Quiet-quiet island

How everything coincides! There is a garden and lamp. Girlfriends, servants, familiar no. And there is no fuss. Beaches are empty. How when the sound is turned off, carnival lights of ships swim. Low ringing of silence and smell of orange on the veranda.

For complete happiness enough to stretch your hand, disrupt the yellow-green fruit, squeeze the juice into the glass and add "Martini Bianko". Exactly "Bianco".

We become smarter and you understand that I made the right choice: the cottage should be filmed here, on Corfu, in calves, and not somewhere in Istra. Come here is better not alone, but with family or friends. For me, this is a new experience, but good habits, as you know, quickly absorb.

I read about Corfu in Gerald Darrell in the famous book "My family and other animals", Lorenz Darrell in "Alexandrian Quartet" and "Black Olivakh", Henry Miller, Edward Lira, Oscar Wilde. They all have ever lived here. Now, very close to my cottage, on the first line – the House of the Darrell family, and in the neighboring bay – Villa Rothschild. Yes what is Rothschild! Nero himself once came to these edges to play Lira, Odyssey was delayed at Corfu with the beauty of Navalkia, Argonauts, returning from the campaign for the Golden Room, cited here the wedding of Jason and Medele, Ptolemy and Cicero held time in the famous Roman Town Cassopy.

Colonized, won, occupied Corfu constantly.

Who just did not drive the island! Romans, Byzantines, Anzhuy Dynasty, Venetians, French. In the guidebook published by the local municipality, there is a remarkable phrase that the second French occupation left a more pleasant impression from the population than the first.

In 1814, English soldiers landed at Corfu and, by agreement with allies, including Russia, created the British Protectorate, which existed until 1864. In 1865, the island joined Greece.

English presence is felt to this day. Six hundred thousand British annually spend their vacation here. Large hotels on the island did not intensive. A significant part of the vacationers lives in private houses.

Cottages on Corfu is mostly former fishing houses by the sea, tested to the hands and improved by English travel agencies. Fishermen, surrendered at home by the sea, rose higher, built themselves new homes and opened new taverns. Everything is alright with them. Now they do not even need to fish.

Among Greek travel agencies in the calves, the most advanced is the firm of Janis. He is local and influential. He owns olive plantations. It’s how to own oil wells. In this its advantage over the British, and sometimes he bypasses them on turns.

The only our travel agency opened its representative office, both with Janis and the British. But more with Janis. With him easier and its prices below. He has a family in a row. The wife contains a tavern, the mother removes the giving the giving, which they pass, and the father rolling wishes on her yacht and catches fish with them. Simple homely atmosphere, you are serviced by simple village millionaires.

Rented "Fiat" – Hardworking Bukashka – helped me expand the circle of impressions. I drove a car, and by me – two cute companions, Natasha and Irina, opening Corfu for our tourists. We had everything: we were admired by the graphics of olive groves, floated on a sailboat, caught fish, inspected the ruins of the Byzantine fortress in Cassopy, they climbed almost vertically to the highest mountain puzzle, climbed into the abandoned village houses, fastened the fireplace on my dacha, instead of firewood saw old bed.

There is no hot on Corfu. My enlightened companions explained that the reason for this unique phenomenon for Greece is four million black olives planted during the reign of Venetian. Powerful Olive Openwork Crowns Act as Natural Air Conditioner. The cold flow passing by the island does not give water to the lagoon and air over olivia.

Olives are also big money. Each owner receives from the sale of oil at least 10.000 dollars annual income. And so not one decade. They are rich for a long time, these islanders, so calm and not fussy. They can be envied.

Architecture Kerkira, Administrative Center of the Island, gathered all styles: Venetian, French, East. Traditional set: Port, Old Fortress, Park, Museum, Tables on the streets, Lanterns. Houses are so old that the pipes of the sewage and water supply are laid outside.

But for me the strongest impression of Kerkira is a feeling of free space. I can not really explain what it is. Once I experienced the same feeling on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. Maybe this is not connected with geography, but with the state of the soul.

"If it fell into the empire to be born, it is better to live in the deaf province by the sea. " And relax there.