Corfu

I have been putting off writing about Corfu for a while now. I want the travel blog to go in order of what I have seen, but I didn't want to write about this day until I had gathered my thoughts more and put into (better) words what I didn't like about this place. Corfu is one of the islands in the Ionian sea off the mainland of Greece. It has a lot of culture and history, and I had only just begun to delve into Greek history myself before the trip (mostly by finally reading the Odyssey). Could they have described the roastings of lambs' legs any more frequently in that book?!? But I digress...We arrived in Corfu Town and had to rush to get ready for our morning tour. We had Palaces of Corfu on our agenda which sounded spectacular, but the morning was met with gray, gloomy, windy, misty weather and our first view of Corfu Town was of this long strip of road that looked like anywhere else: car dealerships, commercial bakeries, tire stores, travel agencies. Oh sure, the writing was different (it was all Greek to me, HAR!), but it was very modern, over crowded, dirty, and distinctly lacking in culture or foreign-ness. The weather cleared slightly and we found ourselves one of at least seven busloads of people all going to see the Achilleion Palace. As Palaces go, well, I was underwhelmed. I shouldn't have been expecting Versailles, and it didn't even come close. Basically it was a large house with tall ceilings, the upstairs was closed off, the lower rooms were taller than they were wide, and were set up like a museum so that you saw pieces of art displayed. There were some nice architectural elements and some nice sculpture based on traditional Greek themes, but that was it. It was built by the Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria (wikipedia her for more info), wife of Franz Joseph, the 'Emperor of Sorrows', as her home away from hubby. Elisabeth liked to travel, and she liked to be thin and pretty, and she liked her Greek-themed art), and that was it. The garden was pretty, the overlook terrace view would have been stunning on a clear day. The statues and art were good. The Palace was also owned by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, a relative of Elisabeth.
What was more interesting than the palace, was the apparent love and respect of Elisabeth by the people of Corfu and the tour guide in particular. They adored her! She knew Greek and Greek myths "better than any of the bavarian greek queens" (but really, how many of them were there?!?) After the Palace, we went past a staircase (the Kaiser's Bridge) that went from the palace above to an elaborate stone dock on the coast. It was somewhat in ruins from the world war bombings, but gave a better feel for how wealthy and elaborate the palace was. We continued to a second palace-turned-into-museum, even less memorable than the first. And I was right there with my daughter, saying"When is this tour going to be over?" Which is unfair. After all, the weather was looking better, the lizards were out, and I even caught one. It was absolutely lovely, with teal beads by his head and a bright orange underside. We saw some ancient roman ruins (but had no time to explore them), and drove by two castles on the way back to the ship. We also saw Mouse Island and the tiny monastery nearby. It was near the airport and we got to see a plane land very close up. But, I really wanted to explore the ancient castles, the old one being from the 1200s and the new one from the 1400s. Plus there was a pretty park connecting the two and a monument to world war soldiers nearby. However, it would have been a long walk back to the ship. By the time I considered more touring, there wasn't quite enough time or money to go to the castles. So I was left with the feeling of having picked the wrong tour, and seeing the wrong part of the city. It was very frustrating, but I was still trying to find my explorer's groove. That zone where you feel comfortable taking on the challenge of going off on your own and seeing what you want to see, and of seeing a city so thoroughly that you could be the tour guide for someone else. Barcelona was that city for me, but I need another crack at Corfu.