Flashlight Stories

When you step on a Greek land and say to the local people you want to visit Corfu Island, absolutely no one will understand you. The small island in the salty Ionian Sea in Greek is actually called "Kerkyra". It is named after a beautiful nymph that was hid there from the naughty Poseidon who was in love with her.

It's a place like no other, because it brings sense of ancient and modern times and atmosphere from different parts of Europe. The island was a big trade center in the past and here is also the summer residency of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria also called the 'Melancholic Princess', because she rarely smiled.

But besides a place of endless blue horizons of water and sky where the times passes slowly , Kerkyra can also bring unexpected experiences.

When I was there, my friends and I decided to go on a four-wheeler night ride. We rented 5 machines and hit the road! The feeling of riding under the starts on some random little streets near the sea could have easily been a scene from a 'Need For Speed' route - truly amazing... But as it turned out, the four-wheelers were almost out of gas! 3 of the 5 machines completely died. Imagine this scene - a bunch of people stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. No people around, no cars, no nothing! This would be a good time to mention that the Island is a quiet place where nothing works after midnight. Our group's 'tribe council' decided to send the 2 four-wheelers that still had little fuel left to search for a gas station. I was on the first one that successfully arrived at some gas station that was already closing. My friend and I asked the man who worked there if he could wait a little for the second machine to arrive for we knew it was somewhere behind us, struggling to not shut down. When he refused, we offered him a 'good tip' if he could make an exception. And that pissed him off! He shouted that Greeks are "people with pride" and we can't bribe him! In my ears that echoed similarly to the dramatic shout of Leonidas in the movie "300" - "This is Sparta!" For whatever reason or maybe to prove he is a man of honor, he waited more than 20 minutes for the second 'rescue team'. When we fueled up, we went back for our friends and transferred them back to the hotel one by one.

Whatever adventures one trip can bring, they are not necessarily extreme and dangerous. The important thing is to take the situation as it is and making the best of it!