WINDY CORFU, GREECE GREETED US TODAY!

Corfu, Greece
Aboard Regal Princess
Stateroom C512
November 13, 2022
Cloudy, some rain, 68 F

For our visit of Corfu, we opted for a Princess guided bus tour. Good thing because there was a lot of sitting!  Plus, we could meet at 8:30 a.m.—that is like sleeping in (7 a.m. wakeup). 

Our tour guide was Constantine, and the bus driver was Dimitri.  We passed by yellow and beige apartment buildings with tiled roofs, plant filled balconies, clothes hanging to dry outside, typical of the Mediterranean, as we traveled outside the city. This island, about 229 square miles, is the 2^nd largest of the Ionian islands with about 120,000 population. Corfu’s population is about 45,000.

According to Constantine, Corfu is off Greece’s northwest coast in the Ionian Sea and is defined by rugged mountains. Greece can be seen across the water.  The medieval fortification was built by the Venetians who were ruling at that time and fending off the Ottoman Empire. They ruled for about 400 years until 1797. Corfu was incorporated into the Napoleonic Empire until 1807 when it became a British protectorate after the emperor’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Inhabitants did not like the British and in 1864 Corfu was ceded to Greece.  One can only imagine the influence of so many cultures, just like Dubrovnik and Kotor.

 

Constantine spoke of the Mediterranean weather, mild winters. This past summer the temperature was over 100F most of the time. December through February is the rainy season. Today was very windy with little sprinkles here and there. It was warmer on Corfu than on the ship!

Our first stop was at a higher elevation so we could get an overview of the island and small islands nearby.

 

View of the Ionian Sea from a hilltop on Corfu

You can see it is cloudy today

Then we stopped at a museum that was built during the time of the British, originally mansion previously owned by the last King of Greece, King Constantine II. The monarchy was ousted in 1973 and the “king” is very unpopular today (he is still living, sometimes in Hellenes, Greece and sometimes in London). The government owns all the king’s mansions today.

Paleopolis

Mansion of the last king of Greece, now a museum

Sign for the museum

Dining room

A room in the mansion

Greek lamps from 4th to the 3rd century BCE

Greek artifacts, 4th, 3rd c. BCE

A beautiful Greek artifact--4th-3rd c. BCE

More Greek artifacts

The trieme, a beautiful ship

Lots of hard work

The bottom row was described as tools for applying cosmetics.

Several early representations of the Greek goddess Artemis,

goddess of the hunt. She would roam the forests of Greece 

The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent

Mostly depicted with a deer

6th century BCE

You can see three sizes of bronze shoes and sandals here--

hard to imagine wearing those!

This museum, sparsely furnished, houses several informative exhibits of Greek history. The grounds are beautifully kept. Apparently this mansion has been used for a setting for the PBS show, The Durrells of Corfu, a British comedy-drama television series loosely based on Gerald Durrell’s three autobiographical books about his family’s four years on Corfu (1935-1939).   I have not seen this show.

 

Ruins of a Roman Catholic basilica across road from the King's Mansion

The bus returned us to the Old City for time on our own. I could have used a lot more time here because the shops and goods were delightful—olive oils, spices, salts, soaps, candies, stylish clothing, jewelry, and more. Too soon we had to return to the bus for a ride back to the ship.

Street scene by the old city

City street

City street

Shops along the way

Poemgranates! They are in season here

Street sign

Delectable sweets!

Fortress--Medieval fortification built by the Venetians

We were not as fatigued today, but all we did was go to dinner. TK watched some of the Buffalo Bills football game. Our “Football Sunday” family is surely enjoying the day.  The Bills game came on at 8 p.m., to give you an idea of the time difference of seven hours.  We are both looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow!!

 

TK’s Takes: He liked shopping in Corfu--candy and olives!  So many cats! And they are all friendly. Dear granddaughter B2 would love all the cats we are seeing, calico, yellow, gray striped, black, white, and cream colored to name a few.

He also enjoyed the shopping—including olives packaged to take home and kumquat candy.

 

TK: about 9500 steps

Janie: 9850 steps