Viking Oceans Greece 2024: May 3: Corfu

Corfu & Return To The Villa of the Roses!

Welcome To Corfu

Six years ago when on the "Mediterranean Odyssey" itinerary with Viking Oceans we had a single stop in Greece.....here in Corfu. And the excursion we opted for that day turned out to be one of THE most memorable of all excursions we've ever done - we took about an hour long tour of the quaint town of Corfu then were transported to a private villa, high atop the hill overlooking the water where our hostess made us a home-made Greek lunch. So when this itinerary had a stop here we knew we had to do this again! So, like last time we began with a walk through the city - ironically with the SAME GUIDE we'd had six years ago, Mahi. But this tour took us on a new route and the focus was different. Today is Easter Friday in the Greek Orthodox Church and so there was to be a lot of celebrating and over 50,000 tourists in town this afternoon.

Good morning Corfu - our view as we sailed into the port

The view off the balcony as we prepared four our excursion
The old fort guarding the harbor
Old Corfu: City streets (top right & left); old market & museum tour

The "red jars" - EVERYONE has one of these....fills it with water and then on Saturday morning at 11am EVERYONE throws them out the window onto the street.

Coffee house (L) built by Napoleon 200 years ago / The oldest church

Selfie overlooking Corfu Bay

After walking the town we boarded the bus to head up to the Villa of the Roses. Here we were greeted by our hostess and cook for this afternoon. It was as gorgeous and panoramic as I'd remembered from six years ago. We had a small toast with Ozo liquor, walked briefly around the grounds to take photos, then settled into our tables overlooking the pool for our cooking lesson and lunch. It was all so delicious and the weather was perfect, if not a bit chilly - which we were very happy with. Later in the evening we had reservations at the "Chef's Table." We've done this on each of our prior two Viking Oceans trips and we've always found these "dining experiences" interesting. In our opinion, if you're looking for GREAT food, or a filling meal.....this isn't for you. But if you're looking for a unique dining experience, it's well worth the try. There are five separate courses all paired with a separate wine. Very interesting, but as an example....tonight the first course, an appetizer to be fair, was listed as a "Sweet Potato Chip." It was.....literally, A CHIP. LOL. All the courses to follow were "uniquely interesting" like this - but like I said, it's worth the experience and does make for good stories :)