Corfu

Yes, I know I didn't keep up with the blog after the first three days--Once we got to Corfu (Kerkyra), I was in a seminar from 8:30 am. to 5:30 p.m. every day. It was also INTENSELY hot. Yes, I know I live in the inferno of the south, but this was wicked hot. I walked to the Corfu Reading Society every day, only ten or fifteen minutes, but was dripping by the time I got there and certainly dripping when I got back to the hotel.  It was very beautiful, however, as you can see from the video.

We were very glad to visit Corfu because of its past history as a Venetian outpost---the architecture is very different than a lot of Greece because of this past. We were also told by a waiter in a bar that there are some leftover words--e.g. parathiro is window in Greece, but some in Corfu call it a finastre (finestre in Italiano). There are two forts (the 'new' and the 'old') and our hotel room had a fine view of the new fort. The 'old' fort is Venetian and there's a church in the enclave. The enclave also houses the music school.

 Corfu is quite the musical island--three town bands; 11 on the rest of the island! We did also see some string players. One of the conference sessions was at the Filharmonic Society. I ate at the restaurant next to this twice, once with one of my colleagues from the conference and on the last night with Greg.

We did get one afternoon off. We asked the manager of our hotel what was an easy day trip and she suggested we go to Paleokastritsa. We managed to find our way to the city bus station (2 euro each way) and were lucky enough to get a seat. The bus stopped several times along the way and took on riders on each one. I heard a British woman say that it was like being in India. Two of the older Greek people on the bus kept hollering at the driver to stop taking on riders. It was worth it when we got there and saw this view: 

We thought we would go to the monastery near there but decided to make it a relatively brief trip (just lunch) because the group was going to Vidos Island for dinner that evening (more on that later). We had lunch in the first place we saw and sat next to a woman from Wales, traveling with her granddaughter. She was quite the music fan and she and Greg talked about opera. At one point, I looked up and saw this (bolting out of the restaurant to get a pic): 

I was glad that we explored a bit of the island beyond the old town. We did get back late afternoon and took a nap before going to Vidos Island with the group (the conference I was attending was the International Society of Music Education Commission on Community Music Activity). 

This is a view of Corfu old town from the island: 

One of the best aspects of the conference was encountering one of my friends from Ohio State, Jonathan Bayley. Jonathan is a professor at University of Windsor and Greg and I really enjoyed being able to spend time with him again: 

There was a band and I requested "Maria me ta kitrina" (Maria with the yellow dress). 

My presentation at the Commission was well received. It was a pleasure talking about the program to such a receptive audience. 

On our last evening, we went back to the restaurant next to the Filharmonic Society and while we were eating, heard the band play such Greek standards as Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. Apparently, they were preparing for a big concert, as relayed to us by this British family whose son (and grandson) played trumpet in the band when they were there on school holidays (they have a small house there). Here, they're talking to Greg after the dad (far right) took him up to the hall to see the band. I gave them my card and told them what a good trumpet professor we had at USC (Jim Ackley, always working for you :)