Back in the summer of 2019, my sister Alexandra, our best friend Kelly, and I vowed to travel to Greece in 2020. In our nearly 15 year friendship (we met on the first day of college) the three of us have travelled together lots, vacationing everywhere from New York City to Disney World to Budapest to Berlin, not to mention Prague and Bologna. A summer vacation on a Greek island was just the next place on our travel itinerary.

But travel wasn’t exactly simultaneous with 2020 — you know, the worldwide pandemic and all that — and suddenly vacation seemed like a long forgotten luxury and a completely foreign concept. In the meantime, Kelly graduated law school, my sister and I adopted a dog, we all got vaccinated and boosted, and slowly but surely things began to return to the (new) normal. Hence: the trip to Greece we discussed three long years ago finally became a reality.

Greece isn’t exactly lacking in islands - Mykonos! Santorini! Crete! - and to be honest, we landed on Corfu simply because Wizzair had a convenient, affordable flight that fit our dates and the images produced by the Google image search were pretty impressive. We learned that Corfu was an island in the middle of the Ionian sea, not far from Puglia and about a 30 minute ferry ride from Albania. It was also known for its food.

Can you really go wrong with a Greek island in the summer, anyways?

Read on to hear more about Corfu (most importantly: what we ate).

HISTORICAL & GASTRONOMICAL TOUR WITH ARITI

As a rule of thumb, I like to kick off my stay in any new place with a tour of some sort; this way I get a feel for wherever I am staying, and can pick the tour guide’s brain on what to explore and where to dine. On our first day in Corfu, we were shown around the island by the lovely Ariti K., who runs Corfu Walking & Food Tours along with her sister, Nausica.

We started off with a little history: unlike many Greek islands, Corfu was never occupied by Turkey during the rule of the Ottoman Empire (an occupation that lasted from the mid 15th century all the way to 1821, when Greece became independent). This means that the islands once occupied by the Turks feel, well, more Greek, simply because the populace made a point to preserve and cling on to their traditions, culture, and language. (Fun fact: the islands once under Ottoman rule are those with those pristine, snow white buildings often associated with Greece, which Ariti explained was a sort of a quiet protest — the white buildings against the blue of the sky were reminiscent of the colors of the Greek flag.) Corfu on the other hand was fortified by troops from Venice, who hoped to protect the island from Turkish invasion — after all, a takeover of Corfu likely meant an intrusion in to the Adriatic and towards Italy. This Italian influence on Corfu is evident even nowadays, in everything from the cadence of the Greek spoken there (more sing songy), the food (pasta is a staple - more on that in a minute) and also the architecture (multistoried buildings and narrow streets). Ariti also taught us that the people of Corfu are known for their study of music and languages — learning an instrument is mandatory within the school system — and are generally open minded, placing a lot of importance on education and travel.

But on to the food! We started off the day with a sizeable spread: Greek yogurt with figs, a phyllo and sweet custard pie called bougatsa, small squares of sugary, sesame based halvah and sticky baklava, a spoonful of nutty sesame paste called tahini, and best of all: triangles of phyllo stuffed with spinach and feta called spanakopita, and phyllo stuffed with just feta, called tiropita.

We then moved on to sample perhaps my very favorite thing I discovered in Corfu: loukoumades, a fried, leavened, addictive kind of sweet served with honey and walnuts (think of it as a cross between baklava and a doughnut). We also sampled less traditional, savory loukoumades (with salami, cheese, and an olive dipping sauce) and they were all incredibly delicious. We loved these loukoumades so much that we went back on our own time the next day, sampling a pistachio/honey variation and a pork/feta/tomato one. Gnam.

Other stars on the food tour? Candied kumquats, kumquat jam, and kumqat liqueur, highlighting - you guessed it - the kumquat, one of Corfu’s main products. We also stopped by a magical little spice shop called Sweet & Spicy (check out more here!) brimming with jars of any and every kind of spice you could ever imagine, not to mention all different kinds of Greek olive oil, which we sampled with bread.

If you thought we were too full for lunch at this point, you understimated us: we went on to try a classic Greek salad, consisting of green peppers, olives with the pit, a block of feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, oregano, and olive oil - no dressing, no lettuce. We feasted on refreshing yogurt-cucumber tzatziki and fish roe taramasolata, sipped anise-scented ouzo, and ate pastitsada, perhaps the most interesting dish I came across in Corfu. Pastitsada harkens back to the Italian influence on Corfu I mentioned earlier; it consists of pasta served with braised meat, and a cinnamon-tinged tomato sauce that reminded me of Christmas. The only catch? The pasta eaten in Corfu is cooked until soft, or rather: not at all al dente like we eat here in Italy. This dish (like the pastitsio we also sampled during our stay) would have been an A+ if the pasta had been cooked a little less, but who I am to argue with Greek culinary tradition?

And still with the Italian influence: Corfu is known for its iced cappuccino — complete with lots of foam — particularly refreshing in the summer heat, and pictured below.

Bottom line: our walking/eating tour was the highlight of our stay in Corfu. Ariti was not only knowledgeable, she was fun to listen to, and hanging out with her for three hours felt more like spending the afternoon with a friend than with a guide. Bravissima!

More information on booking your own glorious Corfu tour can be found here!

PAXOS & ANTIPAXOS

What would a Greek vacation be without a little island hopping? On the second day of our vacanza, we took a boat trip to the small islands of Paxos and Antipaxos, situated along the southern coast of Corfu. According to Greek mythology, the islands were formed when Poseidon, God of the Sea, fell in love with the goddess Amphitrite. To build a shelter for the two of them, Poseidon struck the island of Corfu with his trident, breaking off what became Paxos and Antipaxos.

We were out on the water from 9am to about 7pm, stopping in the village of Gaios on Paxos for lunch, then sailing on to visit the majestic sea caves nearby (the only downside: we did not spot the Medittereanean monk seals that supposedly live around the caves). The most memorable stop was at Vikra beach off of Antipaxos, where we docked and took a swim in its insanely, brilliantly blue waters (I have never seen water so crystal clean). The boat tour finished with a little music and Greek dancing.

If you find yourself in Corfu, you can book the tour we took here!

MORE GREEK FOOD!

Our hands down favorite place we dined at in Corfu was Οίνος & Γεύσεις (Oinos kai geuseis) which means Wine & Flavors, according to Google translate. This small, family run restaurant — recommended by our tour guide Ariti — serves up divine Greek small plates and tapas. We ate there twice, ordering lots of different dishes to share. I managed to photograph (almost) all of them before digging in — you can find below, and described in order of appearance:

Kolokithokeftedes, or crisp zucchini fritters seasoned with dill (especially good when eaten with tzatziki!);
Greek salad, served with just a little good quality olive oil and crumbled oregano;
Baked feta with tomatoes, served warm and oh so divine eaten with lots of fresh bread;
Keftedes, or Greece’s version of the meatball, stuffed with cheese and served with more tzatziki;
Moussaka, perhaps Greece’s best known dish, made with layers of potatoes, eggplant, ground lamb, tomatoes, and a lovely layer of bechamel;
Roast potatoes, cooked with oregano, olive oil, and lemon;
Saganaki, or fried cheese (swoon) made with Greek kefalograviera cheese and served with a characteristic kumquat marmalde;
Tiropita, those buttery, phyllo wrapped triangles filled with cheese that we first tried with Ariti during our food tour.
Skartocetta, Greece’s version of involtini, or rather thinly sliced beef rolled and stuffed with kefalotiri cheese and served in a cinnamon-spiced tomato sauce. No photo for this one, but I assure you it was as delicious as it sounds.

Last notes: If you’re a seafood lover (we are not) know that the menu also serves up Greek-style octopus, snails, shrimp, and cod. Make sure you book at Oinos kai geuseis in advance — getting a table can be tricky.

PS: For those of you who also thought that the delightfully squeaky, salty cheese known as halloumi was Greek, think again! It’s actually from Cyprus, and you won’t find it on many menus in Corfu.

We flew back to Rome on Friday — back to reality, I’m afraid! — but I’ll leave you with a few more photos of gorgeous Corfu. I’ll be back with a new summer recipe sometime next week — in the meantime, hope everyone is enjoying their August (and staying as cool as possible among the ongoing heatwave!)