Corfu

The Greek Island of Corfu is the second largest of the Ionian Islands.  The first settlers were from Corinth around 730BC but it appears to have previously had a stream of emigrants from Eritrea.  It appears that everyone has had a piece of Corfu throughout its long occupation but from about 1400 onwards, Corfu was controlled by Venice for many centuries which repulsed several Turkish sieges, before falling under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars.  Corfu was eventually ceded by the British Empire and unification with modern Greece was concluded in 1864.  It was occupied temporally by the Italians in 1941 and again by the Germans in 1943.  During German occupation they shipped the local Jews to Auschwitz where only 200 out of the 1900 escaped.  It was liberated on 14th October 1944 by the 40th Royal Marine Commando’s and they weren't even wearing underpants.  Until the early 20th century, it was mainly visited by the European royals and elites.  It was then visited by middle class tourists, mainly from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany.  More recently it has become the Greek lager lout Island.  As usual, I found this holiday on the internet at a bargain price that I couldn’t refuse.  Claire had been wanting to go to a Greek Island for some time as we had never been there together.  I had been when in previous relationships and Claire had had previous relationships there while she was a travel rep on mainland Greece in a previous life.

Corfu is about 40 miles long by 20 miles wide at its widest point.  The Island is divided into 3 parts by 2 well defined mountain ranges.  The northern part is very mountainous, the middle part undulating and the south is low-lying.  Corfu is located near the Kefalonia geological fault and so does experience earthquakes from time to time.  The highest point, Mount Pantokrator is 911 meters high.  It has a coastline of 217km that consists of 92 shingle and sand beaches.  It has a Mediterranean climate but is far greener than most of the other Greek Islands indicating that it has more rain than most.  There are over 2 million olive trees in Corfu.  The capital, Corfu town is just off the Albanian coast.  At its closest point its only about 2 miles away and the Albanians sometimes swim across to steal boats.  In my experience there are lots of illegal Albanian workers hidden away in the kitchens and the like.  Corfu Town still has lots of 16th century architecture from its Venetian rule around the city although some were destroyed by the Germans in WWII.

We are staying in the Mareblue Beach Resort in the north east of the island.  It is supposed to be a 4 star all inclusive holiday, which including flights at £199 each.  There followed the extra’s such as, transfers, luggage and booking charge.  They also even have a payment charge these days, where not only do you pay extra to cover credit card charges but you also pay extra however you chose to pay.  These cannot be avoided which is a con.  Trouble is, if that loophole is closed, another one will open.  Anyway, on the north east side of the island is another, smaller island called Lazaretto Island with an area of only around 17.5 acres.  A monastery was built on this island and they used to ship the lepers there.

Corfu is twinned with the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia.  Prince Philip was born in Corfu as Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark.  Phil Krause had his first honeymoon in Corfu.  Looking forward to my All Inclusive Moussaka and chips and my second honeymoon!