Fine & Sunny (as usual) 16-27 C
Today is our last port in Greece as we head to Dubrovnik, Croatia tomoorrow.
We had a light breakfast around 7.30, then called in at one of the lounges for a decent coffee. All the bars on this ship serve coffee and without exception each cup has been perfect. The Italians sure know how to make good coffee!
As the ship was due to dock in Corfu at 12.30 (it actually docked at 11.45) we had a quick lunch & prepared for our excursion - Paleokastritza & Wine Tasting - leaving the ship at 1.15pm.
The coach left on time and a short time later we stopped at a local cunquat distillery where we tasted several different liquors all made from cumquats. See photo for the Greek spelling. They also produce many different types of preserves, dried cumquats & sweets.
Our next stop was Paleokastritzia, a resort on the west side of the island. What a beautiful spot it is. The water colours are amazing. We stopped there for about 1 hour and had free time. Mike & I found a table right on the water in a eous little cafe. We had a local beer & snack (eggplant & fetta croquette's) which were delicious.
The tour then followed an extremely narrow winding road to the top of a mountain, stopping in a precarious spot to take amazing photos of the views below. This road is so narrow the coaches can only go one way. In some spots going through villages there is only a clearance of cms on each side.
When we reached a village on top of the mountain we were taken to a taverna for wine tasting and a Messe platter of food. The wine consisted of a white & red and was not bad. The food was good though.
Next we began the 45 minute journey back to the ship, down the other side of the mountain. Once again it was slow due to the numerous hairpin bends and narrow roads. Very scenic though & I am sure the wine helped relieve the anxiety.
The olive trees grow wild all over the island and are 100's of years old. They leave black nets under them and let the olives fall from the trees naturally which occurs over 4-5 months during Winter. They do collect the olives every 2 weeks and press them though. The trees have huge trunks with lo'ts of holes in them.
We only arrived back at the ship just before 6pm & they were pulling in the gang planks as we came back onboard. We actually sailed at 6pm as scheduled. The good thing about taking a ships tour rather than organising it independently, is that the ship will wait if your tour is late. Not that I would mind being stuck on the beautiful island of Corfu :)
As tonight's dinner is formal dress, we decided to give it a miss as we didn't really have time to shower, dress & make it to the dining room by 6.30pm. After a few snacks today we are not really hungrry & if we feel like something later we shall head to the buffet.
Some photos of Corfu sail-away.
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