Corfu, birthplace of royalty

 

Today, we explored the island of Corfu with Spiros, from corfutaxiprivatetours. The day was all about spectacular scenery – from every vantage point, there was another wonderful vista to enjoy. Corfu isn’t a large island and so we were able to explore from north to south and east to west. We travelled through the villages of Doukades and Alleimatades to our first vantage point on the side of the road wth views back to Corfu town and through the Ropas Valley – we could easily see the Adriatic Sea in the west and the coastline of Greece and Albania in the east – in the narrowest point, it is only 2.5 kms. between Albania and Corfu. These Greek, Italian, Egyptian and Turkish countries have been involved in many conflicts over time and each has been occupied by each of the others in their history – when you see how close together they really are, you can understand the reasons.

While we were stopped, I suddenly saw a man’s head between the bushes and it was a local farmer sitting by the side of the road, tending to his herd of goats and sheep – still common in these areas where the animals are taken to the roadside for grazing. The landscape is covered by olive trees - also similar to Greece and Italy – and each will claim that they have the best olive oil!! We learned at trivia that Greece produces the most olive oil each year. We wrote down Spain – wrong again!!!

Stopping in the small village of Krini, we were enjoying the peace and quiet to take photos of the quaint village – we were the only people in the streets until a small car approached and it was Annie and Michael, some friends from the ship. They said that they didn’t expect to see anyone from the ship as they were also trying to stay off the beaten track.

We continued along the byroads away from the main tourist centres through Helidoni, to the lookout above Agios Georgios Bay with spectacular views of the islands of Mathraki, Othonoi and Ereikousa, stopping for photos as we went. At a roadside stall, we tasted the local farmers wine, but we have been spoiled by the great wines we have already tasted and even at 3 euros a bottle, we weren’t tempted.

Our morning coffee was accompanied by a traditional Greek Orange Yoghurt Cake, Baklava and a deep dish Greek Apple Pie – the pastry is very flaky and the fruit in the centre is a combination of large slices of apple and an apple puree – delicious!!

We knew that to see all the sights of Corfu, we would have to brave the hordes of tourists so we joined the throngs to see the famous tourist region of Palaiokastritsa a beautiful area which features two beaches which join in the shape of a heart – the water was so clear – and at the pier it is possible to take a small private boat to many of the local beaches around the bay. Sadly, we didn’t have swimmer with us, because the water was so inviting!!

Above the beach was the Monastery of the Virgin Mary – there is a stone ship shaped rock island in the bay and the legend is that it was a pirate ship which was stoned by the Virgin Mary to protect the local people.

The Achillion Palace was built by Queen Elizabeth 1 of Austria – she loved to come to Corfu for vacation at the invitation of King Constantine – so built her own palace which has spectacular views and has been the location used by many Hollywood movies including ‘For your eyes only’ – it is still maintained with its original furniture and the grounds have beautiful fountains and statues. The back of the grounds lead down to the Adriatic and apparently the queen’s ship would dock and she would be taken up the hill through the grounds – a special bridge was built over the road from the beach, so she didn’t have to see the local people or cross the road.

After a drive around the scenic areas of Corfu Town, we headed through the Saint George arch and into the fortified Old Town, where we left Spiros to explore on our own – through a maze of small laneways filled with restaurants, bars and souvenir shops – quite honestly, we could be in any of the Greek tourist towns as except for the name on the product – magnet, plates, glasses, postcards etc the products are the same, so needless to say, I haven’t been tempted to do much shopping.

We had lunch in a small café in a side street away from the waterside – a Greek salad again and then headed back to the ship.

Captain, pull in those lines and let us head to Dubrovnik, and a walk along those famous city walls….