Enjoying Corfu

---

This is what I would describe as a horizontal holiday with more than a fair proportion of time spent relaxing around the pool, reading, listening to our Ipods and swimming. However yesterday we managed a visit to Corfu Town which is dominated by the Old Fort and the New Fort. The Old Fort started life as a Byzantine settlement and then from the end of the 14th century the Venetians constructed a fort which was to remain in its hands for over 400 years before the Brits made the Island a British Protectorate from the beginning of the 19th century. The British addition to the fort included a large hospital and a church named after St. George. In true British fashion a cricket pitch was laid out and still remains although it now doubles as a car park.
The streets surrounding the Old Fort have a venetian character about them and are now full of shops and restaurants. The New Fort, not far away, is currently used as a military base by the Greek Army. There is so much to see on the Island but not enough time to do it in
Back in Agni where we are staying the 3 tavernas are crowded each night with boats bringing in the punters from far and wide. One of the taverna's claim to fame was that in 2008 it hosted Peter Mandleson, a Russian Oligarch and George Osborne and at the table it was rumoured that Peter made some disparaging remarks about Gordon (subsequently denied)
On Monday we are off to Paxos by passenger ferry and so the search will be on to find an internet connection.

---

Photos

Agios Stefanos
A small village just up the coast from Agni

St. George Church
Situated in the Old Fort. Badly damaged in WW2 and subsequently restored

View from top of the Old Fort
New Fort and port in the background and cricket pitch in the foreground