Corfu

June 17, Corfu

We took two buses and a ferry to make our way to Corfu, an Ionian island off the west coast of mainland Greece.  We arrived in the afternoon, but there was still daylight, so we decided to explore.  I didn't know anything about the place, and I was sick of walking and it was super hot again, so the hop on, hop off lady convinced us to take the tour quite easily. We cruised around the island learning about Corfu's many musicians (natives wrote the Greek national anthem and the olympics theme song) its impregnable fortresses, and about a girl martyr who was killed by word from her pagan father because she secretly became a baptized Christian.

We hopped off at the end of the cannon area to take a look at mouse island. There we bought some drinks and ice cream to try to cool ourselves down and the shop keeper said we should return to the place to get our bus to Benitses to cut down on bus time. So we circled the rest of the old town seeing the massive old and new fortresses and hopping off again to wander briefly the narrow walking streets and get some supper. It was already late afternoon, so we took the bus back to the cannon area, looked in a small Orthodox Church on the water, and walked a thin strip of concrete across water to another more southerly area of town.

We found where we were supposed to get the bus, but it seemed that we had missed it by three minutes and another would not come for an hour and 45 minutes. We reluctantly found a cab who took us for ten euros ten minutes or so to our hotel studio. The workers had not communicated with me well before we arrived and seemed kind of frenetic and busy. It was probably the worst housing experience we have had so far, but the folks seemed friendly and with good intentions. And our studio was in close proximity to little town and the beach. After dropping off our stuff, we strolled across the road to the rocky beach, poached some beach chairs, and enjoyed the evening watching the water, people swimming, geese, and a cat chasing a mouse.

When we finally left the beach we strolled to the little town and happened upon a hotel advertising a free Greek traditional dance show. We decided to check it out. Unfortunately we waited for thirty minutes or so for it to start, and by the middle of it, even though the dancers had fun costumes and moves, we were ready to head back to our studio and sleep.