Corfu, Greece

Our next port of call was Corfu, Greece, nicknamed 'The Emerald Isle', which lies between Italy and Albania in the Ionian Sea.

The Old Town of Corfu is a charming place between the Old and New Fortresses or Citadels - the New is seen at the top right hand corner of the above picture and was our first destination on our walking tour of the Town. This hilltop was first fortified in the 12th century(and this was the 'new' one!)

Getting to it meant a long climb up these rock stairs.

But the view from the top was definitely worthwhile.....

Even this pigeon thought so!! :-)

Our next destination was the  Old Fortress which once contained the entire town. We could see it from where we were on top of the New Fortress.

Along the way we got to explore the shops and cafe's, tiny squares, high arcaded houses, and richly decorated churches.

Along the way we walked by the Mon Repos Estate, the birthplace of the Queen Elizabeth II's husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The long walk was well worth it when we arrived at the Old Citadel.

But of course once there, the Lighthouse was the next challenge calling my name....it was a long hike up but we made it!!

When all was said and done, it was a wonderful memory of a very hot day spent exploring a beautiful old city on a spectacular Greek Island, and getting some shopping done along the way! It doesn't get much better than that....or so we thought as we sailed away that evening.