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There will be many rumours about Greek state assets being privatised or put up for sale. I have already seen a few about Corfu's Achilleon Palace.
Who knows if they are true? Quite possibly, because the Greek state auctioned off most of the old palace furniture belonging to Empress Elizabeth of Austria and Kaiser Wilhelm II many years ago.
Sisi didn't like the palace once it had been built and never returned to Corfu after 1896. I don't blame her for not liking the building. Let it go! It's not something which is authentically Greek.
The Achilleon has also served its time as a casino, amongst other things. How many people read or appreciate the poetry of Empress Elizabeth of Austria? It might be a good idea to sell copies of her poems before they start on the bricks and mortar.
"But I return home to your bays if life's storm displeases me. I find it here, what I and my seagulls seek- Peace, well away from the world".
(Abschied und Ruckfahrt, 15 November, 1887)
She missed the island, her vision of the Garden of Eden, and the Ionian Sea with a fierce nostalgia when away.
In Sehnsucht nach Corfu (October 1887), she yearns "for the cypress trees that stand high on the grey rocks, from which, gravely and forgotten by the world, they look dreamily towards Albania...I wish I could go walking and reflect once more in the aromatic orange grove, as I used to do once upon a time, all alone with my solitary dreams."
In "Meeresfahrt" (October 1888), she sighs that "Longing will eat one's heart out, it robs one of peace of mind and happiness, and night and day you will dream and think back to the blue seas of the Ionian."
Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Kaiserin Elisabeth),
Das Poetische Tagebuch, Vienna, 1984
and
The Ionian Islands and Epirus, A Cultural History, 2010, pp 110-111
Corfu Blues (the book, 2006) pp 104-108.
It's not well known that the island was visited by the famous Scots bard William MacGonigal who wrote a fine tribute to the Achillion. I can only recall the first few lines...
ReplyDeleteThe Greek isle of Corfu floats in the blue Ionian Sea
Which as everyone knowns is a very beautiful place
It's loved by many a visitor and that includes me.
It was home to Nausika, who had a most lovely face.
Down the road from Benitses the pretty Princess Sissi
Took her holidays and...etc
I couldn't find it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/poems/
An undiscovered masterpiece of Scottish poetry?