Corfu, Greece

Our time in port in Corfu, Greece was quite short and was made even shorter by an hour when our cruise changed its itinerary to presumably not put too much strain on a ship that needed some maintenance, so we decided to prioritize one activity.  The kids were given the choice between wandering around old town or going to the beach, and they all picked beach (unsurprisingly).  At the crowded cruise terminal we found two taxis to take us the beach.  The taxi drivers recommended Kontogialos as the best beach for us as a family.  It is on the western coast of Corfu (all the prettiest beaches are on the western coast by the Ionic Sea, whereas the cruise terminal is on the east coast of Corfu, close to Albania).  I believe Glyfada is the most famous beach, and is near Kontogialos (where we went), but the taxi driver said it is overcrowded with tourist buses and unpleasant because of that.  Kontogialos, on the other hand, is only accessible by car, so is less crowded, with beautiful water and sand.  The narrow, windy road down the cliff to get to the beach was not a road I would want to drive on and certainly wouldn't have supported large buses.

We spent a lovely few hours relaxing in the sand, swimming, exploring, and enjoying our rented chairs and umbrella.  About a 5-10 minute away along the beach in both directions were little rocky areas.  In one of the spots, Derek and I found lots of sea creatures.  We found two dead lobsters, occupied shells, star fish, and a few small fish.  Lydia found some creatures too.

In the opposite direction, Nate and the girls carefully hiked a small hill that had sharp rocks to get beautiful views.  

On the other side of the hill was a photogenic spot we took lots of pictures at.  I framed this one of me and Nate.

It was a beautiful beach.  We also enjoyed the taxi rides crossing Corfu island, 30+ minutes each way, with our taxi drivers explaining Corfu's history.  One of our drivers discussed Albania and how years ago when it was much more isolated, the leaders there would tell the Albanian citizens how good they had it by pointing to Corfu with its electric lights (that in reality were their porch lights, streetlights, etc.) across the Straits of Corfu and commenting, "See, the Greeks force their people to work day and night.  Look at all the workers slaving there at the factories that are lit all the time."

I was also impressed with how green the island was.  The other places we went to in Greece (Athens, Santorini, Mykonos) were all very yellow/brown and barren of vegetation in comparison with lush Corfu.