I first learned about the Greek island of Corfu when I watched The Durrells a few years ago. (Check it out if you appreciate Greek island scenery and British humor.) Nic and I watched the show together recently, and so we simply had to visit. Thirty minutes on a ferry transports you from Sarandë to Corfu, or as our Airbnb host in Corfu compared the two, “From Miami to Mexico – no, farther down – to Chile.” Although only a small stretch of water separates the two cities, they feel quite different. But you can’t flush toilet paper in Corfu either, we were disappointed to discover.

Since ferries only run once a day at this time of the year we had to stay a night in Corfu. With what we have booked so far for January and February, we had almost used up our permitted ninety days without a visa in the Schengen countries. Our Corfu trip brought us to exactly ninety days.

In our short time on the island we ate some delicious Greek food, wandered Old Town, watched the constant coming and going of ships, and enjoyed drinking tap water for the first time in four weeks.

Everyone we interacted with seemed genuinely friendly and kind (minus the Albanian ladies trying to cut in front of us at passport control). We definitely want to come back to Greece someday and swim in that beautiful water!

Speaking of cutting in line, we have wondered many times why it’s acceptable to cut in line here. We’ve often had people step right in front of us when we’re obviously in line. It happens constantly when driving too. And if you actually want to keep your spot in line, you have to basically stand on top of the person in front of you and ignore the people trying to cut as you keeping moving forward. There is no extra consideration for a family with young children either. Of all the customs that are different here, like walking across the street without looking at traffic or some of the driving habits, we just can’t figure out why a skill you learn on the playground as a toddler doesn’t apply.