It is with great sadness that we must announce the sudden and unexpected death of Acharavi’s Captain Aris. He was a larger than life character, with a huge, warm heart. Full of smiles, those who have enjoyed a day out with him will have many memories to keep his legend alive. Thanks to all of you who have expressed sympathy, there are so many, but every word has been appreciated. Captain Aris cruises will continue to operate in the same tradition with Aris’ brother, Theo at the helm.

 

Congratulations TWF on our 10th anniversary! There was a sense of pleasure and pride sitting in our Board Room (the Skondros Taverna, proud of its new status!) watching a brilliantly coloured sunset, just like the one on the day of TWF’s conception, in the same place, so long ago. It was fun to reminisce.

 

Bouncing ideas around for a name it was hard to think of something that conveyed our message and had not already been used. It was not until sometime later that we discovered that Quakers call themselves “Friends” and we were concerned we would be mistaken for a religious interest group! Luckily that hasn’t happened… yet! What gives us most pleasure too is that our name has achieved its goal, in more ways than we could have imagined. Often our job barely feels like one as so often we are greeting return visitors that have become friends, so it is more like entertaining than work, and now we find that children of different families have struck up lasting friendships which they keep up with get togethers in the UK. This includes our own, who have discovered e-mail as an easy and quick method of keeping in touch giving the usual summer holiday anticipation a new flavour.

 

Interestingly, whilst discussing a 2005 newsletter, we decided that we had burnt ourselves out and that really there wasn’t any major news this year and we really could not discuss yet another bad year in tourism. We know it is a feature many of you look forward too, (more than the brochure?!) but wondered if it detracted interest from the brochure itself…. It seems not. Luckily for avid readers of the newsletter it was saved from extinction by a client, new to us, who had discovered us by browsing through a copy outside Castaway Travel, in Acharavi, whilst waiting for the minibus to the Greek night at Monolithi taverna. (We cannot quote him because his he said his wife didn’t know he was here!) He pointed out the benefits they had drawn from it, that it conveyed its own message of our modus operandum. That same conversation inspired other subjects for us to cover here, so thank you … Mr. Doe! So with a pat on the back we wind the summer 2005 season down and prepare for the next.

 

We are very pleased to say too, that we have even been able to make a few special low season price reductions for 2006!!

 

We are also now featuring some Budget “bare bones” accommodation, for those who really wish to go it alone, in apartments with pools. Irene (also known as Erene) and Katerina apartments are well known to regular visitors to Acharavi.

 

Acharavi has been greatly affected by most of the local hotels going over to “All Inclusive” holidays, together with the construction of the new Almyros Village hotel, on the beach outside the village. Please allow us a little rant here.

 

We appreciate the value of all inclusive holidays, especially for families where not having to worry about extras like ice creams and cokes for the kids and the on site entertainment. We do believe however that there is no place for them in Europe. They are destroying the local economy, as they do not contribute anything to local shops bars or tavernas, places like Acharavi will become ghost towns so many apartments lay empty. Powerful tour operators respond to the new demand for such holidays by no longer featuring these types of properties and mainly only offer such hotels. In places like the Caribbean and the Gambia where there are safety issues and often there are few local facilities, and those are expensive; we concede there is a place for them.

 

The pleasure of a Greek holiday is being able to let the children out on their own, it is the variety of good quality and good value local tavernas and restaurants, it is the atmosphere and warmth of the local hospitality.

 

The locals lamented how busy Corfu airport was; but where were all those people going? The island was so quiet? Well, they just didn’t leave their all-inclusive complexes. It seems Portugal has already banned All Inclusive holidays and Spain is reviewing its policies. Let us hope Greece wakes up before the damage is irreparable as First Choice plan to build yet another all inclusive hotel at the far end of Almyros beach, local objections have halted work for the time being.

 

So, stepping down from the soap box… Acharavi welcomed the return of Liberties seafood restaurant, which is in new premises behind the Palm Tree restaurant. We have a new restaurant on the beach called the L’Histoire d’Eau. It is between Woody’s and the Navigators pool taverna; you will see their smart soft sofas and wooden sun beds. It is quite a smart place offering seafood, more expensive than average, but with an innovative menu. Somewhere you can put your best bib and tucker on for if you have a special event to celebrate, though casual is fine. The Palmira has been taken over and is now the trendy Fuego Bar. Whispers bar was under new management this year but now has sadly closed its door forever, as will Planet Olivewood. Anita and Alan have also closed Anita restaurant on the back road.

 

The Scarabeo club has had a complete renovation and will re-open in the guise of a café bar.

 

The 4 estate agents locally continue to boom as interest in a “lifestyle change” continues unabated.

 

Takis and Katia, so fondly remembered by those who used to frequent the Gloo Gloo restaurant, will find them on the back road in the old village kafenion. Takis with his special brand of humour and Katia with her cooking skills, put to use to produce simple mezes, provide a traditional, truly Greek place to watch local men play backgammon and put the world to rights and absorb that special feeling that is Greece.

 

Something else to remind us of how many years we have been in operation, is that the owners of Eleni’s House, Eleni and Nikos, are going to move into Eleni themselves as their sons are both about marry and will take over the main house. We are sad to lose a house which has been popular for so many years, but we have gained two one bed roomed apartments there in the main building, which will be called Kostas. They are remarkably spacious for couple, share the same convenient location and have the unusual benefit of real baths!

 

Regular visitors to Toula discovered that air conditioning has been installed and was a great boon to a good nights sleep in those hot summer months. One of the side effects being closed windows and no dawn mossy raiders!

 

Vangelis at Beachside Bungalows has renovated the taverna in front of the houses and will open it as a family run snack bar in 2006.

 

Ag. Stefanos in 2005 was like stepping back in time for those who loved the old quiet sleep village. Here the big tour operators have also drastically cut down, leaving the huge beach to the select few! This year even the new part up on the hill was quieter than previous years. Luckily the small businesses like Perdita glass shop, and Spiros wife, Katerina’s small bijou shop are still open offering delightful unusual gifts attracting shoppers from other resorts. Also the reputation of the tavernas has stood them in good stead, again attracting customers from all around. For those wishing to pamper yourself on holiday, a beauty salon has opened up on the Arillas road, offering all sorts of treatments including massage and manicures.

 

Also new this year was the opening of an Internet café, so for those of you who have withdrawal symptoms from the net, you can surf in the sunshine with an ouzo by your side. The Little Prince continues to have Greek dancing every night with Michali and Georgos, which proves very popular, whilst Spiro at the Hotel Nafsika has moved off the dance floor and into the kitchen enjoying creating new dishes with his mother Theodora for us all to try. Vangelis has christened the baby who, of course, is called Mihalis after his grandfather, who still continues to do well.

 

The harbour still proves a popular place to take a stroll to, and has become busier with more of the youngsters following in their father’s footsteps and becoming fishermen, which offers them an all year round job.

 

This year in Kaminaki saw some of the beachfront houses remain empty for most of the season, but it became the Greek and Italian favourite place in high summer. The size of Kaminaki remains as small as ever, still only the 2 tavernas and micro market, retaining its secret charm. The pathway over to Agni proved a little more difficult this year due to a building on the headland before Agni, but next year, it should be finished and the path cleared. The good news for those who wish to have a late night drink, up on the main road, Aphrodite’s son has opened a small bar, next to the supermarket, called "Midnight", with gentle music and local mezedes. This year also saw the closure of the Falcon Travel office in Nissaki, but happily Judy and Mitzi are still seen out and about regularly, enjoying long lunches at Kaminaki and boat trips out with friends. The first of the brood is about to fly the nest, Anna and Asterios’ eldest daughter, Sophia, who did so well achieving 3 A levels in a year, will be off to Winchester University in the Autumn, to study English and Performing Arts, we all very proud of her and hope she enjoys her time there.

 

(Kaminaki) Sue, from the taverna had a busy summer, with Elizabeth staying in the UK carrying on her job as a travel consultant, and Lucy continues with higher education after doing well in her exams and of course Mark back at school in September. George and Alexander still rent the sun beds, Costa their son remains footloose and fancy free. The older generation still keeps a watchful eye on the beach, and continues in good health.

 

Another subject that came up whilst discussing the demise of the newsletter was dreams; so here is our survey…Food for thought. Do you dream more whilst on holiday here? It seems many of you do. Corfu is known as the island of dreams for many reasons. It lies on the convergence of many “ley lines”. These lines being places where the earth’s energy comes to the surface, and have been traced running through Corfu and many Greek temples such as Delphi, the Parthenon, Dodoni and Delos, and are thought to be responsible for many supernatural experiences. They are also known as dragon lines; for this reason some mountain churches (such as Petalia) also have stone carving of dragons over their doors.

 

We personally believe this is the reason for the extraordinary number of co-incidences that happen here too! One has to wonder if there is also a relationship to the Corfiot saying that drink the water here and you are sure to return, many of you are witness to this fact!

 

Despite everywhere being exceptionally quiet this year the airport seemed exceptionally busy! We have managed to persuade some of you to travel with hand baggage and have proved how much hassle it can save at the airport. Hand baggage being a bag weighing not more than 5 kgs and must fit in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you. Think about how many of your clothes you take home unworn, and how easy it is to rinse things through and dry them. When you travel with hand baggage you will come straight through the baggage reclaim area…. No waiting…and even better, you will reap the rewards a hundred times over on departure. You will probably have witnessed wilting queues for check in, but you will go straight to the front of the queue, not needing to wait for your checked luggage to be scanned. A thought to bear in mind when packing,

 

In our constant quest to make booking your holiday easier and as cheap as possible we have set up a flight search engine on our website: www.twfcorfu.com/flights.htm .

 

This is linked to a Holiday Express, an ABTA bonded agent in the UK and searches all tour operators for the best flights and allows you to choose the one at the right price the right time and from the right airport. It is easy to use, you just tell it the date you want, the airport of your choice and the duration of your holiday and it does the rest. Once you have selected your flight it will give you a telephone number to call to make your booking. Quote the reference number from the page as it enables them to go straight to the flight you have chosen. For those who do not have internet access, or are electronically challenged, you can call them on 01633 798688.