Corfused

"I think I've had enough narrow winding roads for this trip."

Looking down another sheer cliff face with no safety rail, and three feet of dirt between the wheels of the bus and the edge, I had to agree with Emma. 

I have no idea how the road into the mountains on the north of Corfu could conceivably be two-way roads. Especially when we entered the town near the summit with perhaps two inches clearance on either side of the bus. At least for that part of the trip we didn't have a thousand foot drop on one side.

Corfu is a Greek Island lying just offshore the Greek-Albanian border. Knowing very little about Corfu we'd chosen the "Best of Corfu" tour, which started by taking us up into the mountains, stopping for photo-ops, coffee and baklava at a cafe near the top.  

We came down the other side on a nice, wide, gently-sloping two-lane road. I guess they only like playing "scare the tourists" once per tour.

After this we visited the Monastery of the Virgin Mary. It was built on the site of a miracle that happened in the 13th century. Some guy had a dream in which an angel told him he'd find an icon of the Virgin Mary buried on the mountain, and he should build a church there. Sure enough, when he dug in the location he dreamed he found it.

Finding an icon buried on a mountain - especially in an Orthodox country, where icons are as common as olive trees, is a bit "yeah, whatever" low-grade miracle. Telling people that this thing you just dug up was proof of angelic visitation, and that they should build you a church on the spot, and these people believing you - that's a miracle.

It's a nice enough monastery, with a dim, dark chapel, and an icon that has the miraculour power of collecting people's jewellery.*

The place was thick with cats. Based on my observations the cat:monk ratio was around 20:1. For the most part they looked healthy, although one poor moggie up a tree looked as if he had lost a fight with another cat, with a very nasty abscess on his face. 

Lunch was at a hotel further down the mountain, and reasonable fare given they were catering for four or five bus tours. I was unsurprised to see many tourists skip the Greek food for familar fare like hamburgers and chips. I admit, having buffet moussaka isn't the epitome of cultural authenticity, but I do wonder why some people travel when they do everything they can to avoid the local culture.

Next stop was the Achilleon Palace. This was built for Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1890.**

Elizabeth adored Greek culture and mythology, and the palace is classical themes in the various rooms and in the gardens. In later years the Palace was used as a casino, and was firmly cemented on the cultural map after appearing in the James Bond film "For Your Eyes Only".

Today it's a musuem, and remarkably well-preserved, if somewhat overblown design-wise and overstuffed with tourists.

Finally we made it to the City of Corfu. This was the best part of the trip, and in hindsight we could have spent the entire day here. A charming city, birthplace of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (AKA Phil the Greek, husband of Queen Elizabeth II), who loves the place so much he's never been back.

Overall a pleasant day, and we're glad we've been here, but I can't say there's much to put it on my "must come back" list. It has its points of historical interest and physical beauty, but it's hard to go anywhere in Europe and not run into that.

For something truly unique, tomorrow is a much better prospect...

* When the locals want a favour from God they leave an offering on one of the icons, usually in the form of jewellery. Kind of a divine-intervention trading house. Apparently God is particularly fond of rings and watches.

** Interesting in that Corfu wasn't part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It's not quite clear why they missed out, givenn that at various stages of its history Corfu has belonged to or been a protectorate of Greece, Rome, Venice, England, France, and back to Greece. St. Spyridon***, the patron saint and protector of the island, did a pretty crap job of it. Although he did seem to keep Corfu out of the hands of the Turks. Guess he doesn't like Turks.  

*** Even today half the boys on the island are named "Spyridon". School role-calls must be fun: "Spyridon?" "Present." "Spyridon?" "Present." "Spyridon?" "Absent, Miss."