LIFE: Part 2

Current Location: Vonitsa, Greece
Current Position: 38 56.09 N 020 51.98 E Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 60 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

After spending a couple of days in Kerkyra, we headed down the east coast. Our first stop was in a nice village of Benitses. I read somewhere that was a Greek Fiesta happening  (to honour the mother of God, a local confirmed it for me..) on the next town of Gastouri, inland just up the hill, so we stopped there  to party with the locals. Also this town is home to the beautiful Achellion Palace. The sun was beating…last week was close to 40 degrees, so we decided to take a taxi and he dropped us off at the Palace.

The Palace was built in 1880 for Empress Elisabeth of Austria, more known as Sissy. This luxurious villa is built overlooking the coast of Corfu, with amazing views.

Sissy’s depression and anorexia, throughout most of her life, led her to losing her children to the care of her mother in law. Later she left the husband too, who she said never spent anytime with her. She took pleasure in traveling, mostly Madeira, Italy and Greece. She fell in love with Corfu.

She was also fascinated by the mythology of the ancient Greece. She named the Palace after her favourite hero, Achilles, and adorned the halls with all these statues of gods and heroes. The beautiful gardens also have statues everywhere.

Unfortunately she was assassinated in Geneva, in 1898. What a tragedy.

After her death the place empty, till someone bought it in 1907 . After world war2, it opened to public as a functioning museum.

We read that James Bond movie “For your eyes only ” was filmed here.

The Palace is very big and beautiful, and I wish they would show more to public. They had many rooms closed and they show mostly the halls and of course the gardens.  I really enjoyed the visit to this place and felt for her tragic life and death. She had also lost a child of the age of 2, and an adult son to suicide.(but she was already depressed before that!)

We walked the gardens for awhile and watched the beautiful sunset. We are now on the way to Gastouri…Fiesta time!!!

The lambs were roasting……

the whole lamb comes out in a table, we didn’t have the cam, Noel went to grab it, when he came back head had been chopped off and our portion had been served into a big wrap, Greek style (at least they chopped the head off)….

the lamb was very much enjoyed with french fries and a large Greek salad..what else???? ahhhh

a huge chunk of feta cheese!!!

It was a beautiful evening with a nice fresh breeze, much appreciated after such hot days, and the night goes on with a band playing beautiful Greek music, and everyone was having fun. I was surprised to see the Greeks were all holding hands a dancing in a big circle and not in pairs.

We also stopped to pay a visit in this popular spot, and very picturesque: Vlaherna Monastery, at the south end of Corfu. It is set on a small island connected only by a narrow wharf and it dates back to the 17th century.

You walk through the arch way and bellow the bell tower into a cute courtyard, just before you enter the church on your left.

The Church is much smaller than we expected, most space is taken by the gift shop!!!

Up above there are many shops and restaurants, and everyone busy taking photos and enjoying the amazing views

The island in the back has another Church dating back to the 13th century.

As of yesterday…. til tomorrow morning we stopped in this quiet bay just before the town of Vonitsa, in the Ambracian Gulf, one of the most important wetlands in Europe.

We are now updating blog…haha!

 

 

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