Two of the Greek ports we visited on our Mediterranean cruise present views of the country which don’t fit the stereotypical picture of a Greek landscape: steep mountains, rocky shorelines, arid terrain. Both boast lovely blue waters, but one also might be surprised by how much lush vegetation and arable land one encounters on Corfu and in the region around Katákolon (Olympia).

Corfu is one of the Ionian islands on the west coast of Greece, and it is covered in olive groves. At the time of our visit, the trees were heavily laden with the small green fruit, and harvest was still a month or two off (usually in November). Not surprisingly, several shops in Kérkira (Corfu Town, the island capital) offer olive oil and all manner of items carved from olive wood. The city has a very cosmopolitan feel, with beautiful churches, palaces and buildings from the Venetian, French Empire and British colonial eras lining pedestrian-friendly narrow streets. These branch off of Spianada Square, a large plaza/park lined with trees and flower beds.

The next day, after landing in the small port of Katákolon, we boarded a bus to take us about 20 miles to the site of the ruins of ancient Olympia. We crossed wide, flat plains where fields of cotton and corn and groves of olive and fruit trees grew. Even the ruins of Olympia — very extensive — were softened everywhere by large oaks and sycamores and evergreens. I had expected lots of hot sun on glaringly bright stone but was delighted by the cool shadows of the trees in the fresh morning air as we explored the Gymnasium where the athletes practiced, the enormous remains of the Temple of Zeus and the immense expanse of the Stadium itself. I’m not sure why, but that living green mantle made it easier for me to picture this place alive with contestants and spectators 2,500 years ago. Perhaps the trees provided a scale I could more readily relate to than the immense fractured columns scattered everywhere.

That’s one of the things I love best about travel: having one’s preconceived notions upended and replaced by an unexpected and more lovely reality.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor