Travel With Friends 2009 Blog

Whilst others are shivering in Europe and the UK, we have been fortunate enough to have experienced very little cold weather. There have been beautiful snowfalls on the Albanian mountains opposite but only lots and lots of rain here.

This has made up for our lack of rain in the summer, but we were reminiscing that it does remind us of our “old style” Corfu winters of many years ago.

Dear Friends.........

Resort News

We know that a Corfu holiday is the best medicine for a bout of economic recession, so we look forward to seeing you in 2009! Wishing you all Kali Kronia! Happy New Year!

We are both in robust health and both enjoy our winter respite, and rediscovering our favourite place; Corfu

Then it rained and rained constantly with no form of heating to get clothes dry, no satellite dishes, only two channels on the black and white telly, which only broad cast in the evenings. Fasoulada (bean soup) was our staple diet, along with a good supply of home made local wine!

Some things haven’t changed, bean soup is still on the menu as of course is the local wine, but we do now have comforts which we never dreamed of 30 odd years ago such as 24 hour colour TV, heating, fresh milk ,frozen peas, satellite dishes and supermarkets nearby making life a lot easier. Greeks always refer to their biblical 40 days of winter rain, which should be followed by the halcyon days of January; we seem to heading for our second round of 40 days rain and January is fast losing its chance to give us or halcyon days!

We love to celebrate Christmas as it is our one true holiday with our families.

As we have said before Corfu has taken it to its hearts and this year the town was lit up again all along the main streets as well as all the houses with their outside lights, and climbing Santa Clauses. We of course celebrate on the 25th December with our exchange of gifts.

Many Greeks exchange their gifts on New Years day after Ag Vassilis’ (the Greek Santa’s) visit on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Eve we traditionally cook small doughnuts covering them with honey and sugar and cut the Vassilopitta.

A plain sugared cake which contains a coin which will bring prosperity and good luck to the person who finds it in his slice of cake.

This year we also had a big celebration on the 26th December which was Sue and Theo’s daughters Elena’s 18th birthday. The table sat 20 and Theo was busy barbecuing all morning for a true Greek feast. The birthday of course was a big event in itself, made more exciting as she had just returned from her studies at university in England after her first term living away from home for the first time! Many of you will remember pictures of a pretty little girl in our very early brochures, it’s hard to believe that she is now studying in the UK and jetting to and fro!

Carole also had visitors at Christmas; her mother came and celebrated her birthday as well, just a little bit older than Elena at 86 years young!

Carole (and her Mum!) are helping her husband with the olive crop whilst still attempting to teach Lily the new puppy not to chase chickens.

Despite the changeable weather, we were lucky enough to be able to have a barbecue on the beach on 31st of December and you can see from the pictures the beach is not quite as crowded as in the summer.

Also the children were so pleased to be back on the beach; they stunned us all and jumped in the sea, definitely not as warm as the summer either. We watched a beautiful Acharavi sunset whilst toasting marshmallows on the fire, what better way to bid goodbye to 2008?

Sue’s winter is quiet, after a hectic spell being taxi, cook and with the washing machine working in top gear during Elena’s whirlwind visit, she now does what she loves doing most in Corfu winters, walking through the olive groves, mountains, and the beach.

Cheka the cute little lab puppy is now a galumphing, 30kg, ball of energy and loves the walks. She also loved her first visit to Sue’s favourite mountain area on the mainland, Zagoria.

The day long hikes through staggering scenery ensured a quiet dog while we went out to eat the likes of wild boar and some of the many savoury pies for which the area is renowned, as its local tipple; Tsipouro. It is made from the distilled grape pomace and is pretty powerful stuff; a Greek grappa.

They have a Tsipouro festival when the distilling is complete; the villages are packed with people from all over the country trying the new vintage.

Having sworn it is best used as cough cure rubbed on the chest she confesses to finally having acquired the taste for it! It is served in shot glasses with a small meze, and can be served hot too.

What news for Corfu? The biggest news is the expected completion of the brand new 280 bed hospital in Kondokali, just outside Corfu town. It will have the latest medical equipment and small two bedded wards. There is also a big new private clinic being built the other side of town.

The work on the new marina in the old port plods on, still creating traffic havoc as the area was a good car park.

There have been constant road works out all the way from town to the North of the island and they hope to divert traffic from the airport around the town to ease congestion.

Locally, in Kaminaki the severe winds we have experienced washed away most of the beach and came right up over the Taverna. A new taverna has opened up on the main road serving delicious grilled meats and home made chips. Open in winter too, it is run by Andreas and his wife who does all the cooking. It has proved very popular with the locals and should be even more popular in the summer with visitors.

Agios Stefanos shuts down completely for the winter, with no shops or tavernas open. The locals are all involved in the olive harvest, which this year has proved to be a bumper crop, instead of slow and steady olive picking there has been a mad rush to the presses with so many olives brought down by the windy and wet weather conditions. Vangelis still fishes whilst the women collect the olives We have a new property in Agios Stefanos. Click HERE to view more details.

Acharavi is still the busiest place after Corfu town, people come from miles around to go to the bank and supermarket to avoid going to Corfu town where they know they will not be able to park. Monolithi, Sunset, The Pump, Fattoria, Odysseus Skondros, Filaraki Green grill, Liberties and Apnoea are open, some just at weekends. On Saturday nights and Sunday lunch time the Monolithi has live music, this year courtesy of Georgos and Fotis, (who used to have Valentines pizzeria and Opa Opa bouzouki club.) They play some wonderful music and Saturday nights are inclined to be very atmospheric with wine flowing freely. (Sue is glad she doesn’t have far to go home!) A telling sign of the credit crunch biting here too as the Pump used to be open everyday, now it’s only Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Spiros the owner of Hermes shop has fulfilled a dream and opened a FOLK LORE MUSEUM opposite the roman baths. He has done a great job and really is interesting to see the relics of a time gone by (and wonderful watching grandparents explain to grandchildren what everything was used for, and showing them what they used to have.)

The two DVD shops have closed. The Adonis Bar has increased the numbers of computers for Internet use.

Acharavi has replaced Sidari as the nightlife centre of the north, the roads are jammed on weekend nights and the clubs busy with young people from all around, the new fast food place Pacman and Angelos creperie are busy till dawn.

The back road has been dug up, filled in and dug up again as pipes are laid for the new sewerage system being built outside the village, it would be nice to think it may be finished by summer!

Nefeli Gold shop next to the post office has reinvented itself as a lingerie shop; Elegance.

Dimitra supermarket feels rather more like Sainsbury’s these days, there are so many English voices to be heard! The new estate in Roda has been nicknamed Brookside. Though it seems many people have had to put the brakes on their building projects waiting for exchange rates and the economy to improve. Some have been forced to return home unable to find work to sustain themselves.

The battle goes on the prevent a tourist development being built in the Natura 2000 reserve on Nissos, the small island at the end of Almiros beach.

The worst news for TWF was Toula’s decision not to rent her houses anymore. It was a wrench for her as well as us and we are sad to see them go. They are being used for permanent residence now. The independent houses like our old Anthony, Spiridoula and Toula are getting harder and harder to find as the demands of tourism change.

Nationally, the much reported news of riots in Athens just before Christmas put a damper on the Christmas spirit. The riots were sparked by the police shooting of a young 15 year old boy named Alex, and resulted in 5 days and nights of street demonstrations and rioting.

Though we feel obliged to say that terrible though they were, English news gets a little carried away, as was seen by its coverage of the so called “riots” in Corfu town. Sue happened to be in town that day, and saw a noisy but peaceful demonstration and was surprised to see the incidents on BBC news that night. There was one incident of the Chief of Police car being set alight, but the streets were calm and shops remained open and life did carry on as normal.

It is hard for those outside Greece to understand that such demonstrations and attempts to bring the government down are historically a kind of rite of passage for young Greeks; stemming from the deaths during student riots in 1973 when the dictator government tanks stormed the University. It is a trait ingrained from eons of occupation, wars and dictatorship. This BBC journalist explains the Greek Psyche well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7771628.stm

The mood in Greece was already volatile with demonstrations planned against the government’s stringent economic measures. They nearly achieved their goal of toppling the government, insecure with its majority of just 1.

Sadly Greece like every where else is suffering from the economic downturn, which has directly affected Travel with Friends.

We have had to rethink our way of pricing, with the pound in freefall we have been forced into the decision to only work in Euro, this will avoid having to raise surcharges or keep adjusting our prices. Last year we absorbed the loss of the falling pound but to do so for a second year would have been impossible.

This summer Easyjet (www.easyjet.com) have added flights to Corfu from Bristol and Manchester, as well as Gatwick , so maybe this expansion will lead to the first direct winter flight so you too can see the other side of this lovely island; but don’t forget your umbrella!

Why not consider Greek Easter? Easyjet starts their schedule from 1st April. Greek Easter is 19th April, Easter in Europe is the 12th April, a perfect chance to grab a spring break!

Easter is a huge celebration in Greece and the atmosphere is wonderful. Corfu’s own traditions are unique and very special. The island is bright with spring flowers and the vibrant green of spring grass. It is often sunny and warm, (you may still need that umbrella for the odd April shower though!) The houses all have heating should the evenings be cool.