Visiting Corfu, Xanadu of the West with Sea, Beaches, Mountains, and Local Delicacies

Visiting Corfu, Xanadu of the West with Sea, Beaches, Mountains, and Local Delicacies

Tracy Wang, Senior Editor | Sep 25, 2016 5:01 pm | Add a comment | 3391 reads

When you spot “A” for August in your calendar, your office is empty, and everyone is posting holiday pictures, one thing becomes clear: it is the season to get out. This year, the summer itch beckoned stronger than most, so I put aside my usual Southeast Asian antics, and headed to Corfu in Greece with the coolest family, a 13-hour flight west plus an hour from Athens.

Corfu (Κέρκυρα or Kérkyra) is the second largest of Greece’s Ionian Islands and is located in the northwestern region of the country. In 2007, the Old Town of Corfu was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as recognition of the Venetian fortresses, Greek temples, Byzantine churches, and whitewashed houses that still remain. On foot, you can easily explore the Old Town as well as take in the several museums, such as The Museum of Asian Art, The Archaeological Museum, and Byzantine Museum, which are conveniently crowded into the center. Sitting dead center is the Spianada, Corfu’s largest square, and surrounded by some of the city’s finest 19th century French architecture.

Kassiopi
This charming small town has more character than nearby Acharavi, thanks to its location at the foot of Mount Pantokrator and neighboring hills covered with olive groves, vines, and citrus plants, as well as a scenic harbor, and numerous small shops.

Tavernaki, a popular local restaurant, provides the perfect setting for dinner, serving delicious beef pastitsada, a traditional Corfiot beef casserole with tomato sauce on pasta. The aubergine stuffed with cheese and tomato sauce (see atop), sprinkled with chopped parsley, was also good, and went down easily alongside a refreshing Limoncello smoothie.

Leaving, I was lucky enough to encounter a local festival, with people singing on boats, dancers performing delicate footwork, and finished off with dramatic firework display. Tavernaki, Kassiopi, +30 26630 81529.

Old Perithia
As the oldest village in Corfu, and built around 700 BC at which point it was only composed of 130 houses, Old Perithia is a Heritage Protected Village. Also located on the foothills of Mount Pantokrator at an altitude of 650m, Perithia means “surrounded by God” in Greek and with its stunning scenery it’s easy to see why. With eight picturesque churches – each belonging to different families – cobbled streets, and only a few elderly villagers that live here year-round, Perithia provides the epitome of somnambulistic village life.

We highly recommend eating at The Old Perithia Taverna, a traditional family tavern opened in 1863. We loved the authentic rabbit stifado with red sauce and fresh baby onions, seasoned with white pepper and garlic, a hint of sourness balancing the richness of the rabbit. The mousaka (above) here was the most authentic during my whole trip, a traditional Corfiot specialty, with fresh minced meat, potatoes, and béchamel sauce. Layers of flavors come with each mouthful: the heavy dairy flavor from the béchamel, the soft eggplant, and the salted sliced potato at the bottom all beckoning you to stay in this mountain village forever. Tigania, a fried lamb liver with olive oil and squeezed lemon juice, is also a must-try.

Grandma’s walnut cake is impeccable, it is nothing like the thick and solid ones we see in America or Germany or China…well, it’s just unique with soft texture, covered with a thick layer of syrup and finishing with a kick of cinnamon (love you Grandma!). The lemon cake was also surprisingly good. You can see the grandma with silver hair walked around in the outdoor seating area, picking up several leaves from some plants and back to the kitchen. It was a pity and they don’t have home-made ginger beer during our two visits. Well, we have an excuse to come back, don’t we? On the village square, +30 26630 98055.

Head to the beach
With sandy white beaches covering 217 kilometers of coast, the best way to explore this island is to rent a car. Paleokastritsa Beach is one of the best, including a cave and rocks you can climb and dive off. There are several companies that offer boat rental and can guide you to the best snorkeling sites. Dive Easy, Acharavi 49081, +30 2663 029350, divecorfu.com.

Hiking and biking
At over 1,000 meters high, Mount Pantokrator is Corfu’s highest mountain. We attempted to follow the Corfu Trail, which was established in 2001, but apparently has since been abandoned, as the entrance of the trail was locked, and we ended up struggling through the brambles from Acharavi to Perithia for six hours instead. If you don’t fancy cuts and scratches, hiking this invisible trail may not be ideal. An alternative would be to mountain bike on the northern coast. Starting from Acharavi, the tour takes you up into the mountains, with clear signage all the way and a wide range of geographic terrain. It’s not the easiest of rides but well worth it for the resulting view.

Drink like a local
Greek house wines are not bad and are reasonably priced at under EUR 10 per bottle. A favorite drink here is Retsina: local white wine mixed with Sprite. As for liquor, Limencello is ubiquitous, and if you’re into beer there are a few options: Mythos Greek lager (5 percent ABV) is the most refreshing, the Corfu red ale is average, while Fix dark lager (5.2 percent ABV) is a little more flavorful, with caramel and apple aromas.

The last piece of wisdom that I can imbue is this: Don’t get overjoyed and fall down on slippery rocks near the sea, as I did. This lesson was learned the hard way, and with tears and bruises I said goodbye to Corfu, my lovely black and blue souvenir still here as I type this.

This article first appeared in our magazine. To read the entire September/October issue online, please click here.