We were promised sun in Luxembourg yesterday, but we got something more like early winter. So my thoughts turned to our cruise to the Greek Islands this spring.
Corfu was the first actual Greek island on the itinerary. It was also one of the largest, and one of the least Greek! It lies very close to the coasts of Albania and Greece, but its history lies closer to Venice and Dubrovnik.
You’ll learn that, and more, from the photoset on Flickr devoted to our day in Corfu. If you’d rather just look at the pretty pictures, we recommend the slideshow. And, of course, there’s always the set of leftover photos.
What? You want a preview before you commit?
Fine…
The ship arrived in sight of the island’s Old Town and two massive Venetian fortresses
Corfu was the most “real” of all the islands we visited on the cruise — it was not given over to tourism and clearly had a life of its own.
It was Sunday, so many of the tourist attractions were closed. But that allowed us to find beautiful things off the beaten track.
And the lovely, strange things that makes traveling marvelous. This studio made some interesting choices in its storefront. (Click on the photo to embiggen.)
Our Sunday visit also showed us the community’s religious celebrations. Many of the churches were decorated for some event.
We spent a lot of time at the Old Fortress, for its high viewpoint and its own lovely decay.
Click on the panorama to see it at full size.
The best spot of our visit combined the local community with a tourist attraction: the Liston. We watched families and couples stroll up and down the arcades, greeting one another and playing with the children.
The island is large, and we stayed within its major city. Albania is a short ferry away. There are more glamorous destinations in Greece, but this place offers so much, so close.
The photosets weren’t enough Corfu for you? You might like an overview of Corfiot history with an emphasis on military campaigns. John’s Corfu World will show you some photos of Corfu from long ago. Or you might enjoy some video:
- A Greek version of Beach Blanket Bingo devoted to Corfu, from 1972.
- In a more recent video, you can follow two lifeguards with a waterproof camera around the Old Fortress, but beware the Blair-Witch camera work.
- The comprehensive documentary, KERKYRA 2008 – The film by Mihaly Szabo is shot in HD and 25 minutes long.
- Szilvia Liptak directed the inevitable sequel, Kerkyra Movie 2009. The discontinuity of narrative with its predecessor is stylistically of-a-piece with Liptak’s camerawork, which is edgier than Szabo’s.
- One of the famous musical parades down the Liston.
2 Comments to “Cruise Photos: Corfu / Kerkyra”
19 October 2010
Very cool! Looks like a great place to visit. The trip seemed wonderful!
22 October 2010
Corfu looks cool. Yet, I’m thinking that Luxembourg in November… say, November 7th to 10th… will be better. So, y’all gonna be around the second week of November? I’m giving a talk (sort of) and sitting on a panel (of sorts) on the 8th and 9th. I’d love to have a beer and catch up. Drop me an e-line.
Ken