San Stefanos Online ~ North West Corfu

Welcome to San Stefanos (NW Corfu) => San Stefanos news and views => Topic started by: benson on April 17, 2013, 08:08:34 PM

Title: Another Year
Post by: benson on April 17, 2013, 08:08:34 PM
Another season is around the corner and it won't be long before the forum is full of the same old questions:
Which will be first??

First Meal - It doesn't matter, food is great everywhere

Best Restaurant - Everyone will have a favourite (I'm a Nafsika guy)

Cash Points - yes there a 2, but everywhere accepts cash, cards, chickens and goats.

Exchange Rates - Please stop trying to save .00001 of a euro, it'll drive you mad!

Hills - Yes there are a couple, I’d only ever bother climbing the one to Akrotiri and Gravia.

Wasps and Mosquitoes - Yes, sorry.

Arillas - Hmmm really, not for me.

Local Beer - Yes very nice, aren’t most Ice Cold Beers nice when it's 35 degrees plus?

Trips - It's worth booking with Noula just to see the girls!

Whatever you do you will have a great holiday,

Benson, (30 year veteran)
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: debra on April 17, 2013, 08:47:00 PM
Brilliant!

I too am a Nafsika (girl)
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: rae21 on April 17, 2013, 09:56:39 PM
Excellent Benson but as a Newbie ( this will only be our tenth visit) love to see the excitement and anticipation of newcomers asking questions and wondering if they've made the right choice for their holiday we know they have but it's nice to reassure. PS this year will be our first visit in July will it be warm :-)
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Dupnica on April 17, 2013, 10:03:06 PM
THIS YEAR can we hope that Corfu Airport may have abandoned their system of scanning your luggage which they introduced a few years ago
For those not familiar with this particular form of Greek torture it works like this.  First you check in at the appropriate desk and have your cases weighed then you drag/carry said cases across the other queues of departing guests,being careful not to crunch any bare toes on the way,
next you hoist your cases onto the scanner which is a good two feet off the floor to have them X rayed. As these machines are usually manned ,or should that be personned,by young ladies don't expect any help(in these days of high unemployment in Greece could there be an opening here for
a couple of strong young men)?  Those of us who are not as fit or as young as we once were have a real problem , I keep expecting someone to collapse with a slipped disc or worse.
I appreciate the need for security and I am grateful that they are so diligent but in other airports aren't the scanners on the main conveyer belt
behind the check in desks?
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: debra on April 17, 2013, 10:05:56 PM
July will be HOT HOT HOT
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Rover on April 17, 2013, 10:25:05 PM
Dupnica, do not hold your breath re changes to airport process!
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: dibully on April 18, 2013, 12:47:07 AM
Great post Benson totally agree  8)
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: D@G on April 18, 2013, 01:08:23 AM
Hills - Yes there are a couple, I’d only ever bother climbing the one Akrotiri and Gravia.

I'll be climbing the other hill aswell, all the way up to the Romanza! ;D
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Lesley on April 18, 2013, 03:48:05 PM
Same scanner system when I flew to London last month...... 8)
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Jimbo on April 18, 2013, 06:17:11 PM
It's fare worse in a lot of American airports. Fort Lauderdale is a nightmare!
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Dupnica on April 18, 2013, 07:25:04 PM
  Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv is pretty hot on security but you wouldn't expect anything else.
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: loftyscot on April 19, 2013, 03:35:28 PM
Nice one Benson,  ;D
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: hippopots on April 20, 2013, 10:40:34 AM
No, sorry scanner being used on Tuesday when my parents checked in!
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Dupnica on April 20, 2013, 07:09:01 PM
 Oh bottoms!!  Just have to put up with it I suppose.
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: tonyco1 on April 21, 2013, 08:14:02 AM
When you don't have a choice - go along with it  - as they say in Greece - no problem....
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Andy7 on April 21, 2013, 01:09:14 PM
THIS YEAR can we hope that Corfu Airport may have abandoned their system of scanning your luggage which they introduced a few years ago
For those not familiar with this particular form of Greek torture it works like this.  First you check in at the appropriate desk and have your cases weighed then you drag/carry said cases across the other queues of departing guests,being careful not to crunch any bare toes on the way,
next you hoist your cases onto the scanner which is a good two feet off the floor to have them X rayed. As these machines are usually manned ,or should that be personned,by young ladies don't expect any help(in these days of high unemployment in Greece could there be an opening here for
a couple of strong young men)?  Those of us who are not as fit or as young as we once were have a real problem , I keep expecting someone to collapse with a slipped disc or worse.
I appreciate the need for security and I am grateful that they are so diligent but in other airports aren't the scanners on the main conveyer belt
behind the check in desks?

I agree it's madness and when the airport is busy it causes chaos.

Maybe their isn't enough room to house the scanners at the back? The airport would have been built before the need t have scanners. Whatever the reason it's not a good experience. Really corfu should have extended the airport years ago. Where did all that European money in the last decade go? In Spain they built roads an airports but in Greece the cash never seemed to leave Athens.

Lanzarote is an island smaller about the same size as Corfu but its airport is fantastic, like Gatwick without the crowds, everytime we go we say why couldn't corfu airport be like this!

Andy
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Dupnica on April 21, 2013, 05:14:36 PM
They did improve the departure lounge a few years ago so there is now more seating available,but I am concerned about  new visitors with a disability or previous illness who have no knowledge of the problems they will encounter when checking in on their departure.They probably do not require, or want, wheelchair assistance but they may need some kind of help.
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Gavlah1973 on April 21, 2013, 06:35:28 PM
Kefalonia....... now there's an airport lol!!!
Last year we checked in then went to the Taverna next door for a couple of light ales before going back in. It's like a shed!
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Dupnica on April 21, 2013, 07:37:00 PM
 I suppose a lot of us can remember,not that long ago,when you got to arrivals and were waiting for the cases to come up on the carousel,
 you could wander outside,have a chat with your taxi driver,have a cigarette if you wanted and then mosey back in and collect the luggage.
Oh happy days!!
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: anniefuff on April 22, 2013, 10:07:16 PM

Kefalonia was  like that when we first went there in 1983 .

One small supermarket and a few tavernas in Lassi went back about five years later en route to Skala and couldn't believe

how it had grown can't imagine what it is like now it was the year before our first visit to San Stefanos.

Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Gavlah1973 on April 23, 2013, 12:48:47 AM
I still dont think Skala is any bigger than San Stef. Both resorts have a similar feel to them. Taverna based rather than bars etc
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: benson on April 23, 2013, 04:34:42 PM
My thread has been hi-jacked by "how crap is the airport' !
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Rover on April 23, 2013, 06:50:52 PM
This can happen benson! I agree with you about the exchange rate, I usually order from the Post Office on line, pay using my Post Office card which incurs no charge and gives me a few weeks "grace" before paying.
By the way, there are places in SS which do not accept credit cards, best to check before ordering!
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: Waspman on April 23, 2013, 08:29:15 PM
This can happen benson! I agree with you about the exchange rate, I usually order from the Post Office on line, pay using my Post Office card which incurs no charge and gives me a few weeks "grace" before paying.
By the way, there are places in SS which do not accept credit cards, best to check before ordering!

There are not too many that don't accept credit cards, but The Beachcomber is one.
Title: Re: Another Year
Post by: benson on April 26, 2013, 07:34:05 PM
Good tip about beachcomber, any others that don't accept cards , debit, credit, pre paid (don't fully understand why you would bother with these pre paid things) - that'll corse trouble!