On May 1, 2022, our first full day in Corfu, we had the hotel’s delicious free buffet breakfast in the morning, and then embarked on an interesting trip to relive some of PJG’s memories. PJG’s family came here in 1967 (and 1969) with their four children and they took some photos for memories.
在阳台上享受我的早茶 Enjoying my morning tea on our balcony.非常丰盛的自助早餐 A huge variety and filling buffet breakfast
The first destination is the Vlacherna Monastery. As one of the iconic attractions on the island of Corfu, this is a must visit for tourists. The monastery was built in the 17th century and at times served as a nunnery until 1980. PJG’s fondest memory of coming here is that a local resident once taught him and his brother to fish for crabs, and there are pictures and facts to prove it. My main task was to try to recreate the same photos as from 50+ years ago.
远处的就是弗拉赫纳修道院 In the distance is the Vlacherna Monastery.1967年PJG的姐姐Rosemary和妈妈Isabel在修道院门前. PJG’s sister Rosemary and his mother Isabel in front of the monastery in June 1967.2022年，修道院几乎没什么变化，很巧合那个刚好进入到我们的照片的人似乎是从1967年那张照片中穿越了时间. In 2022, the monastery is almost unchanged, and it is a coincidence that the person who just entered our picture seems to have traveled in time from the 1967 picture. (Note the woman walking past the entrance in both photos) 照片中间的PJG和他二哥Brian手中提着钓来的螃蟹. In the middle of the photo, PJG and his brother Brian are holding the crabs they caught.今天某人假装手中提着螃蟹，有没有看到又一个巧合？和1967年的照片一样，左边还是站着一些人. Someone was forced to pretend to be holding a crab today, did you see another coincidence? As in the 1967 photo, there is also a group of people standing on the left.某人在寻找石头缝里是否还有曾经的螃蟹. Someone is looking to see if there are still crabs in the rocks.这张照片里螃蟹看的更清楚，PJG钓到了两只呢！ The crabs can be seen more clearly in this photo, PJG caught two!还是在假装提着两只螃蟹. Still pretending to carry his two crabs.修道院里面的一个旅游纪念品店 A tourist souvenir shop inside the monastery. Was this here 50 years ago?PJG问这个店主Spiro为什么看不到螃蟹了，他说6，7年以前，一种大的螃蟹来到这片海域，然后5年前左右，原来那种小的螃蟹就都消失了。他看了PJG的几张老照片，感到非常有意思，竟然要PJG发给他那张修道院全景的照片，希望他能把那张照片挂在他的店铺里，让PJG和他的螃蟹成名！ PJG asked the owner, Spiro, why there aren’t any crabs in the rocks. He said that six or seven years ago, large crabs started to be seen here, and then about 5 years ago, the original small crabs disappeared. We didn’t really understand what he meant. PJG showed him some of the old photos and he was very interested to see how it looked in 1967. He asked PJG to send him the picture of the panorama of the monastery. I hope he will hang that picture on his wall later making PJGs family famous!科孚岛的机场就在修道院旁边，所以飞机就在修道院的头顶上降落和起飞。1967年这里还有一个警示的牌子。Isabel 和Rosemary有看到飞机吗？ The airport in Corfu is right next to the monastery, so planes land and take off right over it. There was a warning sign here in 1967. Did Isabel and Rosemary see any planes?今天牌子不见了，而且很多人都故意来这里看飞机起飞和降落. The sign is gone today, and now many people come here on purpose just to watch the planes land and take off!科孚岛明信片景色. A Corfu postcard view, taken from our restaurant.午餐在山顶上的一家饭店. Lunch at the Cafe Kononi restaurant at the top of the small hill.终于吃到了希腊沙拉和一道猪肉菜配薯条. Finally we had our first Greek salad and also a rolled pork dish with fries. Also notice the plane landing just at the right moment for the photo!
The second destination is around the old town of Corfu, the background in this photo below is the old fortress at the edge of the old town. The fortress was built by the Venetians in the 15th century. In the photo below is PJG’s brother, Brian. Maybe only Brian would sit still for a photo?
Brian乖乖地坐在那里拍照片. Brian sat there obediently having his picture taken.今天PJG给补了回啦，而且坐姿保持了一致. And today, PJG has made up for it, and his posture remains the same as Brian’s.今日份的猫咪. Today’s obligatory cat photo.这张照片背景中的左边的建筑是科孚岛法庭. The building on the left in the background of this photo is the Corfu court taken in 1967.可惜今天左边的法庭建筑在被修整，也没有了当初的那些马车 It’s a pity that the court building on the left is being renovated today but the location is about the same, but now there are no horse carriages.
The third destination was the Kardaki Venecian Natural Spring, located in a very hidden spot on the side of a mountain. How did PJG’s father know about this place in 1969? Google Maps only takes us to the general vicinity, we needed to search for the spot to walk down the mountain, and it’s not marked at all on the map. We finally asked a family to help us find the start of the hiking path.
We found the spot and hiked down the hill. There is a sign above the spring from 1968, and there is a poem on the sign. So this visit is from PJGs family’s 2nd trip to Corfu. The poem basically says that if you drink from the spring water here, you are destined to return again. It seems that the spell of poem worked!
下山的入口，在两栋居民楼之间. The entrance to the path leading to the Kardaki Spring is located between these two residential buildings. (GPS: 39.600708, 19.924774)下山. Starting the short downhill hike继续下山. Continuing downhill就是这个天然山泉. And here is the Kardaki natural springPJG和Brian在1969年的时候第一次喝这个泉水，Brian什么时候会再次来到这里？ PJG and his brother Brian took a drink from the spring for the first time in 1969. When will Brian return again?为了更完美的复制上面的照片，我在假扮Brian, 哈哈，In our attempt to recreate the photo, I’m pretending to be Brian, haha,某人还想再来多少次？不过他说为了安全原因，他没有真的喝那个水 How many more times does someone want to come back? But he says he didn’t actually drink the water for fear of becoming ill.写着那首诗的牌子 The sign with the poem回程途中在一个小镇停留. We stopped on our way home in a small town for a snack.来了一杯冰凉的啤酒，好爽. Here comes two glasses of cold beer, so refreshing!回到酒店，发现酒店的人给我俩准备了香槟喝甜点！哈哈，肯定是因为我俩告诉他们这是我俩的10周年结婚纪念旅行 （不可告人的秘密是PJG为了能更有机会被升级房间，说这是我俩的10周年结婚纪念，哈哈） When we arrived back at the hotel, we found that the hotel staff had prepared a bottle of champagne and dessert for us! Haha, it must be because we told them it was our 10th wedding anniversary trip (the secret is that PJG said it was our 10th wedding anniversary in order to improve the chance of being upgraded, haha)发现这个小镇上的几个饭店都没有营业，当然我俩又去了昨晚去的那个饭店吃晚饭，左边的是烤鱿鱼，特别新鲜，右边的是包心菜裹肉馅，也很好吃. We found that there aren’t many restaurants open yet, so of course, we returned to the same restaurant we went to for dinner last night. The dish on the left was the grilled squid, which was very fresh, and the one on the right was stuffed cabbage, which was also delicious.PJG尝试了一个慢炖羊肉菜，好吃. PJG tried the Chef Special, a slow cooked goat dish and it was very delicious!我的是烤鲷鱼，也是特别新鲜，饭店的老板说看到我用手吃鱼他很高兴，因为那是真正的吃鱼的方法. Mine was a grilled Sea Bream, which was also very fresh. The boss at the restaurant said he was very happy to see me eating the fish with my hands, because that’s the real way to eat fish!免费的饭后甜酒，竟然给了我俩两种不同的，一个是金桔做的，一个是柠檬做的. Ridiculously, they provided us free dessert wines after dinner, giving us two different ones: one is made from kumquats and the other is made from lemons.
度过了非常愉快并有意义的一天，接下来的几天我俩还会去另外一些地方去重温记忆
It was a very enjoyable and meaningful day. In the next few days we will go to more places to relive other memories.
6 thoughts on “重温记忆 Chasing Memories”
Very interesting to see the 1967 photos and the ones today. I don’t recall seeing any planes landing, I’m sure I would remember that. I don’t remember going to the spring, it sure looks hard to find the path through residential homes!
White lies for freebies, it was your 10th anniversary something!!!
2 dinners in one night! Was one from the previous night? The fish and vegetables looks delicious.
Very interesting to see the 1967 photos and the ones today. I don’t recall seeing any planes landing, I’m sure I would remember that. I don’t remember going to the spring, it sure looks hard to find the path through residential homes!
White lies for freebies, it was your 10th anniversary something!!!
2 dinners in one night! Was one from the previous night? The fish and vegetables looks delicious.
I see there is an airplane taking off in the picture with your lunch plates.
Oh! good catch … I’ll add that to the caption.
很有意义的一天呀！
当年家庭旅游的几个地点居然都找到了。
那几张新老照片的对比图拍的很好。尤其是修道院门前照的，左右两侧的人都神奇的巧合。
螃蟹居然可以钓到，技术可以呀。
今日美食也很诱人。
What was up with your brother? Maybe a “special” child or your mother forgot to help him get dressed for crab catching that day.
Are you going to go to Dirty Dick’s bar near the old port?
Thanks for the blog. A lot of fun to read.
Did they go to dirty dicks?