March 22

Corfu, Greece

Kim and I both said after our excursion today that THIS may have been the BEST excursion of the trip!  Not because of the historical things we saw, or the stories we heard.  But because it was a most amazing experience in a spectacular setting.  We left the ship for what was billed as a "Cooking Experience."  There were only a dozen of us and we boarded a small mini-bus where we drove into the old town of Corfu and our guide, Mahi pointed out the sites of this beautiful coastal town.  Then she dropped us off at a museum of sorts where we were given about a forty minute tour of a typical home of the time period.  The guide was a local college girl and as she told the story of the family she showed us all authentic period pieces of furniture.  We re-joined our guide and headed for the main focus of the tour.

And that main focus was the Villa of Roses - a privately owned home/villa where our host was Maria who was going to prepare us lunch, and we would help with the preparation.  Then we would enjoy the lunch on her garden terrace.  The home was high on top of the hill/mountain outside of town and the panoramic view was breath taking.  Maria and many of the guests, including Kim, helped prepare a dip called Tzatziki.  I never would have thought I would have liked it, but I did!  Then we had a freshly prepared Greek salad.  Again, if Kim had asked if I wanted a Greek salad, I would have asked what was in it.  Then I would have politely declined.  But I really liked it.  Next up was a Greek Moussaka - the main course.  And the meal was topped off with the desert of Greek Baklava.  All exceptionally well prepared and delicious.  We had Ouzo liquor prior to the meal and delicious wine during.  The meal was delivered to us by Maria's nephew who Kim played soccer with prior to our leaving.  The entire afternoon was just delightful.  Like many of the days so far on our trip, the photos hardly due what we actually saw justice.