Our second port of call was Corfu, my first visit to Greece. Amy traveled to Greece with her parents as a young child, but she remembers none of it. Thus, it was effectively her first visit too and certainly her first visit since she took up classical studies in college. Our ship docked at the new port at the end of a long pier.
The port authority provided busses to shuttle us to the customs building and then we took a public bus into the heart of the old town. We were joined on the trip by Ariela from Los Angeles who was traveling with her daughter who remained on the ship. We spent a very pleasant morning wandering the narrow streets, looking in shops and trying our best to avoid the 90+ degree heat.
We stopped for a peek at the Palace of Sts. George and Michael, former residence of the British governors of the island.
We walked by the Old Citadel, but did not want to pay the entrance fee to go in.
We next wandered through the public gardens and then into the small streets which make up the older part of the city. Along the way we wandered into many small churches and even a synagogue. The current Jewish population of Corfu is only 60, a small remnant of a once thriving quarter which saw 2000 of its residents sent to be killed in Birkenau and Auschwitz during the Nazi occupation of WWII. Below is a picture of Amy and Ariela.
Along the way we managed to pick up a few bars of inexpensive olive oil soap and a tiny bottle of kumquat liquor. Amy also paused to drool over several brightly colored Vespas including this orange one. Note the complete color coordination, right down to the wheels and helmet.
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