Seven years ago, Peggy and I made a trip to Europe and cruised the Mediterranean along with her brother John, his wife Frances, and two of their friends Lee and Kathi. Now that our wings are clipped due to coronavirus, I decided a little armchair travel might help satisfy my thwarted desire to travel. Instead of ‘wandering through time and place,’ I am wandering in place. You are invited along…
“The sea is high again today, with a thrilling flush of wind. In the midst of winter you can feel the inventions of spring.” Lawrence Durrell
I was visiting the Pioneer Bookstore in Placerville when I was first introduced to Lawrence Durrell and the Greek Island of Corfu. The bookstore was a favorite hangout of mine during my senior year in high school in 1960 and George Yohalem, the owner, had become a mentor, helping guide my 17-year-old mind to a number of good books. He and his wife Betty had retired to the foothills of California after long careers in Hollywood where George had worked as a screenwriter and she as an actress.
I had picked up a new book that had just arrived and read the first couple of pages. Since it looked interesting, I carried it over to George for advice. “It’s quite good,” he had told me, “but don’t tell your mother that I recommended it.” That caught my attention.
The book was “Justine” by Lawrence Durrell. The quote above is the first line in the book and Durrell is describing Corfu. He had lived there from 1935-40 and fallen in love with the island. “Justine” became one of my first ventures into serious literature and definitely my first venture into erotic literature— thus George’s admonition. The book transfixed me, not so much by the sex (well, maybe a little), but by the sheer mastery of the language and the sense of the exotic. I was picked up and dropped into Corfu and then Alexandria… the main setting for “Justine” and the other three books in the Alexandria Quartet. It was magic.
Durrell wasn’t the only author to find Corfu a touch exotic. Homer had the ship wrecked Odysseus land on the island during his long journey and Shakespeare used it for the setting of Prospero’s magical realm in The Tempest. In Corfu’s long history Corinthians, Romans, Venetians, French and English had occupied the island as a gateway to both the East and West. At one point, the feared pirate Barbarossa laid siege to Corfu and succeeded in enslaving a substantial portion of its population.
Corfu’s location in the Ionian Sea sets it apart from its Greek cousins Santorini and Mykonos in the Aegean Sea. We found no more sparkling white washed buildings perched on treeless terrain. Corfu is an island covered with over a million olive trees and its buildings are multi-hued with a well-lived-in look. Two massive forts serve as bookends for its main town, also known as Corfu. We wandered through its winding narrow streets, visited an Asian museum housed in a colonial British mansion, checked out a Greek Orthodox Church, and climbed the steep hill to the top of the Old Fortress overlooking the town.
There are some things that I am almost guaranteed to photograph when I travel…
FRIDAY’S POST: We made it up to Crater Lake National Park last week, practicing social distancing the whole way. Snow added to its natural beauty.
I have to confess it — my favorite photo’s the one of the kitty, although that lamp post is worthy of an honorable mention!
Laughing, Linda. Of course you would like the kitty. As for the lamp, quirky doesn’t get much better. Did you notice his face up toward the top of the post? –Curt
Actually — no. I was rather caught by all that ambiguous busyness at the bottom!
Ha.
Love this old fortress, and we would have loved Corfu if we had gotten there on our trip to Greece. Alas, we didn’t. So, it’s even more important to have armchair experiences. Thanks for this one!
It was a beauty, Rusha. It’s fun to re-celebrate some of the places we have been as we journey through this self-isolation. More armchair travel will be coming. –Curt
A fine place to holiday. The pussy cat couldn’t look more contented 😀
One of my all time favorite animal photos, AC. And I look forward to getting back to that part of the world. –Curt
Thanks Curt. It is a great time to look back at old photos and contemplate how fortunate we have been and still are.
Yes on both counts, Ray. There are few things that I cherish more than the places I have seen and the adventures I have had— except the ones I am still looking forward to! (And Peggy, of course. :)) –Curt
gorgeous photographs!
Thank you!
Kerkyra, s’agapo. Yes, I got to love this island and its people. Its diversity in
landscape – from golden beeches to steep Olive tree hills.
I don’t know how many times I have gone back there and it would be to long
to talk about.
I am so glad you got to visit and see some of its beauty.
You do get around, that is so inspiring.
miriam
Ah… “Corfu, I love you.” I looked it up. 🙂 I suspect your talking about it would be like your poetry, Miriam. I’m all ears. I confess to being envious. –Curt
I would also enjoy that fortress. I’m glad you said the pigeon was in an abandoned building – I hated he thought someone would be living there!
Thanks for this lovely visit to Corfu, a place I’ve never been to. Can’t believe I’ve never been to Greece! One day . . . . .
Alison
One of my favourite Greek Islands and one of my favourite authors. Thanks for the memory nudge.
You are very welcome, Andrew. I’m pretty sure I could go there and easily spend a month or longer. –Curt
Oh my, I haven’t been to Corfu, but I read the Alexandria Quarter when I lived in Egypt.
That works! 🙂 I’ve forever wanted to visit Alexandria since.
Thanks for this, Curt. I was not yet blogging, hence not documenting, when we all visited Corfu and my photos are an undocumented electronic pile.
You are welcome, John. It was a great trip. I’ll post several more blogs from our adventure depending on how long we are locked up. 🙂 And I know all about the black hole of digital photographs! –Curt
I went to Corfu back in the early 80’s. A lifetime ago!
A lifetime indeed, Arati! My first trip to Greece, which only included Athens, was a similar historic event. 🙂
These days, I only ever hear about Corfu being a place to party. Thanks for sharing its authentic side!
We missed the party scene. But then we usually do. 🙂
Like the Corinthians, Romans, Venetians, French and English, I too occupied Corfu – for a couple days in 1980. Memories from that long ago are vague, but I remember getting around via moped, enjoying the views, and picking up a serious sunburn on the ferry heading back to Italy. What I know of Lawrence Durrell is more from the semi-fictional side, via the PBS series The Durrells in Corfu. I have heard good things about The Alexandria Quartet – another potential for the ever growing stack of unread books.
1980— a kid. 🙂 Good time for reading, Dave. I have lots of stacks. I haven’t seen the Durrell series but it sounds like something I would like. –Curt
There are several places that are so close to where I live I always pospone visiting…like Corfù. Thanks for sharing, I will definitly plan a visit
Thanks for stopping by Matteo. Torino is like a hop and a skip away from Corfu! –Curt
It is. I prosime I will think about closer destinations also from now on