OCT/NOV 2017
21
HOW IT ALL
STARTED
I fell in love with Corfu,
Greece from 6,000 miles
away. Who wouldn’t fall
in love with the laid-back
Mediterranean lifestyle. The
history is endless, the food
is delicious and healthy, the
scenery is incredible, the
people are friendly and of
course the beaches are to
die for. In the James Bond
film, “For Your Eyes Only”
(RIP Roger Moore) there are
many scenes filmed on Corfu.
More recently, the British
PBS series ‘The Durrells” has
opened many eyes to Corfu. I
formulated a plan and worked
myself to the bone last sum-
mer to save enough money to
go. My trip was on the cheap,
on a sardine budget, on a bike
and I found a great Airbnb for
a reasonable price.
Alex Pappas is pretty much a surf
legend on Corfu. He lives in Portu-
gal all summer teaching and coach-
ing surfing. He surfs the Corfu
breaks with friends when he’s not
traveling the globe chasing waves.
Side story: The only American I
met the whole time on Corfu was a
Hawaiian Big Wave surfer named
Casey. Casey now lives on Corfu
and is friends with all the surfers
there. He still has friends all over
the US, including Bend. I was swim-
ming on this beautiful beach right
at Mitsos Taverna in Nissaki, I heard
him speaking and there wasn’t a
British accent and I asked him if he
was American. Sure enough right
there our friendship was sealed.
P: Spiros Badios
Left: Petros Trifonas is a Greek Jr Waterski champion.
His life was pretty awesome as a kid growing up
on Corfu. In Nassaki, his family owns Mitsos, a very
popular taver na right on the water, in one of the most
beautiful places you ever laid your eyes on. Petros
practices right out of a little marina at the taverna and
travels all over Greece to competitions.
I didn’t get to shoot any
skateboarding. In Corfu Town
and around the island you
didn’t see skateboarders. The
Corfu Skatepark was built
by skaters, they were given
space and built their own
park. Soccer and basketball
are big on Corfu. Beach
volleyball and tennis are also
popular. In Corfu Town, there
was a swimming pool and
track stadiums. I saw more
outdoor basketball courts
than anyplace I have ever
been. Soccer facilities range
from completely dilapidated
to immaculate. Sports in
Greece are “club”, pay to play,
and he schools don’t have
sports teams.
Jimmy Kaloudis backside
crooked grind at Alykes DIY
Skatepark. P: Spiros Badios
Surfer Alex Pappas pushing the
carver at Alykes DIY Skatepark.
P: Spiros Badios
Below: Again I biked to Spiros’s house. We
drove a short distance to Alykes Beach it was
towards Kerkyra or Corfu Town as most people
call it. Alykes was a flat water bay. We met with
Harry and his girlfriend Titi Noubi. Harry is a
big windsurfer and heads to the west side of
Corfu where the wind is
more consistent. Harry, the
engineering mind the crew,
hand built a winch out of
old parts. The winch was
set up on the shore and
secured to some trees.
The cable was then walked
out to a makeshift platform
in the water, and when
the winch was engaged it
pulled them to shore like a
boat.Sprios, Harry, and Titi
used skimboards, wake-
boards, and kneeboards
to shred. The water was
very shallow, warm and
calm. Crashes hurt, but the
smiles and laughter over-
ruled any pain.
P: Neil Korn