Luckily, the bad weather didn’t last, and the rain cleared out the humidity, so we had an enchanting view of Corfu as we sailed into port this morning. It’s called the “emerald isle” of Greece, and the green hills, with lights twinkling amid the trees, was a stark contrast to the dry, white desert of Santorini. Corfu is thought to be the island in Homer’s Odyssey where Ulysses was washed ashore, and it is also the setting for Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” – easy to understand when approaching this lush island.

We booked an Azamara excursion to a monastery and palace as a guarantee against bad weather. (We really didn’t want to play charades and watch movies on the ship if we were stuck with another rainy day.) But as noted, the weather cooperated, and we were rewarded with fantastic views from high in the mountains of Paleokastritsa, where we visited the monastery.

Corfu Town, like Chania, is very Venetian-influenced. Given it’s place in the world today, it’s hard to imagine Venice as a major power, but they built a spectacular fortress and controlled the island for over 400 years. The Italian influence is notable in the resident’s accents, which even we could detect was different than the other Greek we’d been hearing, and also in the food – one of their specialties is a pasta with red sauce.

Hmmm, makes me look forward to Venice.