"Shalom", welcomes Rosy Soussis, who runs a tiny bakery in the old Jewish quarter of Corfu town. "Come in. You look hungry. Try my spanakopita (a spinach and feta pie). My customers say it's the best in Corfu. My shop is even in the guidebooks."
We are tempted by the mounds of traditional Greek pastries in the window of her rustic café on a backstreet near the old synagogue. The voluptuous baker offers us exotic pastries made with pistachio, hazelnut, walnuts, cinnamon, honey, rose water, kumquat and Arabic black vanilla. She explains, "We make our pastries without milk or butter. We don't use dairy products - traditionally, we didn't have cows on Corfu."
Over baklava and coffee, Rosy tells us the history of the Sephardic Jewish community of Corfu. Centuries ago her family fled from Cordoba, refugees from the Inquisition in Spain. She says only 75 Jews remain on the island today out of the 2 500 who lived on Corfu before the outbreak of World War 2. She still uses many old family recipes to make the honeyed baklava she calls "iki" (my little children).
We'd worked up an appetite after climbing to the heights of the new fortress on a hill which overlooks the old fortress with its huge moats built by the Venetians in the 14th century.
Corfu takes its name from koryfo (meaning summit). The lush island shaped like a scythe has been a strategic outpost in the Adriatic for 2 000 years - occupied by the Romans, Greeks, Byzantines, Venetians, Ottomans, French and British.
In the old fort we came across a an exhibition of black and white photos of diva Maria Callas with Onassis, Princess Grace and Hollywood stars.
Corfu has an ambience of faded grandeur, a mouldy patina of centuries of neglect on crumbling mansions and villas, cracked flagstones and disrepair on the overgrown cricket green and esplanade. When in Corfu, the fashionable thing to do is linger with the crowds in the cafes and shops of the Liston arcade - apparently named after the official list of patricians who were permitted to walk here in earlier centuries. Built during the French occupation, the arcade was modelled on the Rue de Rivoli.
We made our way through the labyrinthine old quarter, down steep, narrow alleyways with pastel shutters and sheets drying on washing lines spread between ancient balconies and medieval tenements. We stumbled into the fabulously ornate Church of Agios Spyridon, the 16th century shrine of Corfu's patron saint whose silver coffin is paraded through the streets by pilgrims every Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Outside, souvenir shops sell holy relics, lace, sweets, olive oil and kumquat liqueur.
Corfu town is built on a peninsula of gravel beaches, marinas and fishing villages. The waterfront promenade leads past churches, palaces and museums with fabulous collections of Asiatic, Byzantine and Greek art and sculpture. The Museum of Asiatic Art is housed in the neo-classical Palace of the Lord High Commissioner - apparently when the British gave the Ionian Islands back to Greece, the Greek king refused to maintain the 18th century palace and let it fall into disrepair. The authorities restored it as a museum showpiece.
Our next port of call on our Mediterranean cruise aboard the Crystal Serenity was Trieste, where we docked at the quayside of the Piazza dell'Unita d'Italia, the largest square in all of Italy built by Bruni in 1879.
We are welcomed in style by the northernmost city in the Adriatic, the old port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire set on a strategic panhandle on Slovenia's doorstep. Like the conquering bronze statues coming ashore and erecting a flag on the quay, we climb the steep hill to Castello San Guisto to gain the commanding heights of the city. The Venetians used to spy on shipping movements from the ramparts of the castle - a place of intrigue with fine armoury, Roman mosaic and classical sculpture museums.
Venice has long since displaced Trieste on the tourist map. Yet Trieste yields a delightful sense of discovery to visitors who call with no preconceived notions. Walking around the stately avenues, we stumbled across surprises in every corner - from the wonderful mosaics of Cathedral di San Giusto, the 2 000-year-old ruins of the Roman amphitheatre, the neo-classical pediment of Teatro Verdi, the belle époque cafes with art nouveau interiors (try historic Café Tommaseo or La Bomboniera) and one of the largest Jewish ghettoes in Europe before World War 2.
That night, Trieste waved us off in style with a spectacular fireworks display high over the harbour and hills of the city set on the high ridge of the Carso plateau. The ship's band played Louis Armstrong's inimitable What a Wonderful World as the Crystal Serenity weighed anchor and set sail on the last leg of our Mediterranean cruise to Venice.
- For information on Crystal Cruises, call Development Promotions at 011 442 0822, email [email protected], or see www.devprom.co.za.