thegrandstrudel

[thegrandstrudel]

June 7, 2019 - Kefalonia, Greece

Um... yeah... something tells me we’ve found our happy place.

[thegrandstrudel]

June 5, 2019 - Port of Lefkada, Greece

[thegrandstrudel]

July 4, 2019 - Nydri, Lefkada, Greece

❤️ I’m smitten - Black Coconut Ash ice cream made from coconut milk and the charcoaled ash of young burnt coconut shells. Very low sugar. The ash is considered an “active charcoal” which has “detoxifying properties.” Safe to consume.

[thegrandstrudel]

July 3, 2019 - Nydri, Lefkada, Greece

Spending the night with Starman Steve.

What was billed as a quirky, cheesy night out on the island of Lefkada turned out to be absolutely memorable.

We boarded the boat along with 58 other English speakers, 55 of them were Brits. Set sail for a secluded beach off the coast of Lefkada Island, we landed, disembarked from the boat, we were given a mat and found a spot to lie down. Those who wanted to could take a nighttime dip in the Ionian Sea. They brought out the wine and beer. Then an acoustic guitar singer cranking out some classic songs for the crowd. He sounded great. After that we were served an incredible Greek meal and offered even more wine.

It was what came next that was unforgettable... “Starman Steve” appeared and started the evenings festivities... Stargazing! Starman started with a fun story about the beach we were on, I believe this was a warmup act... once the sun fell and the sky got dark, the stars came bursting out of the sky, out came the laser pointer, and Steve’s theatrical presentation of Greek mythology of the stars. He was fantastic. First, he had a voice for radio if you know what I mean. Second, you could tell right away that he LOVED doing this. Third, he was “in character” which he totally pulled off.

Mind you, we were all comfortably lying on our backs on our mats on this secluded beach with no lights around, complete darkness, looking up, following the laser pointer - following the stars - following Starman Steve.

He started with the story of the Little Dipper, pointed his powerful laser at the handle and drew in the lines for us. He told us the story of the dipper and how if you follow along the side of the pot, it points directly to the North Star, from the North Star to the Octaurus, and the mythological story of that constellation. This went on for 2 hours, about Heracles (or Hercules), about mythological gods that we’re tested by being sent to retrieve something or someone from Hades, about jealous gods who did terrible things to mortals and demi-gods out of jealousy, about the 12 labors, star signs like Gemini and Aries and so many other interesting stories about mythology.

It was only when he stopped, after the last constellation in the sky that I realized how powerful that experience was. Starman Steve gave us a night we’ll never forget ; )

[thegrandstrudel]

July 3, 2019 - Lefkada, Greece

The most famous yacht in the world, anchors in Lefkada, Greece. This is the Christina O and it costs around 90,000 Euros/day to rent. What’s so great about this boat? It was the largest yacht in the world as of 2018, she served in the Battle of the Atlantic during WWII, and she was owned by billionaire Greek shipping magnate - Aristotle Onassis.

Aristotle purchased her for scrap metal for $34,000 then spent $4 million turning her into a luxury super yacht, the first of its kind and he named it after his beloved daughter.

She’s designed with a mosaic tiled sea-pool that fills with seawater when needed or with a push of a button, empties out and the pool floor rises to the deck to make a dance floor.

She’s also entertained many celebrities over the years including Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, and Winston Churchill who, legend says, called, who he thought was a waiter, over to ask for another drink... that waiter turned out to be John F. Kennedy.

Today she is anchored off of the island Skorpios, Onassis’s privately owned island. After his death it was sold to a Russian family though they don’t own the boat, a family friend took her over.

Take a peek inside:

https://valefyachts.com/yacht/christina-o/

[thegrandstrudel]

July 3, 2019 - Lefkada, Greece

Yesterday was CG’s birthday. The plan was to leave Corfu and hit the 1.5 islands to the south: Paxos and Antipaxos. Two small, very touristed, islands with nothing to do but rent a boat and find secluded coves to hang out and swim in. Just what the Dr. ordered. I found a really cool place to stay and they helped me organize a very special fresh fish dinner for the birthday boy.

Well that didn’t work out at all. Turned out there was a “Seamen” strike and everyone was desperate to also get to Paxos and Antipaxos that day so the ferries were full. We called the night before to get a reservation but they said they don’t take them and to be at the port early. We were at the port early. We were the only car when we arrived but they were booked solid. We took the ferry to Igoumenitsa on the mainland and tried to get a ferry from there to Paxos but that was also a no-go.

Disappointed, we had to call to cancel our plans to Paxos and move on to the next island, Lefkada. We spend the next 5 days in Lefkada at an oasis of a hotel called Villa Olga. The grounds were beautiful, the owners were warm and welcoming, the pool had beds in them to lay out on and they served homemade Greek food like no other. It was perfect...

I’m also including a snap of my natural “beach waves” I finally achieved with no styling tools or product or paying my hair dresser for the same effect. Can you tell I’m pretty proud of it?

[thegrandstrudel]

Somewhere on a mountain top in Greece, summer of ‘19. Your moment of zen.

[thegrandstrudel]

July, 2, 2019 - Port of Corfu, Greece

Caught the last ferry off this island before...(...wait for it...)... the “seamen” strike tomorrow.

It’s a 24hr strike to show the government the mighty power the (... wait for it...) seamen have in terms of the economy and the general getting around a country chock full of islands.

Apparently, (...wait for it...) the seamen’s union is extremely corrupt and no one is doing anything about it. So now they strike to prove a point in hopes of start meaningful dialogue with the necessary parties.

[thegrandstrudel]

July 29, 2019 - Corfu, Greece

This is Kathy, we must have known each other in past lives. While trying to learn more about essence of Corfiot cuisine, we wondered into this haven of delight in the middle of the Old Town. Her shop was brimming with herbs and spices, sights, and smells from all corners of the earth. Delicacies in packets, jars, tinctures, and tins. Oils, olives, black garlic from around Corfu and the Ionian Sea. She talked passionately about how to use these flavors in food, pairings of the unusual sort as well as pairings for comfort. She gave us tastes of so many flavors, colors, textures thatvaried on the Scoville scale. It felt as if any minute she could close her door, flip the sign to say “closed,” and lead me into her kitchen so we could spend the afternoon cooking and experimenting with all of these flavors. It’s been 2 days since I last saw Kathy and I already miss her. I promised I’d keep in touch.

[thegrandstrudel]

July 1, 2019 - Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece

“Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was born here.” Yes, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, was born right here in Corfu at this estate called Mon Repos in 1921. Philip’s Father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Andrew’s father was King George I of Greece and Andrew’s brother Constantine became King of Greece after his father was assainated. Philip’s mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg and the whole family was exiled from Greece while Philip was an infant. Feel free to DuckDuckGo “why?”

What’s even more interesting is this estate was built on and adjacent to so many archeological sites that are at least 8,000 years old. The last photo shows a Doric temple overlooking the Ionian Sea.

[thegrandstrudel]

June 29, 2019 - Achillion, Corfu, Greece

(Here’s a bit of a personal post but here goes...)

Grit, grime, sun-fried, don’t care... when’s the last time we did laundry? Doesn’t matter, rinse out in th sink. It’s been 30-40 degrees warmer than usual in Europe, everyone else is also sweaty, sticky, smelly. Haven’t touched my makeup bag in weeks. Hair regularly in a top knot. CG’s travel beard is taking shape. We don’t “backpack” but we don’t take much with us either. Travel light.

I was editing a batch of photos and came across this face (albeit handsome) and recognized in it that we have, in fact, hit our travel stride.

This is the BEST point in any of our travels. This is the point when travel becomes easier, smoother, richer. By this point, we have navigated so many logistics: where are we going next, how are we going to get there, what’s the best part of town to stay in, what do we want to do when we get there, can we use public transportation, flights, trains, trams, immigation, rental cars, maps, food, menus, experiences, history, art, multiple currencies, LANGUAGE 😮. Once you’ve navigated this for a while...there comes this point when you hit your stride and begin to travel well, savvier, there’s an wonderful ease about it, you’ve developed an ear (and eye) for languages... even the vernacular, you’re honing your street smarts, you get a little ballsier about asking for what you want or something out of the norm, and you and your gut get back to having a strong relationship again.

There’s a saying out there that you rarely get a good story from a five star hotel.

[thegrandstrudel]

July 29, 2019 - Old Town, Corfu, Greece

We decided to get our lazy asses up early and explore the Old Town of Corfu, also known as Corfu Town.

The town is heavily influenced by Venetian architecture. It is al heavily influenced by the Brits. You will see buildings painted a dark pink color which indicate it was built by Venetians or pained a yellow color indicating it was a British building.

Due to its geographic location, Corfu, an island off the west coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea was highly coveted as a trading post for far off lands as well as neighboring lands now known as Italy, Albania, Serbia, France, Macedonia,Turkey etc. Everyone at some point in time took control of the island, tried to defend it and then got taken over by someone else.

I mention this because I had a picture in my mind of what Corfu would be like. If I was being honest, I was fed those ideas from the Lawrence Durrell novels “The Durrells in Corfu.” It is also a show on PBS. They painted an idyllic Greek town, slow paced and unchanged over time.

Turned out that was not to be the case in real life Corfu due to the lack of Greek-ness. The Athenian Greek culture or that of the pelopenesse culture. There have been so many infuences over Cofu you get the sense that it is many things butleast of which is Greek. It was only recently, in modern times, they became part of Greece.

There is a culture of Corfiot cuisine but there are only few dishes, the majority of food found on the island is Italian and what is called “Mediterranean” which is an umbrella of flavors from all over the Mediterranean Sea.

In a land not know for efficiency or process, I’m referring to all of Greece and don’t mean this in a negative way, it’s more of a fact, Corfu is even more of a puzzle as you try to navigate her. Example is the roadways. There are a few “main roads” but the only thing connecting them are goat paths, narrow, tiny, one car width paths that are meant to handle two way traffic. The ferry boats are a head scratcher as well. There were several other factors such as a huge British population and it was extremely difficult to navigate that gave us the feeling this is “not our island.”

Happy to have Corfu in our rear view mirror.

[thegrandstrudel]

June 28, 2019 - Achillion, Corfu, Greece

Built in 1891, this mansion belonged to a prominent Corfiot - the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary Elizabeth (Sissi) Hapsburg. The name Achillion was given by the Empress to honor Homer’s hero, Achilles, whom she admired for his strength and beauty. She visited Achillion until 1898 when she was murdered in Genova by an Italian anarchist. Her estate sold off most of the furnishings and art in early 20th century and then sold Achillion to the Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm II.

During WWI, Achillion was used as a military hospital for a French and Serbian troops. After Germany’s defeat from WWI, Achillion was turned over to the Hellenistic State according to the Treatise of Versailles.

WWII, Achillion saw action again as a headquarters for the occupation (Italians and Germans). After WWII, Achillion was turned over the the Hellenistic Tourism Organization. Then it was turned into a casino and there was an European Union Summit and now it is a watered down, hodgepodge of nothing very interesting. Completely fitting for a place like Corfu where, due to its location in the Ionian Sea and the fact that there is a fortification in the old port, it was a common occurrence to be occupied but peoples other than Greeks. Turks, Brits, French, Venetians and ultimately it became a part of Greece. The undercurrent of cultures that blend this city’s history (and food) can be easily felt. It is not the Greece of the mainland. It is what is commonly referred to as “Mediterranean.”

[thegrandstrudel]

June 26, 2019 - Corfu, Greece

Had a rocky start on Corfu but now we are in a great location with lots of good people around. We landed on the west side of the island in a great place called Paleokastritsa. Yes, do try to sound it out, it’s fun. Paleo-ka-street-sa. Even made dinner tonight.

If you are what you eat, at this point we’re 6’ tall walking spinach-pie-&-baklavas beings.

[thegrandstrudel]

June 27, 2019 - Paleokastritsa, Corfu, Greece

This is one helluva bakery. My first clue was the dog laying in the middle of the doorway, unperturbed by folks coming in and out. My second clue was the mom and pop who own it. So proud of what they’ve made, the generousity when I came in and asked about EVERYTHING in their pastry crease as she handed me a taste of so many things.

We’ve only been in Paleokastritsa for 2 days but visited the bakery twice already. I want to be an intern there and learn how to make all this stuff.

If you are what you eat we are giant spinach pie and baklavas. CG Warner me about getting too attached to the bakers lol.

[thegrandstrudel]

June 23, 2019 - Parga, Greece

Hanging out somewhere on the Ionian Coast.

[thegrandstrudel]

June 21, 2019 - Meteroa, Greece

In Greece, there seems to be a direct correlation between how good a meal is and the number of animals that show up to hangout with you while you eat. Tonight’s 3 animal meal was exceptional, I would have given it a 4th animal rating but it was too hot for the dog sleeping in the corner to get up.