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I have lived in Acharavi for 25 years and witnessed it change and develop. I have clients who continue to come because although the village has grown, it has not lost its character. The local people continue to display the tremendous “filoxenia” (hospitality), for which Greece is renowned.

Knowing that Acharavi has a dedicated following of people who return regularly I thought a ‘news and review’ page would appeal to those who have maybe had to miss a year, or just to keep abreast of the times.

Acharavi News 2004

My original intention had been to update this site and newsletter annually, as some of the regular site visitors will have noticed it is a while since I have had time to do this! It is gratifying to see people finding Castaway Travel’s website useful, and be able to answer queries but it is time consuming … thank you for being patient!

So to review the last couple of summers; the cycle of quiet times in tourism continues. There had been great optimism that the new image that Greece created for itself in its presentation of the Olympic Games would turn the tide, sadly, whilst people may now look at Greece with new eyes after a string of successes…Football…Olympic games… and now the Eurovision song contest, it has not.

But what a good year 2004 was to be Greek! First winning the football... rank outsiders, nobody could believe their eyes, not even the Greeks! You could not buy a Greek flag for love nor money! Acharavi's main road had a huge Greek flag painted in the middle of it where revellers danced out into the street cheering. They stopped the coaches and cars, wildly waving their flags, the police and fire brigade paraded up and down sirens wailing. (I can't imagine anyone went to bed early that night, but if they did they certainly would not have got to sleep early!)

This was followed by the celebration of the Olympic flame coming to Corfu on part of its final journey round the world back to Athens; a fantastic evening enjoyed by thousands. Every car and building proudly sported a Greek flag; these remained there for the advent of the Olympic Games. I myself felt an extraordinary pride that in 2004 the Olympic games were finally to come home to the place of their birth. It seemed inconceivable that I should consider going AWOL in August but did, and found the whole experience very moving. So forgive me if I wax a little lyrical here. Even those who have lived here for years, whilst despising the international press for their constant “Greek bashing”, and undermining of people’s confidence in the likelihood of it all being ready, secretly had fingers crossed behind their backs. But Athens was ready and waiting, vibrant, clean, and in party mood. Even taxi drivers, not renowned for their cheerfulness or good manners, were on their best behaviour. Welcome home flags fluttered colourfully over the streets. The new metro, which comes all the way in from the new airport, is amazing, so clean and interesting with archaeology exhibitions on display in many places. The transportation to and fro all the venues worked like clockwork with no queues anywhere. The venues themselves were wonderful. The closing ceremony was electric, made even more magic by the rising of a full moon over the massive stadium. The fireworks were breathtaking. At least one of us felt a lump in the throat as the massive Olympic torch was lowered to pass the flame to the girl who was to finally extinguish it, and the flag was carried away. Returning to Corfu was such an anticlimax and we haven’t stopped talking about it yet! (Thank you Theo who made my absence from the office possible!) All other events last year have paled into insignificance.

It is sad that Athenians now feel bitter at the heavy financial burden they carry for all the extra security that 9/11 left as a legacy.

At this point it is timely to wish London all the best in its preparations for the 2012 Olympics, it seems our Anglo/Greek children may be lucky enough to attend the Olympic games of both of their nationalities in their lifetime! For me they London will have a tough act to follow, but I am sure it will be a sporting extravaganza.

Weather in 2004 seemed just like the good ol’ days, with no extremes of heat, or unusual rain, allowing us to hope that previous heat waves and wet spells were just a blip, not signs of climate change! Then the beginning of June 2005 proved us wrong, it started with a storm and cold north winds making it unusually chilly. July so far has been hot but not too unbearable.

A topic on everyone's lips are All Inclusive holidays, which seem to be greatly affecting the island’s economy, and I personally rue the day that planning permission was given to build two more All inclusive hotels on Almyros beach, the Almyros Gardens, also known as the Almiros Village, and now yet another; the Corfu Aqua Club, to be built right beside our nature reserve by the lake Antinioti. I have been receiving many concerned e-mails from people who have booked for 2006, not realising it is not built yet. July 2005 sees it with an on site archaeological dig (compulsory for ALL new buildings) where they have discovered an ancient burial ground. Work cannot start until the Archaeologists have completed their work. It seems very short-sighted planning and like the rape of one of Corfu's last virgin beaches. It is such a shame that so many AI visitors come here and rarely set foot outside their complex to sample the warmth of a local welcome, the atmosphere, and traditional Greek hospitality. Many have discovered that in Greece AI is unnecessary as the area has so much to offer, and eating out is still such good value for money.

A number of regular visitors were disappointed not to be able to find Acharavi in many tour operators’ brochures this year; some of those took the plunge and booked direct with us. We are able to offer many popular properties like Panos apartments, Harry’s Apartments, Yiannoula, Ano studios, and Katerina Apartments. Don’t forget too Beachside Bungalows are featured on our sister website www.twfcorfu.com. Booking direct really is easy and we can offer advise on flights too. This way you custom make your holiday to suit yourselves and stay in your favourite place too!

What booking direct really means: You will start a new phase of your life, where you will probably, never want to go pack to doing an old-fashioned package holiday. I guess that you are thinking of booking through Castaway Travel because you have either found our website, met us in our office, or perhaps we were recommended to you by a friend?

We can arrange a taxi to meet you, which avoids those lengthy coach transfers.

We will put some essentials in the apartment like water, loo paper, tea, coffee milk, sugar and biscuits.

Please remember that we are local, and are on hand all the time, you do not have to go to a welcome meeting to be sold excursions, or wait for a rep to call. Our office is on hand at all times, we are open 7 days a week, and we are near the “Pump”, i.e. the roundabout. Please see the sketch map (link). We open Mediterranean hours; 09.00 to 14.00 break for siesta (when I’m lucky) and then again from 17.00 to 21.30. Hopefully you will only call in to tap into a mine of local information, catch up on local gossip, say hallo, or even just to reconfirm your return flights.

Acharavi itself:

The village itself has seen more changes as Arthur did not return to open Brad's Pitt (Arty's place) and Tina and John closed the Rock Bar that replaced Zanzibar.. Evidence that opening a new business here is risky and should not be undertaken lightly. The old village road is very quiet at the moment, though many have been pleased to find that Takis and Katia of the Old Gloo Gloo restaurant have taken over the village kafenion Georgos of Meandros Gold on the back road has consolidated his two shops into one on the main road in front of the church. The owners of the Taurus supermarket bought and developed the old Matoula apartments on the main road next to the bank, ending the confusion between them and the good apartments with a pool below the Dimitra supermarket.

Christos and Soula of the Maistro restaurant opened the Lemon Garden as a Grill in 2004. Angelos and Alexi played their Bouzouki and guitars there each week, as well as in the Apagio taverna.

Angelos has re opened Liberties opposite Whispers bar, behind the Palm Tree taverna on the “back” road.

The beach has new rather smart restaurant; L’histoire d’eau. A fish restaurant with modern décor but tastefully furnished with lovely comfy wicker sofas for watching the sunsets. Nice to have somewhere to go if you want to put your best bib and tucker on!

The Faros Bar on the beach now offers an Internet service.

The Palmira has changed hands and is now a music bar called Fuego.

Atrapos gift shop has opened in new bigger premises opposite Castaway travel.

The dog pound which had been run by the charity Care ( www.carecorfu.com ) and which has successfully re-homed many dogs has suffered a set back and has had to close. The local council hopes to find a suitable site for a new, larger place soon.

Kev and Rob of the PlanetOlivewood bar unfortunately had to return suddenly to the UK due to unforeseen circumstances and are much missed. They left the Planet under the new management of Rob and Lisa who run it much the same way; it has some very nice new Olive tree themed decor. Kev and Rob have done much to support the bar and the resort as a whole on the new Acharavi Internet forum on www.corfu-acharavi.com  (make a link http://corfu-acharavi.com/forum/ )

Whilst on the subject of missing people, many of you will have known Scottish Davey, the painter. It is with great sadness that we have to announce his tragic death in a motorbike accident in May 2004. He was talented craftsman, a tremendously colourful personality with a warm heart and a good sense of humour. His “How are ya hen”s will be remembered for a long time. Also much missed is the Two Brothers restaurant that changed hands last year, and is now called Mezekliki, and run by Sotiris and his family that used to have the Cactus bar on the beach.

The Post office moved to the Kassiopi end of the village, next to Salvanos Supermarket, where it is now a proper sub post office in a dedicated office with PO boxes. The building opposite the post office which was an unfinished eyesore for years has now been bought and made mostly into offices, the “water board” is now located there.

We continue to be bombarded with questions from people who are looking to move out here and live their dream. Many have actually done it. Once the summer charter flights stopped it was a surprise to see how many foreigners were still here. It was a huge increase on previous years. We would still caution you though life here is not what you see on holiday! Do not sell up completely, spend lots of time first, visit in all seasons, especially winter, when it is much wetter and colder than many expect. Corfu is a small island and low-lying places suffer from damp, which seems to get into your bones. Having said that whilst we normally have a biblical 40 days of rain there are often sunny skies, wonderful for people who enjoy gardening and walking. Social life is inclined to be geared around home entertaining.  Unless you are of independent means, earning enough money here to live for 12 months is hard when most jobs are going to depend on a weak tourist market, where work is available for often a little as 2 months and starting a new business in such a climate is very risky as even such as car showrooms or carpenters are dependent on cash earned through tourism, sorry to sound pessimistic but there have been many sad failures lately. Please do lots of research first! Do not forget that you will have an immediate disadvantage in the job market if you do not speak Greek. The property market (and prices) continues to boom, many are surprised at the prices. Bargains are rare.

As a conclusion, we would like to say that we are constantly aware of the importance of personal recommendation in a business like ours, and would like to express our appreciation to those who continue to recommend us to others.

Old archives:
Acharavi News 2003 archive
Acharavi News 2002 archive