal foliage. The huge rocks in Meteora were outstanding.
Meteora is well known as a UNESCO World heritage site for its mixture of nature and culture. It has ranges of unusually shaped rocks and monasteries on top of them.
There was poor public transportation to travel there. Monasteries are often in isolated places, so I was thankful for my friend's help in taking me by car. The rocks and the buildings were too scattered to go around without a car. My first thought was how they had built them in such a place.

ギリシャのタクシー Taking a taxi in Greece

テサロニキの駅に着いて、私は焦っていました。
列車が２時間遅れで到着し、イギリスの友人との待ち合わせ時間からすでに１０分経過。
待ち合わせ場所のホステルに連絡しようとしても公衆電話がカード式しかなく、とりあえずタクシーへ。
タクシーの運転手は私が乗り込んだのに、出て行って行ってなかなか戻って来ない。
待つこと５分、どうやら同じ方面の乗客を待っていたらしい。
結局私だけ乗せて発車し、なんと途中でおばさんをひろい、その後すぐに私を降ろして、路地を指さしました。
分りにくい場所にあったので、うろうろ荷物を抱えてさまよいましたが、無事友人に会え、ひと安心。
狭い路地にあって、部屋から遺跡が見えて、なかなかよい場所でした。

普段一人でタクシーは乗らないのですが、（ぼったくりとか怖い目にあったら嫌だし、高いし）、今回は急いでいて道も分らないので乗ってみました。英語が通じず、途中で降ろされ、「ちゃんとホテルの前まで乗せてくれたら迷わなかったのに。」と思いましたが、狭い路地がたくさんあって一方通行が多く、確かにそこまで乗せて行けないですね。

When I got to Thessaloniki, I was in a hurry.
As the train arrived two hours late, I was already 10min late for meeting a friend from UK.
I couldn't call the hostel where we were going to meet, there was only a prepaid card system phone available.
I got in a taxi in haste, but the driver got out and didn't come back for a while.
After 5min, he seemed to be looking for another person to go in the same direction, but then started driving with only me in the car. Surprisingly, he picked up a woman on the way and dropped me off after that, pointing to an alley.
I was lost with my big backpack for a while because the hostel wasn't easy to find, finally I was able to meet my friend there. The hostel was on a narrow alley, with a view of ruins from the window. That was nice.

I seldom take a taxi by myself, because I might have a terrible experience or be overcharged and also it's costly. Still I got it there at that time, as I was late and didn't know the way. The driver didn't speak English and dropped me off on the way. I thought that he should have done that in front of the hostel. However there were many alleys and one way traffic, so it couldn't be helped.

国境を越える～トルコからギリシャへ～ Crossing the border from Turkey to Greece

夜行列車に乗ってギリシャ北部にある町、テサロニキに向かいました。
寝台はベットが上下２つ（下は座席がベッドになる）、小さな洗面台付き。乗客が少なく、一人で部屋を使うことができ、なかなか快適でした。

午前２時、「パスポートコントロール」と繰り返す声に起こされ、出入国管理官と車掌らしき人がやって来てパスポートを持って行きました。
列車を降りなくても、国境を越えられるのはいいのですが、正直不安でした。
この列車は「どろぼう列車」と呼ばれているらしいし、彼らが本物かどうか分らない。
でもパスポートは無事スタンプが押されて戻ってきて、荷物も形ばかりにちらっと見て終了。

列車は再び動き出し、うとうとしたところで、今度はギリシャ側で同じ作業が繰り返され、列車が大幅に遅れて（２時間以上）到着したこと以外、何事もなく目的地に到着したのでした。

I got a night train bound for Thessaloniki, a city in northern Greece.
In the compartment, there were two beds, upper and lower, the lower one was a seat in daytime, and a small washstand.There weren't many passengers, so I could use the space just for myself. It was quiet comfortable.

At 2 o'clock in the morning, a voice repeating"Passport control"woke me up.
Then two men, who seemed to be a conductor and an immigration official, came and took my passport. I was nervous that they might be phonies because I heard that the train was called "thieves train", although it was convenient that we could cross the border without having to get off.
Still I got back my passport with a stamp, and they made a pro forma check on my luggage, that was all.
The train started to move again. When I was dozing away, the same procedure was done in Greece. Except for a delay in arrival, more than two hours, I got to my destination without incident.