Honeymoon Day 15 & 16: Corfu Part II and Back to Athens!

Andy and I woke up that morning and meandered down to the hotel dining area for breakfast. They had a gorgeous spread with fruit, pastries of all different kinds, cereals, eggs, and a variety of meats. The breakfast area was like a restaurant with beautifully laid out tables with table cloths, china tea cups and plates, and waiters walking around to take more specific orders than what the buffet had to offer. Andy and I filled up on breakfast – we had a big day that day!

Our first stop for the day was the Corfu Fortress, which I briefly mentioned in a previous blog. This Fortress had earned an incredible amount of fame on Corfu island, including, but not limited to, the many hands it changed throughout the years. The Fortress was originally Venetian, held by the Republic of Venice from its inception until 1797; followed by France from 1797 to 1799, and then again from 1807 to 1814; the Septinsular Republic from 1800 to 1815; the United Kingdom from 1815 to 1864, and finally Greece from 1864 to present. The Corfu Fortress saw a wide range of war, conflict, sieges, and trades due to its prime location between the European countries, Egypt, Syria, the Middle East, and Albania. 

It is most notable for surviving numerous major Ottoman sieges including those in 1537, 1571 and 1716. The first siege of note was in 1537 during the Third Ottoman-Venetian war. Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent dispatched about 20,000 – 30,000 troops to attack Corfu town in 1573. Venetian troops and the Venetian government were viewed as incapable of protecting the people of Corfu, even going as far as to place the weak members of the population (women, children, and the elderly) outside the Fortress to die or be captured. 

In August 1571, another siege hit the Fortress. The Ottomans pillaged and destroyed numerous villages on the island, but the Fortress stood firm. 

In 1716, the Ottomans made a plan to attack Corfu town again but Venice was a few steps ahead of them this time. They defended the fort with much more tact and planning than previous, thanks to Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, appointed to be in charge of Fortress defense. Schulenburg successfully propelled the Ottomans who left Corfu island and departed back to Venice.

The other notable moment of Corfu Fortress’s history was the Nazi occupation in 1944. During the end of WWII, in June of 1944, the Nazis commanded that all Jewish individuals on the island of Corfu hold themselves at the Fort to wait for deportation the next morning by Nazi officials. Most Jewish people, out of fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, appeared at the fort as commanded, and were led to the prison inside the Fortress. They were imprisoned at the Fortress for days, and finally transported to Birkenau (for the most part). About 1,800 Jews from Corfu were deported from their home. Only 120 were able to return.

Today, the Fortress stands as a inspiring beacon to a very strong and courageous island with citizens who never quite gave up. Corfu is a perfect example of how big things do indeed come in small packages. Fortunately, tourists can see the beauty of the Fortress and take in the history. Currently in the Fortress is the Public Library of Corfu (located in the British Barracks), the Hellenic Music Research Lab, and numerous other historical sites.

Andy and I wandered around the main area, exploring the art and sculpture in the gift shop, and checked out the old artillery that had been set up for tourists to check out.

We also looked at the jail area. Heartbreaking, but full of history. Even Don had a couple moments of silence.

At the side of the Fortress was St. George’s Church, which had been originally established in 1840 as a British church, and later converted into a Greek Orthodox church in 1865.

We meandered all the way to the top of the Fortress where we could see beautiful views of Corfu.

It was so gorgeous and amazing. We stayed up at the top for awhile, taking pictures and relaxing in the sun. We made our way down and did some exploring and shopping in downtown Corfu.

We finished our fantastic meal and made our way back to our hotel….just in time. We had heard from the waiter and some other vendors we talked to during our shopping that afternoon that a storm was about to hit. Andy and my idea of a “storm,” was a relatively mild one. We envisioned rain, wind, and maybe some thunder. But oh no, Corfu meant A STORM. 

When we went to bed it was raining pretty hard, but nothing too crazy. I have always loved the rain, ever since I was a kid, so I asked Andy to leave the shutters open so I could listen to it. “Tiny Wife, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I got annoyed with him that he wouldn’t leave at least one open for me, but as usual, he ended up being right. We were awoken about midnight to the most insane, out of control, violent, terrifying storm either of us had ever witnessed. We were originally woken up to it because the wind had unlatched one of the shutters, and it was slamming against the side of the hotel. We both got up to try to shut it and the wind was so intense it took both of our strength to close it. We got a chance to peer outside; the trees bent almost in half against the wind, huge waves struck the sides of the fort (a couple of boats looked about to overturn), leaves and garbage filled the street having been yanked violently from storm drains and garbage cans, tents were thrown across parking lots and down the streets. I looked at my weather app on my phone and saw this:

We woke up that morning to a town that looked like a tornado hit it. I suppose, in a way, it did. It didn’t seem to phase anyone. We noticed that the hotel had storm doors on the front which we didn’t originally notice. It was quite an experience. Corfu was okay though, and so were we. 

We did everything in reverse at that point. We said goodbye to Corfu, which was hard (like saying goodbye every place in Greece). We hopped on the ferry and made it back to our rental car. We had a long drive ahead of us back to Athens. We were going to stay at the Hotel Grand Bretagne one more night were headed home the next day.

The drive back was loooooooooong and filled with rain and plenty of tolls.

We made it back to Athens. My heart simultaneously jumped for joy because we were back in Athens, but also felt heavy and sad because we had to leave the next day. We had contemplated earlier exploring some of the areas of Athens we had missed at the beginning of the Honeymoon, but we were so exhausted from the car trip that we decided to stay around the hotel. We discovered that sometimes just relaxing can lead to adventures in and of itself, including the phenomenal spa at the bottom of the Hotel Grand Bretagne which we had completely disregarded/not noticed during our first couple nights there. 

Basically, this spa makes you want to die. In a good way. Check out this video. It will make you cry. Included in the spa was my favorite, the Amethyst Grotto, which included a hot steam room type setting with a bluish/black gorgeous stone area. It smelled of aromas I can’t describe with incredibly relaxing and healing effects. It felt magnificent. I couldn’t take pictures, as that would probably violate people’s privacy, but you can see wonderful pictures of the spa in the link above or at 00:48 in the video above. The spa also boasted a Steam Bath, Foot Spa Reflexology, a Sauna with nature sounds, and a Laconium room (don’t ask…it was magnificent, that’s all you need to know). I have to admit if someone said to me “Hey would you rather spend the day seeing the Acropolis or spending the day in the Grand Bretagne spa?” I’d pause. Just kidding. But not really. I’d pause.  

After the spa, I probably could have died, but I decided it was wiser to live. But, I probably would have died happy if I did die. Andy wanted to check out Alexander’s Cigar Lounge, which was also something we had disregarded/not noticed during our first couple nights there. He sent me to “reconnoiter,” per usual. I took the elevator down to the very bottom floor and wandered into the smoking area. It was actually a small room with a bar connected to an outside atrium looking area. The atrium had within it a large glass room. This was the smoking room. It was elegant and posh, the outside dotted with plants, stones, and fountains, the inside full of smoking lounges and chairs, fireplaces, and a large piano. The smoking room required formal attire and hotel access. 

I went back up to the hotel room and surprised Andy with the cigar. He was so excited! We wandered down the street real quick to grab some dinner, and then made it back to the smoking room. I ironed out Andy’s suit, and we went to play James Bond.