Day 8. Corfu, Greece

This morning we arrived in Corfu. When we woke up, we were already docked. On this ship, there are no announcements of arrival. The gang plank goes out, and you are able to get straight off. We have not had to line up for anything, anywhere, which is a definite bonus.

We had booked another excursion here through the cruising excursions company we used for Naples. Again, we had our own driver, Christos, as well as a lovely guide called Lenka. She showed us to our transport which was a 40 seat bus. We were the only 2 customers for this tour, so there was plenty of space to spread out.  The tour was a taste and highlights of Corfu. Lenka explained that we would be driving across the island, up some beautiful mountains, would stop at some of the beautiful beaches, enjoy some local produce tastings, and learn about Corfu’s history.

Corfu was central to many of these famous greek stories, as it is to all things maritime in the region. It’s location between the Greek mainland, Italy, and the Albanian coast meant that it was prized for its strategic benefits in shipping, and fertile land. It is also known as the Green island for its lushness. Over its history, Corfu has been claimed by the French, the venetians, the British, and the turks. There is evidence of each of these periods in the architecture of the town of Corfu with many beautiful buildings and parklands. 

We did learn a lot about this islands colorful and fascinating history. We heard familiar stories about Helen of Troy, Jason and the argonauts, Ulysses, and Poseidon. We also heard about the importance of religion here in Greece and the key differences between Greek orthodox and catholicism and how they split in the 12th century bc because some key matters could not be agreed upon. There was evidence of the current dramas with the government with a protest coming through the streets. Cory has been going crazy with the camera and some of his thousands of excellent pics are posted here.

Corfu is a thriving tourist destination during the European summer with people from all over Europe coming to holiday. The largest group of visitors is the british with germans, Italians and others also coming in hoars. The main industry is tourism, closely followed by olives. This works well as the tourists season finishes before the olive collection and subsequent pressing for olive oil begins. Our timing meant there were few tourists and the island was fairly deserted, allowing for our own taste of this paradise. The beaches and views were absolutely stunning, and we enjoyed them very much. 

 Before returning to the ship, we climbed up into the old fortress. This was built 1500 years ago, and has definitely seen some action in defense of Corfu. Most recently, it has been used as a lighthouse. It offered an amazing view across the town and across the sea to Greece and Albania.

We stopped to try some produce at a cumquat and fruit farm. They had different types of liquers, ouzos, jams, and other stuff. We picked up some treasures here and walked out a little woozy from the oozo. It was delicious, but brought back some memories of drinking that stuff as a teenager. ick....

We decided to walk back to the ship through the township. We noticed that the Greeks were much more friendly than the Italians, and also there were many very good looking people. These are a fair skinned people with a calm and relaxed attitude. This was particularly noticeable after the animated/aggressive manner of the Calabrians the day before. 

On return to the ship, we quickly changed and headed to the theatre. A local folk dancing group had come on board and were performing. I hate to miss a live performance though Cory was not interested at all. The Greek guitarist was amazing and we enjoyed it very much. 

Anyone for a wine?

Favourite wine waiter, Katrina

Swiss friends Roger and Josef

Fun table at dinner.

Tonight, we had another dinner invitation. This time, it was from the shops manager, Leon, from Newcastle, UK. We had not met him before, but he hosted a very entertaining table of M2M couples. We had a great night with a lot of laughter, plenty of champagne and even some dancing afterwards. This was a fun night.