Fortress

The Green Bus (ironically, this one wasn’t green) stops at the bottom of the hotel driveway. We caught the one about 9:20 a.m., so it wasn’t an overly early start. It dropped us off in Corfu Town by about 10:15 a.m., and we started wandering the streets.

It was a beautifully sunny day, and the view out to sea was amazing. The narrow streets of the old town provided plenty of shade. We were not methodical in our walk; we passed the same shops on the same streets several times.

At one point, we ended up in front of the old fortress. One of the sightseeing buses was due to leave, and in spite of an overpriced €22 each, we decided it would be a lovely way to see the area. So we hopped on board and did the complete circuit without hop-off.

The route took us from the old fortress to the new and to the port. A cruise ship was in, so it got busy. Then, out past the airport to Kanoni, where a number of the big hotels are situated. Plenty of people got off here for a look around, but we opted to stay onboard and return to the Old Fortress stop. We definitely got a nice tour, but the commentary was very basic and—for our needs—expensive.

After disembarking, we wandered the old town in search of local foods that we could bring back, and then we went hunting for a traditional restaurant we’d identified online. By coincidence, it was just around the corner from the last tourist shop we visited.

Lampadina boasts a traditional menu, which is what we’d come for. My tzatziki starter was homemade and garlicky, and PY’s saganaki was meltingly delicious. PY’s main, octopus pastitsada, was generous but perhaps a bit bland. My beef stifado was tender and juicy, but it surprised me to be served with fries. We both had a local ginger beer, a drink introduced to the island by the British, which seems to have become a staple. We were served a kumquat liqueur at the end of the meal: a strong-flavoured, sweet orange-coloured drink which we both thought was delicious.

Then to the old fortress, sited on a rocky peninsula on one edge of the town. As with all locations like this, there’s a complex history: it’s the site of the Byzantine city, which was fortified and then replaced by the Venetians, who seemed solid as they repelled three Ottoman sieges. Somewhere along the line, the British built some barracks. But, of course, the fact that it was the shooting location for a scene in the Bond film For Your Eyes Only is what I will remember.

The Old Town has been a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 2007. We wandered some and found a bank where I withdrew some cash. We had planned to stop for a coffee before heading to the bus terminal, but we got a little lost and decided against stopping. It was a good move, as the Green Bus terminal is a good walk out of town and not correctly located on Apple Maps. Nonetheless, we arrived half an hour early, so we had time for a drink while waiting.

The bus was manoeuvred into position just before 5 p.m., and we made our way back to the hotel.