Eastern European Vacation Day 6

Tuesday November 2nd, 2010.
Today we visited the island of Corfu, about 500 miles south from Venice. This being a quick half-day stop and a small island, we had decided not to book a shore excursion through Cunard. Instead, after breakfast, we made our way off the ship and took the free shuttle bus (put on by Cunard) into Corfu Town. The weather is great, a little cool – but no sweater. We hear that just a few days earlier the island had been battered by a strong storm – so we feel very lucky.

Corfu Town consists of a large open green area, an old citadel / fort out on a peninsula and an old town with lots of narrow winding streets. We started our visit with a look at the Citadel. At one time or another Corfu has been ruled by just about every major empire-building nation in history. This mixed heritage shows itself in the architecture of the town and also in the Citadel. Many of the structures on the site of the Citadel are still in use as government offices; the former British barracks are now used as the archives, there is also a university and several churches. Conveniently, we also found a café / bar and even though it was barley after 10AM Mike and I could not resist trying the locally brewed Corfu Beer – which was excellent. Suitably refreshed we headed for the old town.

The old town is a warren of very narrow winding streets with shops, cafes and restaurants. The area does not only cater to tourists as many locals could be seen going about their daily routine. We had a hankering for Baklava, that filo dough-based sweet treat – and so the hunt was on. Sitting at a quaint little outdoor café we each ordered baklava and cappuccino from a guy who was obviously the owner. The owner made a big fuss over us – claimed he had the best baklava on the island. So off he went, not into the restaurant – but down the street and around a corner; we had the distinct impression he was going to a local bakery to pick up some baklava!

The owner’s wife appeared with steaming cappuccinos followed shortly by the man himself – bearing plates of large baklava accompanied by ice cream, whipped cream and a drizzle of raspberry sauce. We all tucked in and the sounds of contentment could be heard echoing along the crooked streets. Periodically the owner kept appearing to fuss over us and at one point announced that he was going to “have a taste”; with a flourish he picked up a spoon from my plate and made a show of scooping up some of the food – but instead of feeding himself he decided to spoon-feed me instead, to the great amusement of my tablemates.

A little while later the owner appeared again and insisted on tucking a napkin into the top of my shirt. In the act of trying to protect me from the food the owner inadvertently dragged the napkin through the cream and raspberry sauce on my plate – and onto my shirt! This had obviously happened before, because seconds later I was being spray with some kind of magic dry-cleaning fluid from an aerosol can; everyone was in hysterics by this time. I was instructed “not to touch for 20 minutes”, a command given in a stern enough voice to make me think I might risk instant expulsion from the island if I even as much as looked at the stained area.

After a few moments the sprayed area of the shirt began to foam; at this point I had visions of returning to the ship with a big hole in my shirt and a severe skin burn. However this was not to be as the foaming stopped and dried into a powder. We left the restaurant before any further clothing related mishaps could occur and headed off to explore more of the old town.

Everywhere you look in the old town of Corfu you see another photo opportunity; the buildings, the people and the colors are all fascinating. We did some trinket shopping, but mostly we were preoccupied with capturing the scenes with our cameras. Soon it was time to head back to catch the shuttle bus to return to the ship. We made it back to the ship in time to grab a drink and a small plate of fish n chips in the Golden Lion pub – excellent!

Another formal night; we had a great dinner in the Todd English specialty restaurant and then an early night.