Corfu

Corfu island in Greece turned out to be absolutely amazing and relaxing. We awoke to the aroma of something deliciously smokey and found the hostel's open air rotisserie with chickens lined up, being barbequed for our (free) dinner. We decided to walk around the beach in the meantime to sink our toes in the velvety sand and dip our feet in the warm, salty waters of the Ionian Sea. We also climbed up some rocks for great views of the Western Corfu coast. Some interesting bit of history was the Greek myth that Poseidon apparently fell in love with a beautiful nymph, abducted her (as was custom in Greek mythology) and brought her to the island and, in marriage, allowed her to name the island Korkyra. Their child was named Phaiax and, thus, the residents of Corfu were called Phaiakes which translated in Latin to Phaecians. Though there is lots of history and old fortresses in Corfu, we didn't have many days to check out all the historical sights. I'd definitely love to come back though!

Our amazing BBQ chicken at our hostel

After this, we came back to the hostel to our delicious home-cooked meal. We found out that our hostel owners had been running the Sun Rock hostel for 25+ years, and had 4 children ranging in age from 11 months to 23 years. They also owned some land on Corfu and most of the food we ate came directly from their land...fresh chicken eggs, home-made feta cheese, vegetables and fruits from their plants, wine harvested from their grapes, olives and oil from their trees, etc. They really seemed to live the life. We also discovered that there were actually 12 or 13 kittens running around the hostel, so it was a joy to watch them play and to cuddle them. My favorite was the one named Princess. Scott was particularly keen on the skinny runt named Matt Damon. :)

Kitty Princess

Greek pancakes...they are an airy kind of fried dough, topped with cinnamon and honey. So yummy!

The view from our hostel terrace. The water is so clear you can wade out waist-deep and see your toes through the water, as well as little fish that live in the sea

Picking fresh figs off of the tree after a swim in the ocean. Yum!