Day 96 : Corfu - Ioannina

Left apartment at 10.10am and took a 10 mins walk to the port to catch the 10.45am ferry to Igoumenitsa. The ferry was not yet ready for boarding when I arrived and only allowed boarding at 10.30am. 

There were cars and trucks also waiting to get on the ferry. 

The ferry left on time and with a beautiful weather today, and I got to see the final look of Corfu from the sea. 

I decided to stay on the deck for the next 90 mins of the ferry ride. There were hardly much passengers with only about 3 people on the open air Upper deck.

We arrived in Igoumenitsa at about 12.30pm, and I quickly made my way towards the bus station to buy my bus ticket to Ioannina at 2pm.

It was lunch time so I walked to a corner cafe - Chocolat Cafe and ordered a Chicken Club Sandwich and a glass of white wine. 

This was one really good club sandwich. And those fries were just perfectly done. I heard over the radio yesterday that the average person eats fries about 7 times a month. 

I think this number goes up while in Greece as almost everything is served with fries. But I have to say, the potatoes here seems to be a lot better than in other places I have travelled to, as I really enjoyed the fries in most of the Greek places I have been to. 

The house wine was also really good. 

Time went by really quickly and soon it was time to board the bus towards Ioannina, a 1.5hr bus ride from Igoumenitsa. 

I've been so used to not wearing a mask much over the last couple months.

This will be the first time in a very long while that I have to wear a mask for a full 90 mins (or more). 

I arrived into Ioannina at about 3.40pm and quickly walked towards the hostel Backpackers and Travellers to check in. For a moment I was worried it wasn't open as it was locked, especially during the current low travel season. I called the number listed on the door and was glad that someone answered the phone and within 5 mins, Gianna, the lady who runs the place opened the door. 

I was shown to my room, a 6 bed room, back to hostel life! But I will be the only person staying there for the night. 

I quickly made haste to explore the city, especially since I only had a full 24 hour to see the city. It's a good thing I have an extra hour of daylight since Greece is an hour ahead compared to Albania. 

Before arriving here, I couldn't find much information online about the city, and so only decided on a 1 night stay. But in the short few hours I had, I've fallen in love with Ioannina and was considering even extending my stay. 

Ioannina is built along a lake, and with a fortress that includes a few impressive looking buildings such as the Silversmithing Museum, Byzantine Museum, Iç Kale Acropolis, Fetische Mosque, Ali Pasha tomb. Ali Pasha seems to be going everywhere.... He was in a few different areas in Albania and now in Greece! 

It was easy to just sit down and enjoy the snow capped mountain and lake scenery from up here and let time go by. 

I made my way out of the fortress walls and walk along the outer wall of the fortress, next to the lake. The sun was just setting and the snow capped mountains were getting pretty red hues on them. 

I continued my way into the town centre, which was about a 30 mins leisure walk from the outer walls, passing through Litharitsia Park and the Clock Tower. 

You have no idea how delighted I was just to see shops that were open. I didn't need to go into them, and I didn't went into any, but just seeing life again, was a really good feeling. 

There were also lots of cafes around. I was told that Ioannina is a university town with about 35,000 students so there are a lot more cafes and restaurants around. Pretty modern shops too. 

Dinner venue was a place which came highly recommended by the hostel owner. 

Epikairo is a quaint little restaurant that served Greek food tapas style. I asked for recommendations on what to order, and decided on the Eggplant Imam and another dish which wasn't on the menu - crispy pie cooked on a pan stuffed with minced meat. 

The eggplant imam came first and the first bite was soooooo good that I immediately started googling for a recipe. 

The owner mentioned it is really easy to make - cook the eggplants, and in another pan caramelised the onions with tomatoes, salt, pepper, some cinnamon, parsley leaves. Place the cooked eggplant in an oven safe dish, topped with the caramalised onions combo and top with some Feta and pop in the oven. 

Even the pork pie was amazing - it also looks simple enough to make, and I kind of figured the filling is pork with onions, some cumin, cheese, and juniper berries? 

I was given a baklava for dessert and I was completely stuffed. 

Wish there were more people with me, so I could had tried the other dishes on the menu - there were so many items I would had love to taste!