Corfu

I received this postcard today from Nopi in Komotini, Greece.

This was a private exchange.

My research on the internet tells me that Corfu is one of the largest of the Greek

Islands and has the appeal of a European town--from the Venetian Canal and

fortresses, to the French-styled Liston (the building with the great arches), to the cricket green in the old town's esplanade. Corfu is full of wildflowers in the spring, soft breezes in the

autumn. Winter rains keep the island green and the warm summer season brings abundant

fruit trees, including olive and citrus trees, and the unusual kumquat, which is said to

have been brought to Venice from China by Marco Polo.

Gerald Durell, who with his brother Lawrence, both writers, lived as ex-patriots on Corfu

in the 1930's,

wrote in his book, 'The Garden of the Gods' (1978):

"The Platia, laid out with its great arches to resemble the Rue de Rivoli by

French architects in the early years of the French Occupation of Corfu, was the

hub of the island. Here you would sit at little tables under the arches or

beneath the shimmering trees and, sooner or later, you would see everyone on the

island and hear every facet of every scandal. One sat there drinking

quietly and, sooner or later, all the protagonanists in the drama were

washed up at one's table."

These two beautiful stamps carried the card to me.

Thank you, Nopi, for the card and stamps.