Corfu

Corfu is awesome. We are staying in the old town in Nick and Jodies apartment, which is super nice and right in the middle of the action! The weather has been a mix of mostly blue skies, but also 2 days of wet weather - which I'm told is why the island is so green - and it is! We hired a car for 2 days and went north and south across the island - there are huge views on the west coast. Here are some pics (in reverse order - not sure how that happened)...

The old town is situated between two Venetian forts, which resisted the Ottomans for the 400 years they had Corfu - Napoleon finally took Venice in 1797. The forts are still dominant. The pedestrianised old town is great with lots of outdoor eating and shops - you can sit right next to the water as well...

Oh dear....

From Cavalerie rooftop garden bar....

We took a walking tour up in the mountains which had fantastic views and very nice forest trails - as well as a visit to a very nice and characterful village with a restored old olive press.....

Typical scene in the old town - noice....

There are cats everywhere - it turns out Brexit let to an increase in the local stray cat population, because the charity that used to round them up and send them off to the UK can't do it as easily now, because it's outside the EU!...

Huge views down the west coast....

You can take boat trips out to caves and remote beaches in the north-west of the island (we didn't do it as the weather was a bit dodgy)....

One of the cafes right on the water in the old town (En Plo)....

I couldn't fit my boat into the harbour - just kidding - it is apparently the Emir of Qatar's boat, who visits regularly with his 9 wives. He bought a local hotel and built 9 identical villas for each of them...

Gate to the 'new' fort - with Venetian lion overhead....

We took a sunset cruise on this boat - great....

The arrival by plane is pretty speccy - there's water right outside the window until just before the wheels touch down!...

View of town at beginning of sunset cruise....

View from the 'old' fort....

Street scene adjacent to the Liston (fab colonnade building to the left) - we had lunch under the umbrellas on the right....

The 'old' fort. It has two 'hills' that had buildings on each - from afar it cast a clear silhouette and it is those 'two peaks' that give the name 'Corfu' - originally a Byzantine word....

The harbour...

Street scenes....