Mediterranean — 2010

Corfu

We’re in a different time zone now, so we lost an hour last night.  This is our first time on the Greek island of Corfu, which is off the coast of Albania on the Ionian Sea.  Marylee joined us on a shore excursion called Palaces of Corfu, as Ward planned to go scuba diving today (it didn’t happen).  Our first stop was the Achillion Palace, which Empress Elizabeth, the last Kaiser to rule Corfu, used as her summer home.  She was assassinated in Switzerland in 1898 and the villa stood empty until Kaiser Wilhelm purchased it in 1907.  It stands high on a hill and has beautiful views.  Elizabeth was fascinated by Achilles, hence the name and the various statues of this Greek warrior around the grounds.  Parts of the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only” were filmed here.  From this palace we went to the Kanoni area where we took pictures of Mouse Island.  We also saw ruins that date back to 1100 BC.  Our next stop was Mon Repo Palace where Prince Phillip was born.  The British built the palace which is now a museum.  The bus then took us to Corfu Town, or Kerkira and dropped us off at the old fort (ancient citadel).  We saw several churches on our walk across town, and stopped for a light lunch of Greek salad and baclava at an outdoor cafe.  On our walk back to the ship we passed the new citadel, which is linked to the old one by underground passages.

© Jay 2020