As everybody (well two) are posting about things Ionian, I thought I'd join in with a wee flaneur around the port at Corfu and bits of the old town.
My impression was of a lovely old place that we will revisit one day and spend some time there. The flaneur was of boats, a Greek Tragedy and more boats!
Steam punk pirates.
The multi million pound yacht that we parked alongside- and we all took a photograph as if it was ours.
Scorched earth, everywhere!
It was raining at home.
In fact there was an amber warning for rain.
High Street in the sunshine.
Horses taking some rest in the shade while they can.
A mix of the very old, and the modern.
This horse was asleep despite the amount of horn blowing going on.
They did seem to peep an awful lot.
pirate boat setting sail.
maybe this is quicker, but not as pretty.
The waterways in these parts are very busy.
It seems to be a passion of photographers to take pictures down narrow alleys and wonder....
every corner had a hidden delight.
Reminded me of the Spanish Steps.
And the recent video of the lost motorist driving down them.
A cannon from 1684!
This is the statue of Kostas Georgakis that was commissioned by the Municipality of Corfu. It is a memorial by sculptor Dimitris Korres in honor of the young man who had self-immolated in the town Square in Genoa Italy, where he was a student.
That was on 19th September, 1970. He would have been 25 at the time.
What a landscape!
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Closer up.
The Titans of today. Probably 9000 people walked off these boats and went info Corfu old town, on that one day. 90% would have had a beer, and the rest would have had ice cream!
The German ship was full of very keen cyclists. We had a walk past and for a moment, we misread the name.
It was called Mein Schiff.... with an ff.
Not a T.
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Cruise shipping companies are definitely picking up some bad reputations in the press at the moment. Despite their PR over how environmentally friendly they are, they underplay the emissions they give out, the impact their visits have on the locales (as you say, nine thousand people dumped on a town for one day), and the pushback from the local inhabitants who are fed up with the daily invasion. Does the boost to the economy, selling 8000 pints and 1000 ice creams, justify the damage to the beauty and sanctity of these tourist traps?
ReplyDeleteYet huge numbers of tourists seek out the convenience of these tapas taster cruises, sampling a variety of locations for short periods while travelling on a luxury moving hotel.
I used to cruise. Now, I feel the new, most up-to-date ships are too large, too expensive and too crowded. They don't even satisfy everyone on board. The theatres are unable to accommodate everyone on board, and there is not enough space around the pools for everyone to sit. The queues at the buffets are long, the quality of the food lower. This all leads to tension which is not what a holiday is about.
I'd say, if you have to cruise, cruise small, cruise boutique; find a company that takes you to the places the big boys can't because the ports can accommodate their massive ships.
Yes, interesting times. All they do for the coral reef yet don't allow refilling of water bottles in 35 Degree heat, causing huge single use issues. Venice now refuses all boats larger than those needed for the refinery, all go to Trieste instead. Being mean, we got a suite and balcony at the price of an indoor cabin. Being misanthropic, we didn't mix with anybody else. But him indoors got three places off his bucket list! And he was a happy camper...sorry, sailor!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Johnny Depp can be coaxed into taking over the pirate ship, using it to commandeer one of the big boy boats, and holding all 5000 tourists + crew as "guests" until Greenpeace's demands are met. Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteOr Greta.. just Greta boarding like an Amazon queen. We were in Venice at the time of THE wedding but going in the opposite direction !
ReplyDelete