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Published: September 17th 2013
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We are fast asleep when I hear the dreaded alarm bells. The Captain announces that a fire has been detected and he will keep us informed. A few minutes later he tells us that there is smoke in the incinerator room and the crew is determining what has happened. Now it seems that a fan belt on an electric motor has broken and the motor has burned out and collapsed creating the smoke that was detected. Everything is now under control and we can return to enjoy our evening. Should have been hard to get back to sleep but it wasn't.
We awake at 6:00 am to thunder and lightening. We're approaching Corfu and the weather does not appear to be cooperating. We sail through a band of heavy rain and I thank HAL for providing an umbrella because I forgot to bring them along. Me BAD!
By the time breakfast is over the rain has stopped but the skies are grey and thunderheads fill the sky. We hop the shuttle to the port entrance and meet our tour guide Marie. We are a group of 20 and soon we are off to our first
stop the Paleokastritsa Monastery.
The road takes us by the water and we can see Albania on one side and the Greek mainland on the other. We climb up the winding, narrow roads and arrive just as another bus is leaving. The second part of our tour is in another bus of twenty and it is just behind us. The views from the monastery are stunning, overlooking the Ionian Sea. The church is small and filled with icons. Marie explains the sections of the church, where the worshipers sit, where the priest conducts the service and the sanctuary where we are not permitted to go.
On our tour is a family of four including two girls, one about three and the other around seven. I notice the oldest has found a nook and is saying her prayers. Very sweet. There are dozens of cats around, all small but all different colors and markings. Bob, you would be in heaven! We explore a bit and then head back to the bus for stop two, the Achilleion Palace.
This was built by Empress Elizabeth of Austria as a retreat from royal life. She
had an unhappy life because of differences with her mother-in-law. This woman assumed custody of her three remaining children when her oldest, Sophia, sickened and died. Her husband, the Emperor Franz Joseph sided with mommy and Elizabeth, angry and heartbroken, left court and wandered around the Med finally settling down on Corfu where she built the palace dedicated to Achilles who she admired greatly.
Her Palace was small by royal standards but seemed to me very livable, the rooms being light and airy. She was interested in art and literature, wrote a spoke six languages fluently and was an independent woman at a time when they were a rare breed indeed.
After Elizabeth's death the building was a vacation home of Kaiser Wilhelm, then army headquarters during the first and Second World War, a casino that rivaled Monte Carlo and finally the museum it is today. We visit the gardens and by now the sun is out. It has turned out to be a perfect day for touring if just a bit too humid.
It is now time to ride to Corfu town and walk the pedestrian streets to Saint Spyridon
Church, the Patron Saint of the island. We pass the town hall and luxury shops. At the church the men are asked to remove their hats. We are not permitted to take pictures or talk inside. It is an active place of worship. We notice the three sections and the giant silver chandeliers hang from the ceiling. We take a quick look around and exit the building into an area of shops leading down towards the Old Fort and into an area of cafe's and restaurants. One could not go hungry here. Had we more time I would have liked to stop and try an Ouzo here but we board our bus for the final time and head back to the port. Our tour was scheduled to last five hours and it did just that. We saw four important buildings, got a great sense of the countryside and enjoyed the vitality of Corfu town. All in all a great day.
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