Corfu, Greece. March 12, 2022

 We sailed the Ionian Sea and arrived early in the morning at the island of  Corfu, Greece.  It was only 41 degrees but the sun was shining brightly.  The scenery was awesome.  We could see the snow covered mountains of mainland Greece and Albania.  The air was crisp and  so clear.  We were lucky with the weather for 3 days ago it has snowed and the day before it had rained.  One can endure the cold so long as the sun is shining.  Corfu was absolutely beautiful and  I would love to come back again.  

Corfu is situated off the northwestern tip of Greece and has a rich history and culture influenced by Venetian, French and British rule.  It became part of Greece in 1864.  It is very mountainous and has some really rugged coastlines with lovely beached and coves nestled in between. A feast for the eye.  It is a major resort destination and I can see why,  every turn of the road reveals yet another gorgeous view.  It’s charming towns with streets barely wide enough to allow passage by bus.  You have to be a skilled driver to dare some of these villages and country mountain roads.    Greek is the native language though English is spoken widely.   It predominately  Greek Orthodox,  a population of about 120,000, the city of Corfu has about 39,000 and is about 16 sq miles.  And for such a spectacular Greek island the cost of living and property prices are surprisingly affordable. It has a very relaxed, friendly and peaceful atmosphere.   And one of the safest cities in Europe. 

Our 7 hour tour was wonderful, it included an authentic Greek meal.  Yum Yum.  The sweeping vistas of Corfu were incredible.  Every square inch of the islands seems to be planted with Olive and Cyprus trees. The variety of Olive Tress is unique to the islands and exceptionally good and very expensive.  They Cyprus tree variety is also different from what we know, they are tall and skinny.  While I doubt that this is still the case, the story goes that a number of Cyprus trees are planted whenever a child is born, so that when the child marries, there is enough wood to construct the roof of the house.  The houses themselves are constructed of stone.

 We visited the Monastery of the Virgin in the village of Paleokastritsa, (that’s a tongue twister) we pass through many charming villages before we reach Acharavi, where we enjoy a traditional Greek lunch.  Some of the village’ roads are so narrow only one vehicle can pass at a time and it can take up to 20 minutes to pass through especially if you are a bus.  So you may sit at the city’s only stop light for 20 minutes, while allowing oncoming traffic to pass through.  Many of the buildings were marred by buses that did not have skillful drivers,  truly the bus was only  inches away from houses. A definite thrill in itself.       ( speaking of thrills the sea day before arriving here, we saw military ships and were buzzed by a military plane, it was scary, we are on the eight level of the ship, we heard what sounded like a freight train and we looked out of  our balcony sliders and there was this gigantic plane buzzing by at our level just inches away.  I told Margit, the captain better come on the loudspeaker and ease people’s minds as with what is going on in the Ukraine, seeing military planes is a bit unnerving.  As if he heard me,  seconds later he came on the speaker and said there was nothing to worry about…..HA, do we believe that?). 

After our lunch we return to the city of Corfu and enjoy a walking tour of the Old Town and Esplanade Square one of the largest landscaped Plaza in Europe.  

One of many stunning views as we ride around on the island of Corfu.

The view that greeted us from our balcony as we approached Corfu.  We saw snow capped mountains in the distance which were on the mainland of Greece and Albania.

One of many lovely bays with ever so clear waters. 

The reception committee at the Monastery.  The cats roamed around freely and in abundance.

The courtyard of the Monastery.   

Inside the chapel of the Monastery  

Beautiful tunnel leading the gardens

One of the many decorations in the tunnel.

View from the Monastery.  Awesome

Olive Groves in abundance.  This variety is not trimmed like many olive trees are.  To harvest the fruit fine netting is spread under the tree.  When the berries are ripe and a wind blows they are quickly gathered up as not to rot.  They are supposedly exceptionally fine tasting and sell for about $90 per pound.

This is a 400 year old tree and still producing, though they normally stop producing at around 300 years. Their trunk is very gnarly and looks like it was hit by buck-shot.

The very narrow roads require skillful drivers.

If the window had been open in the bus I could have reached out and touched the homes fence. In some case it was shear rock-house-walls that close.   Such towns had a stop light at each end, allowing traffic to flow only one way at a time.

Lovely country side and two very tall Cyprus trees.

Entering the Old Town of Corfu.

View from the large plaza park in the middle of Old Town

One side of the plaza and in the middle a park like landscaping and playing  fields.

The center of the Plaza.  Went as far as the eye could see.  So lovely!

The narrow streets of Old Town.

Two different types of ships.  The old and the new.  This was a beautiful harbor as this was not a cargo port.  Our tour bus brought us to the far end of the cruise terminal and we had a nice stroll to the ship after browsing at the Cruise Terminal gift store.  

It was a great day.  Tomorrow a sea day and then we have 7 port days in a row.