When the Cheshire emerges...

A year ago today, I was at Kerkyra, Greece, on the wrong side of the nationwide taxi strikes.

While you couldn't be on the right side for about three weeks (most of our time in Greece's mainland), we had made do until this point, our second day on the island also known as Corfu. With my two grandmothers unable to walk long distances with their large suitcases (and the rest of the family struggling), tensions were high and we always needed help. Bring in the locals desperate for a buck. We paid family friends to take us to airports, and in Kerkyra a few days later an unsuspecting man with a ute. We had to ask the guy, there was no other choice.

This experience was at tourist attraction Achilleon Castle (a home of the Habsburg dynasty). Just as we waited for the bus to come around the cabs came. Blocking the one-way traffic all the way up the hill for a good half hour. Cops were there but couldn't (or didn't) do a thing. I just remained in disbelief as to how they could protest so fiercely at such a critical time. While what they were angry about was understandable, there were a lot put out by the extremities.

Kerkyra was a Venetian-reminiscent beauty with all its Italian influence. For me, seeing nothing but families and couples was a bit too much, and without taxis it was hard to attempt being young and go out. It's a beautiful part of the world though.