Day 12 - 16 July Corfu

 Okay, out first thing this morning to see a bit of Corfu - or Kerkyra, which is the Greek name. Apparently the Italians call it Corfu, and they used to make most of the maps.

Anyway, we filed out of the ship and on to the waiting bus, and were driven through the hills to the town of Palaiokastritsa on the western side. Thisis a little holiday village on a pretty cove, with Greek houses scattered all over the hillside. In fact it seems part of a series of coves, beaches and towns all along that coast - there were pleasure boats everywhere and hotels with stairs down the cliffs to the water.

We were herded onto a number of small boats and the skippers took us a couple of coves south, stopping to admire small sea caves and pretty hotels. It only took a half hour or so, but there was a nice breeze and it was very pleasant.

Then we wandered back to the bus and were driven back to the old centre of Corfu township. This was very similar to the other old towns we have seen - old buildings three or four stories high split by narrow, shadowed lanes with scattered squares and churches. But I like them all. We were led around a few blocks then left to fend for ourselves, whereupon we walked past the shops, frequent cafes and squares. We did stop at one shop and bought some bottles of the local cumquat liqueur.

We would have liked to sit at an outdoor cafe for a while, but once again the heat was punishing and so we took the bus back to the ship to recover.

Whern we got there, tidied alongside the three cruise ships (us, a British P&O and a German Aida) was a superyacht which looked not that much smaller; the A+ is the 9th largest in the world and owned by the vice president of the UAE. We got underway and headed north, between Corfu and Albania. The hillsides were dotted with villas and there were yachts, suepryachts and ferries everywhere.