|
Summer 2007 will no doubt be remembered by everyone, each for different reasons. By all of us for the wonderful April, but in the UK followed by an appalling summer and floods, in Greece for its heat waves and finally the terrible forest fires and the loss of life and livelihood they caused.
Greek Easter fell early this year, though it felt like summer, we were all able to spit roast our lambs and enjoy unseasonable warm sunshine whilst enjoying the last of our local wine. We all had our first swim of the year early this year, in April; the sea was as warm as June but with the added bonus of having the beach all to ourselves!
The summer season in Corfu got off to a leisurely start again, which for the early visitors meant they too had the luxury of the beach to themselves! July and August were frantic with everyone struggling in the heat.
Our plan to sponsor the worthy Greek children's charity, Smile of the child, was made after publication of the brochure last year so some of you may not have seen our statement on the website. We know that there is charity fatigue in the UK, with constant requests for money dropping through the letter box everyday, for that reason we were hesitant in mentioning our chosen “good cause”, but Greece, with a much smaller population and much of the country being poor farmers; raising money for a charity is much harder than in the UK, so to anyone who feels like helping, any small change left over can be dropped in the collection box in Castaway Travel, or given to Carole in the envelopes we will leave in the information folders in your house.
TWF had a thankfully busy summer and we were proud to have been chosen by two couples who invited the whole family to enjoy landmark wedding anniversaries. Congratulations to them both! We also had our second TWF wedding in Acharavi. A wonderful day for all concerned and congratulations to them too! The day was organized by a friend of ours, Anne Kantas, who plans weddings and does all the nasty paperwork to make the day as smooth as possible. We can put you in touch if this is something you have been thinking about and offer you accommodation for you and your family and friends in lovely parts of Corfu.
There has been a considerable shift to the use of the Internet lately as more and more people book their holidays direct, choosing flights and accommodation to suit themselves, especially true in Acharavi where regular visitors have not been able to find their favourite village in holiday brochures. The new GB Airways flight operated by British Airways, from Gatwick, has been a huge success, with people who had the foresight to book well in advance, finding some excellent prices. This flight operates 4 days a week and opened the doors to a great deal more flexibility, people were able to book holidays for 4 nights, 9 nights and even from Saturday to Saturday.
STOP PRESS!!
Easyjet is negotiating the purchase of GB Airways. Watch this space for more info!
Though previously very tied by the old Corfu Monday and Friday flight days we have responded to this by allowing arrivals on different days where at all possible. In early and late season this is normally not a problem but is harder in high season where people who prefer fly from their local airports are still restricted the two flight arrival days.
Their web-site is www.ba.com . It is pleasing to see how many people have found the flight page on our own web-site, a good an ABTA bonded Travel agent, was to make it easy for people to book their holidays all in one place. The Internet can get very confusing for those who are not familiar with it. Our search engine is simple to use, you tell it the date you require and where you want to fly from and it will do the rest! www.twfcorfu.com/flights.htm . It will also show you a telephone number so that those who still prefer to hear the sound of a human voice can complete their booking in the old fashioned way. This service is also complimented by our Budget Holidays programme which is only featured on the web-site, and is aimed at people who like to put their holiday together themselves and go it alone. We offer two small apartment complexes both with pool in Acharavi; Irene and Katerina.
In Acharavi Where to start with all the changes here? We are sorry to lose two of our popular houses, Angeliki and Kikis which have been taken back by the owner for family reasons. The Beachside Bungalows Restaurant has had a busy summer, and now has a pool table as well as sport TV, but its position ON the beach with comfy sofas to have a sundowner whilst watching another magnificent sunset, to our mind, beats watching any football match!
The Family Fun day at the local Hydropolis water park, which started last year proved very successful with good family entertainment, jugglers, magicians and clowns with a ticket price of 17 Euro an Adult and 12 for children was exceptionally good value, including a barbecue lunch with soft drinks.
The Palm Tree Taverna, another old favourite in Acharavi, has closed, but down on the beach by Woody's and the Faros a new taverna has opened in the old Liberties premises; Afros is artistically designed and is mainly seafood with some unusual items on the menu such as mussels in coconut milk with coriander, (which are delicious!) The once well known Gloo Gloo taverna has been resurrected as a coffee bar serving delicious Italian Ice Cream, it is run by Adonis (George's son) and his wife Nikki, you will often find all the other family members there helping out or drinking coffee with friends. Little Michaela from the Gloo Gloo has joined her sister Aleka as waitress at the Pumphouse Restaurant.
There is a new restaurant in the hills behind the Monolithi called the Sunset which has views unrivalled on the north coast.
The Sweet Corner coffee and cake shop near Castaway Travel is under new management, it is now run by Papa Nikos and his sons Aaron and Alex, and he himself can often be seen berobed and helping clean up ready for the day! Congratulation to Aaron too, who has just announced his engagement.
A new music bar has opened above Vento, Alta Ego seems to cater mostly to the teens, whilst the revamped Versus bar has a slightly older clientele.
Old favourites like Yamas and Central bar are still going strong, always popular on football nights for those who can't bear not seeing their team play! Andreas and Natalie had a worry time in the spring when their little boy was born prematurely, but we are pleased to say he is now doing well.
The old PlanetOlivewood reopened last summer as the Acharavi Café, run by Stephanos “bikes' ” son. His terrace is a pleasant place for a nightcap and watching the world go by.
Makis' Internet Café opposite the Odysseus Taverna is always busy with those who need to keep in touch and has some sophisticated computers with all the “gear”, webcams, photo printers etc.
Agios Stefanos is setting new standards, and looks likely to be the new gourmet region of the North West corner, with the opening of a very smart beach-side restaurant. The old favourites of Manthos, Waves and Nafsika still serve the best in traditional food with fresh fish and salad, whilst also rising to the challenge of new competition.
Some new private villas have been built up by Nicos pool, to be used by visiting family from America. The small hotels and bars on the hillside continue to tick over, but do not affect our houses around the Nafsika which still offers a peaceful haven in the village.
The diving school has proved successful this year and the new harbour has also seen more boats use its safe mooring. Vangelis continues to look after the properties with a younger eye and is hoping to put in new bathrooms for 2008 in Irainas house, and carry out further improvements to Mihalis house. Their little boy Mihalis, named after his grandfather, has now started nursery this summer in Magoulades and is constant joy to his grandma Helena, who still runs around watching her chickens and cooking for the family.
Kaminaki still feels like you have stumbled on a secret! It had a quiet summer though many regulars return each year to catch up on everyone's news. Sue from the taverna continues in good health, and this summer the children Mark and Lucy were helping in the running of the taverna. Anna and Asterios have now seen Dimitri leave for the UK to continue his studies there and are looking forward to moving into their own house in the autumn. Their water sport centre is always popular offering lots of cool fun, water skiing, wake boarding, donuts and new this year, the flying sofa! Mr. and Mrs. Prokopis despite their ages keep healthy with their daily walk up to the top of the mountain. With the extreme heat this year the air con in Prokopis proved a blessing, as did hiring of boats as a means of transport and a way of keeping cool while out and about. So much so, that even clients from Acharavi took to the helm too, taking a day out in Kaminaki combined with a day's boat rental to pootle along the East coast marvelling at the clear blue seas and stopping to picnic and snorkel.
This summer also saw Kaminaki as a venue for wedding receptions and 60th birthday celebrations, a more idyllic spot could not be found! The micro market could be said to have upgraded to a mini market! It added fresh fruit and a whole new range of food and goods requested by customers in stock, so saving shopping trips further a field. Up on the main road,
Aphrodite's added a string to her bow by taking a florist course and opening a flower shop & mini garden centre. Very useful for locals and visitors for surprises and thank you's!
Captain Theo is now settled in his new role with Captain Aris cruises, joined by Captain Aris’ son, Tassos as crew. The most popular trip this year seems to be the evening trip to Corfu town. As Theo can no longer help out in the office; Sue now has the help of Alyson, who also speaks fluent German, and has been in the Travel industry for more years than she cares to admit, has added a new enthusiasm to Castaway Travel.
Castaway Travel sadly lost its mascot this year, poor little Spitha the adopted Greek stray that used to sit on duty on the office steps with her paws crossed, crossed the bridge to the green playing fields in the Sky.
With the heat this summer it was a lovely cool way to visit this lovely Venetian town, now designated a Unesco heritage site, and returning under clear starlit skies or watching a full moon rise over Albania is magical. Captain Aris cruise had a complimentary mention in OK magazine this year too!
Talking of fame, the TV chef Rick Stein was spotted in The Tropicana bar in Roda in April having a break while finishing filming his food programme 'Mediterranean Escapes” in Corfu. The programme was an excellent snapshot of the best parts of Corfu with some beautiful photography, and he made some of Greece's best dishes such as skordalia, fish bianco and stifado. Whilst on the subject of name dropping; Roman Abramovitz' yacht was often seen cruising around the north east coast, he himself protected by “discreet” body guards. It seems he may be so taken with Corfu that he has bought a house here. He is not the only one, more estate agents continue to open here to capitalize on the flood of people from the UK wishing to relocate, and yet more TV programmes were filmed here this year illustrating the type of properties available and the life the island offers.
The BBC was here again, filming Francesco's Mediterranean; he called in on his beautiful pirate ship the Black Swan, visiting many parts of Greece as he sailed from Venice to Istanbul. People will recognize David Bellamy leaping around Gerald Durrell's “chessboard fields” looking for terrapins and frogs, by Lake Halikopolis, near the Airport and no programme on Corfu would be complete without a cricket match on the Liston! The Greek team was led by our old assistant manager from the Alpha bank in Acharavi and the bus which took the film crew overland to Delphi was driven by Spiros, one time Grecian/Golden Sun holidays Acharavi handyman! We are always pleased to have in-put from clients for the newsletter as you see things from different perspective.
Acharavi guest Mrs. Bennett gave us an amusing description of her Ultra smooth journey home, which highlights the benefits of our “package” with transfers included:
“Firstly the taxi driver - he arrived nice and early, got out of his car and dusted some dirt off the side. He was immaculately dressed (and scented) and really polite and chatty. He crawled up the dirt track from the bungalows (to avoid messing up his car we think) and then drove really sensibly (unusual in our experience) to the airport. He seemed to go a different way, using wider and cleaner roads. The inside of the car was spotless and all the maps etc in the door pockets were wrapped up in dusters. Every time he took a sip of water he wiped his mouth with a hanky and fussed over a speck of dirt on his trousers. We all laughed about this degree of fastidiousness, but he was wonderful - I would have him again any day. Then we only had to wait outside the airport for a short time before being shown the queue, speeding through check-in, and passing quickly through security in time for a nice shop in duty free (which is now much more expensive that in the local shops in Acharavi). Before much longer we were called to board, and the flight took off about 1hr 15 mins early! We have never before had such an easy time (and probably never will again!)”
And Mrs Andrea Bates summed up the English summer: (www.andreabates.co.uk)
Summer? What summer?
Our precious Acacia shedding its leaves in July,
Silhouetted skeletal against the sky,
Pelargonia shivering in the cold,
Leaves yellowing-no buds unfold,
With March winds and April showers in June,
We ask, Will summer come soon?
Beneath skies of menacing inky grey
Potatoes rotting in soggy claggy clay
We are filled with dismay:
Is this really summer?
A summer of slimy slugs so bloated and fat
How I'd love to make them go SHPLAT
As they gorge on our lettuce and lilies and lupins lush,
I'd love to squash them to a pulpy mush.
Villagers in anoraks
And pac-a-macs
And browns and blacks.
Oh where the diaphanous summer frocks
In frilly pink and dazzling white?
And pale men in long trousers-
Not a suntanned nobly knee in sight!
And pasty-faced children to their play-stations glued
Grow more pasty-faced indoors where no sun does not obtrude.
Swimming pools deserted, with an end-of-season feel
And biting winds in mid-summer feel unreal.
And so I ask you, not without reason,
What has happened to our beloved silly season?
That's all for this year folks! Hope to see you in 2008.
|
