The architectural design was intended to represent an ancient Phaecian palace. The building, with the classic Greek statues that surround it, is a monument to platonic romanticism as well as escapism and was, naturally, named after Achilles: Achilleion.

With timezone changes we arrived at the port of Corfu before the sun had risen. Breakfast downed (after some poor service from the buffet area staff, a common theme on this particular cruise with Princess), we met up with our tour group and made our way to the waiting coach as the sky began to lighten.

Achilleion is set on the top of a hill with commanding views out over the island of Corfu; indeed, the location was the reason for building the palace there in the first place. The road to Achilleion is narrow and winding. Coaches are wide and inflexible. This made for an interesting and somewhat concerning trip up the hillside. Cars coming the other way often had to reverse suddenly as we approached and there were numerous examples of chipped stonework and scrape marks along the walls of houses and other buildings we passed indicating that not every vehicle made the journey without damage. I’m happy to report, remarkably, that our driver had no such incidents although the occasional gasps from other passengers on the bus said it was a close-run thing at times.

Our guide bought tickets and we entered the palace grounds. Us and maybe two dozen other tour groups at the same time. There was a bit of a wait to get inside the building but the temperature – as it was still early – wasn’t too bad, the skies were bright, and the chance for some photographs was appreciated by me.

Once inside the palace it was even more crowded and very noisy. It was practically impossible to hear the tour guide with all the other tour guides speaking too; some were using radios to talk to the groups but others were simply speaking loudly in a variety of languages. As we shuffled from room to room we would occasionally gather close to hear a description of what we would see and then disperse briefly to muscle our way amongst the many other groups, have a nose at what had been described, then return to move off to another room. The crowded insides didn’t make for the greatest visual experience but it was still fairly interesting to hear about the history of the place.

The gardens were far more relaxed and far more photogenic. There were some wonderful, bold colours on show and some great examples of architecture in the Pompeian style which was a nice connection back to our first stop on the cruise in Naples. The gardens had some lovely views out across the island of Corfu.

The German sculptor Ernst Herter‘s famous statue Sterbender Achill (“Dying Achilles”) was bought by the Empress of Bavaria and forms the centrepiece of the gardens at Achilleion.

Time for a rant intermission…

Taking a picture of the statue of Dying Achilles took a long time because I’ve found that people on cruises are, by and large, really, really inconsiderate. I’m not, which is why before I take a photo I look around to see if I’m in someone’s way or, like on this particular day in Corfu, I move out of the way to let other people take their photographs first so that I can, if possible, take a little bit of extra time to compose the shot (I don’t often get a chance because of time constraints but I do my best); most other people taking photos on holiday take a snap and move on. Great. However, some people don’t. Can I make a request? If you’re taking a photo of something then take the photo and take a look around to see if someone else wants to do the same, and if they do then please, please, please move the fuck out of the way. I shifted back from the picture I wanted to take to let a small group of Americans shuffle along in front and take their shots first. They then proceeded to just stand right there, right in front of the statue, listening to the tour guide without a second’s thought for anyone else. People, eh? And if I clubbed them out of the way with a nearby rock somehow I’d be to blame.

Anyhoo…

Another large statue of Achilles guarded the gardens, looking northwards, and it formed another point to gather as a group and hear some more about the location.

We finished our visit to Achilleion with a walk back through the gardens and briefly into the top level of the palace. We then had a few minutes to wait for those who needed to empty their bladders before leaving the palace and hunting down our coach. There was a bit more of a wait as some people had got lost between the toilets and the coach. There was a bit more of a wait after that as our coach was blocked in by numerous other coaches. But eventually we headed off down the terrifyingly narrow and twisting road towards the city of Corfu itself.

Our walk took us past Spianáda park and along the wide Kapodistriou Street with a couple of stops along the way to point out buildings of note and remark on the history of the town. The clear, blue sky and cleanliness of the town gave everything a really nice feel.

The entrance to the bazaar of Corfu town was where we parted ways with our guide. Looking down the bustling alley lined with shops and stalls a very noticeable construction was the church of Saint Spyridon.

But we didn’t just get to see the church. Our timing was impeccable (your view may differ after watching the video (removed for now)) in order to hear the bells ringing. And ringing. And ringing. I don’t know that I’d like to work near Saint Spyridon’s church in Corfu, to be perfectly honest.

From here we were on our own and with a couple of stops to hunt down some souvenirs my wife and I went for a wander down alleys and roads at random in a roughly circular route that would eventually bring us back out to where we would need to pick up the coach once more.

I’m very fond of narrow lanes and tall buildings so Corfu Town didn’t disappoint in this respect. I find it fascinating to be among a throng of tourists in an obvious tourist destination as well as close to simple signs of everyday life going on such as washing hanging out on lines over the streets or clothese on the backs of chairs on balconies.

Our meeting point was pretty close to the Old Fortress which had been offered as one of the excursion options. Were we to return to Corfu we would certainly check it out although our general view of the island and town that we saw was that there wasn’t a massive amount to see and do there. We could be completely wrong and if we were hitting the area again we’d definitely research the place a bit more for places of interest. Corfu was pleasant enough but it didn’t fill us with that “must go back sometime!” factor we look for.

After a short stay in the shade by the coaches as we waited for some latecomers to arrive (surprise!) where we saw people – tourists, I think – pouring water into the palms of their hands for local, stray-looking dogs to get some respite from the heat (which was nice) we were dropped off back at the port entrance where we had the choice of taking a shuttle bus back to the ship or walking the rest of the way. We chose the latter in order to snap a few last shots on Corfu soil. There were three other ships in port alongside us: a Costa, a TUI, and Cunard’s Queen Victoria that we’d previously seen in Montenegro.

A few final shots of Corfu from our balcony as the Royal Princess departed completed our first Greek stop on our Mediterranean cruise.