• GoJenCalCarrTravelerEuropean Summer
    We took a walk the first evening we arrived and were treated to some pretty views of the city.
    Our 1st nights dinner at a Taverna near our hotel. Appetizer of eggplant & cheese, mussels in wine.The city is a melting pot of cultures/ethnicities.Roman Catholic Church, originally built in the 15th century.Next week is their equivalent of 4th of July so flags are starting to be put up in public areas.All around the city you see plants in bloom...I especially love the jacaranda trees.We decided to try the Greek tradition of a glass of Ouzo as a pre-dinner drink (digestivo).View of the Ionian Sea from the top of the Old Fort.View of Corfu Town from the Old Fort.Old palace that is now several museums.Our guide standing on the Durrells Villa gate trying to get the gardener's attention.Front door to Durrell's house (in tv show). Their actual house was smaller and down the road.Durrell house from the TV show.The kitchen of Durrell house which has only one area that looks like what we saw in the tv show.Living room ofvtge Durrelll house, brighter/lighter now but still looks the same.A recreation of market square as seen in the show. It looks authentic but is new & used for events.Sven's house in the tv show. Needs a little TLC.This is in a park named for the Durrells, honoring them & what they did for Corfu. Bringing tourism.

    Corfu Town and a visit to the Durrells

    May 15, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We’ve enjoyed the last few days exploring Corfu Town (largest/main city on Corfu island). It’s a beautiful town that reminds us a little of Italy. The old town is filled with little narrow streets and a nice mixture of locals and tourists. Buildings must meet a special criteria for color (limited pallet to choose from) and historic features (eg shutters that must be green). So it is very quaint and beautiful to see as you walk the cobblestone streets.
    One of the things that inspired this trip was the tv show The Durrells of Corfu which came out in 2015. We loved what we saw of the scenery and the way of life. So when we started planning our first trip to Greece, Corfu was at the top of our list of places to visit. Because of the show we decided to do a Durrells tour which would take us to places on the island that were where the Durrell family actually lived or where the tv show was filmed. We were lucky to have a guide that had worked on the set of the TV show (as a costume designer) and knew the locations well and many behind the scenes stories, Our guide had hutzpah and was able to get a Gardner at the main Durrell filming location to let us into the grounds. Then the owner of the house (villa) came out, remembered our guide and invited us into the house for a tour! It was amazing to see inside the house, much of which has been changed as it is now a high end vacation rental (20k will get you a week for 10 people). The only thing that looked familiar was the kitchen. The owner was super friendly and happy to show us around and tell a few stories (her family had owned the house for 6 generations and she worked with the producers on setting the show at the house). We also saw other key locations from the tv show- Sven’s house, the market square, the cafe where many scenes occurred. It was a fun experience.    Read more