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Hi Ann and Sue
In case you have not gone yet, here is a readout on Rosemarine and Hibiscus. They are part of a new complex, first opened last year, known as Grimas Villas. Don't read anything into the name, Dr Grimas, the owner is a v successful ENT surgeon who has built the complex as his retirement pot. Neither is the complex huge or insensitive. There are 8 villas on a gentle slope down towards the bay at Coyevinas (Kogevinas) with superb views over the sea to Albania. Each is set in substantial grounds with a high degree of privacy. A gardener is on site most days to tend to the gardens. Those at Rosemarine and Lavanda are the best developed with lawns, but all have flowers and trees growing and are attractive. Maid and pool service are exemplary.
We struggled to find the villas at first as we took our time driving from Corfu (allow 1 hour) and got there after dark. Follow the Something Special directions and get to Supermarket Nicos (a great guy and v helpful for lots of things). Turn right at the supermarket, follow the road past the Michealangelo apartments (v modern) and past villa Petros on your left. After a few hundred yards, you come to a big dip in the road. 50 m after this you need to turn left into what looks like a track. It is not well signposted as some wag keeps turning the Something Special sign around. Hibiscus is the 3rd entrance on your left, Rosemarine is the 5th. The villas are modern, airy and well provided, if fairly sparsly furnished (we saw inside 3 of them with Dr Grimas). The pools are great and have warmed up nicely. The beach at the end of the lane (only 100m from Rosemarine) is pebbly and has no facilities apart from a few sunbeds. It is however v nice and good for swimming, but can get a bit choppy in the afternoons. As you get to the beach, turn right and go over a few rocks to find a small, private sandy beach, great if you have small kids with you.
The road from which the lane to the villas turns off is the road to Avlaki beach. This is great, again pebbly but a wide crescent, 2 good tavernas, sailing school, good swimming and some rocks to explore. Drive through Avlaki and you get to Agios (San) Stefanos and, through there to Kerassia. Great beaches again, with Agios Stegfanos the most developed with 4 or 5 tavernas and lots of shops. Our favourite Taverna here was Eucalyptus (1st you come to). Onward to Kerassia where the road ends with one very pleasant taverna on the beach.
Further down the coast back in the direction of Corfu are Keloura, a nice port with good tavernas and Kalami beach (one of our facourites and great for swimming). The road down to Agni is an exciting experience (steep, narrow, ending in a small car park). An alternative is to hire a boat from Fillipos at Kassiopi harbour (less than 2k from Supermarket Nicos) and pootle down around the various bays, lunch at Agni and then head back to Kassiopi. A word of warning here though, the sea from Avlaki to Kassiopi gets choppy in the afternoons as the breeze gets up, so stay close (50m or so) to the shore as it can be a bit scary for youg kids (in reality, my 6 yr old loved it, I was scared!)
Kassiopi is v touristy but the harbour is nice. Our guide book (10 yrs old) recommended Kassiopi Star and 3 Brothers as places to eat. The first was disappointing, with a very Anglicised menu, but 3 Brothers was v good when we went. Excellent service, good food and very reasonably priced.
Other highlights were Corfu Old Town - visit a restaurant called Venetian Well, expensive but a great menu and v highly recommended. Also highly recommended by some friends in Athens was a restaurant call Etrusca at Kato Koriana, on the north side of Dassia. We did not manage to get there for dinner (not open lunchtimes) but everyone we mentioned it to said it was superb.
Have a great time!
Rory
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