Touring Old Korfu

Wednesday, August 27, we decided to start to really spend some time seeing this interesting and very large island, Corfu.  (Known here as Kerkyra)

As we left the marina, we spotted a cricket match as there is a cricket pitch and a croquet pitch right here on the property.  There is a very strong British influence here and has been since the 1800's .  Many Brits still holiday here and we even saw a "Marks and Spencer" shop in town.

Our next stop was a scooter ride through the town of Corfu which is always pretty exciting.  Rob concentrates on driving while I navigate as the drivers here are absolutely crazy.  They have surely learned their driving techniques from the Italians who live in Rome.

We found our way to the Old Fortress which is on the tip of a peninsula next to Old Corfu Town.  It was very beautiful and we were very surprised how quiet it was.  It seems the tourists are more interested in shopping for 'nick-nacks' in town.

We wandered around the fort looking at the old buildings, barracks, and cannons and saw a sign directing us to the sailing club.  Curious, we followed our way around the fort, down a set of stairs and around a corner to find the Corfu Sailing Club.  It is a lovely club nestled right in under the giant walls of the Old Fort.

We went inside and met the Club's secretary who gave us a club birdgie and a shirt for Riley from a regatta they had just hosted.  

Surprisingly, the only way into this club other than arriving by boat is the way we got there, climbing stairs and through old archways and following the gravel paths through the old fort.  Rob and I agreed we would not want to have to haul much gear to a boat here!

As we left the Corfu Sailing Club, we walked by the old British Barracks of the Fort.  To our delight, amazing music was coming from inside.  A violin and a pianist were playing beautiful music from separate rooms and as we rounded the end of the building a fabulous jazz trio was playing some wonderful tunes.  This is the Ionian University Faculty of Music.  It was great a really neat venue for a Music school.

As the sun set, we arrived in Old Corfu with it's lovely old churches, architecture and of course, souvenirs.  

Greek wool slippers, hand made linens, honey, kumquats, olive oil, olives and sea sponges are the main items offered here.  There are also many interesting cafes and ice cream is available every few metres.

As we finished sharing an ice cream and had decided it was time to head back to The Lodge, we saw a parade of young people in their traditional costumes marching through the streets.  Good fun and another lovely day in Corfu!

                  Run about to be scored at Gouvia Marina Cricket Pitch

                View of the North side of the Old Fort - St George's Church and the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club underneath the Fort on the Water

                St. George's Church inside the Old Fort - Built for the Brits when they occupied the Fort around 1840

     Beautiful Place 

                Optimists having a water fight as there was little wind to sail - Could have been the Port Credit Yacht Club!

    Wooden Cannon from the Late 1700's

    Bell Tower and buildings within the Fort

   The perfect shade of blue sky

  Entrance to the Corfu Sailing Club 

                Corfu Sailing Club

                View of Corfu Sailing Club under the Old Fort - The White Building is the Faculty of Music for the Ionian University in Corfu

     Cool Light Fixture in this Cafe in Old Corfu

     Greek Wool Slippers

  Hand Made Linens

Shopping in the Tight Streets of Corfu - The Stone Tiles are very shiny from all the foot traffic

  If you look above all the shops, lovely churches and bell towers are all over the Old Town

Ice Cream  - The Pomegranate one is Decorated with Pomegranate Arils

        Traditional Greek Costumes 

   Fabulous Church we saw as we left Old Corfu

                Rob on the Scooter we Rented 

First Few Days in Corfu...

After a wonderful dinner and long sleep, we began our adventures in Corfu.  Corfu, is the english word for this very famous Greek Island which is part of a group of Islands known as the Ionian.

The largest of the Ionian it is 100 Km long and very busy with resorts, cruise ships, and villas.  It is also known by the Greeks here as Kerkyra also spelled Kerkira.  There are at least two names for everything here and then there is the traditional greek spelling.  It is very easy to get lost in Old Corfu as the streets are in Old Greek and it is hard to determine where you are!

Sadly, we discovered as we finished the delivery from Montenegro to Greece that something was not quite right with our water maker.  So, we have employed an expert here to try to figure it out.  At the moment it looks like a bad pump but we will learn more by tomorrow.

We also discovered the boat bottom needed diving so we hired another fellow who took care of that.

We are fine with staying here for a few days to get things organized and all the systems on The Lodge up to par as there is much to see and experience on Corfu before moving on.

We also noticed the bottom needed cleaning and as usual there is always more laundry!

We did manage to find our way to Old Corfu last night.  What a phenomenon this place is!!!  We have not seen so many tourist stores and people in our travels so far including Rome!

The most unusual thing I stumbled upon was a "Fish Spa".  Clients actually pay money to dip there feet and shins into an aquarium full of tiny fish that attach themselves like leeches and eat the dead skin from your body.  Yes.... Folks are paying money to do this.

I took a photo of a couple from Rome who were enjoying the fish spa when I walked in.

We only spent about an hour in Old Corfu as we were ready for dinner and sleep but will return this afternoon to do some more exploring.

Who knows what we will find?!

                Taken from the back of our rented scooter while driving to Old Corfu.

      This is a crazy place to drive!  I think they learned from the Italians in Rome how to drive like this...

  Rob in the Scooter Line up - There were streets and streets and streets just like this - We got in further than most by following some locals

Walking in Old Corfu Town

  Market in Old Corfu

  The Fish Spa....They look happy having their feet nibbled on by all those little fish!

                One of Many tacky T-Shirts - Most too rude to show here...

    Amazing how street after street is full of these shops all selling virtually the same things - Sponges, slippers, T-Shirts, Honey....

                View From Kontokali Bay Resort where we enjoyed a great lunch on Wednesday.  Just an hour after I took this photo, the heavy NW winds blew through and brought 20+ knot winds and cleared out the sky.  The Temperatures dropped significantly which was a great relief from the heat we have been experiencing all through the med! - See below...

                Now we can see Albania and the sea is churning up - The attendents scurried to lower all the Umbrellas!

                View from Kontokali Bay Resort looking toward the north east part of Corfu

  Map of Corfu.  We are just north of Old Corfu in Gouvia

                The Gouvia Marina - Kontokali Bay Resort and Spa just beyond the marina

Albania is in the background across the Adriatic