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Today’s ‘Postcard From Home‘ comes all the way from Corfu, where co-founder of Ancient Greek Sandals and honourary Corfiot, Christina Martini, says yiasou from her “sanctuary” on the resplendently verdant island off Greece’s northwest coast.
Unlike the clichéd blue-and-white narrative which immortalises Greece, Corfu is gloriously green; the island abounds in sweeping olive groves, towering cypress trees, lemon and orange and Judas trees, oaks, elms, and kumquat trees, which produce a local, much loved liqueur that greying men sip while fumbling kombolói, Greek worry beads.
A place of unbridled beauty, it was the cerebral fodder of Durrell and Gerald, the spot where a shipwrecked Odysseus was soothed by Athena and sent on his way home. It is also a haven for tourists; in summer its charming Old Town teems with sunburnt heads and happy holidaymakers, its splendid (and spindly) cobblestone streets, or kantounia, and imposing Venetian fortresses both bustling and feverish during the months the sun shines.
But following a swift and severe lockdown summoned by the Greek government (which in fact fared incredibly well), a curious quiet fell over the popular isle.
For Martini, it’s this unusual quietude which has felt most profound during the pandemic. Here, the footwear designer writes to us from her office nook overlooking the sea, and explains how she feels both creative and conflicted during these trying times…
