A variety of OTE rants

If anyone has tried to get through to our office or the shop and cannot - none of our phones work. The shop went first. The fault was reported and finally an engineer came (the OTE lady said she forgot to notify anyone the first time) and told us we needed a new phone. Lorraine showed him, with another phone which we know works, that it is not the phone, it is the box or line. He sat down, broke the display bed, said that it was definitely our fault and left. At this point the office phone stopped working as well. Two days later they told me the note on the shop phone problem says 'need new phone'! They said the repair would be done 'urgently'. Still no phones.

Secondly, I called to order a phone line for some clients who had just bought a house. They took all the information, said it would be put in hand and 'no I didn’t need to do anything else'. A few days later they went to check the area/line etc. and called to say the phone would be installed in two days. No phone. Two weeks later Lorraine rang and was told there was no record of any request. (So how come they went up to the house - telepathy?) The ladies came to town specifically to fill in bits of paper and were told again, no record. The next day OTE called me and said they were going up on Saturday AFTER 10 am to put in the phone. At 8 am the engineer rang to say he was there - and the phone was installed. Since there is apparently no paperwork perhaps they won't ever get a bill!

Third rant.I bought ADSL internet for our house in Halikouna, last August.The phone promptly stopped working so it never got installed. Today, with the phone finally working, I tried to install it. The paper requested me to enter the code number and password, and gave me the code but not the password. So I rang them and the engineer said you have to use the password you had with your first installation. It then transpired that because we had an installation at our own house from about 15 years ago, this was not a new connection but a second one. How many people would have kept to hand an original code - plus the fact that the information on the paperwork is all wrong, even the phone number, therefore the original code does not even apply!

Therefore I have to jump through about a million hoops in order to correct their mistakes and my clients won't have internet. I used to think OTE were easier than DEH but now I think not.
Sarah

Alternative Panigiri

An "Alternative Panigiri" is being held at Triklino Vineyard, Karoubatika, this weekend. Ther's something for everyone, including children.

Saturday's programme includes exhibitions by the Corfu Quilters and three photographers, and the launch of the "Neuromantics" CD composed by Raul Scacchi, and sung by Kaliroe Raouzeou at 9.30 pm. Amazing video projections accompany each song!

Sunday highlights include sessions on the Creative Arts and Writing inspired by Corfu (6.30-7.15 pm and 7.30-8.30 pm), as well as the exhibitions. From 9.00 pm to 10.00 pm there will be a performance by the Karagiozis Shadow Theatre. Finally from 10.00 pm until late, there's live music, Greek, Blues etc.

In addition there will be all sorts of other festive activities.
Susan

Welcome back to the Avra Hotel

Many years ago, in the 1940s, one of the first hotels in Corfu was opened by the Spinoulas family. The Avra Hotel became universally well-known and even featured in a book called 'Around the World with $20'! Recently refurbished, it has been re-opened by the Monro family - Andy, Sarah-Jane and Jamie - who are planning to keep up the 'family tradition' and warm welcome.

The hotel is in the village of Benitses, about 15km south of Corfu Town, in an ideal location just across the road from the beach and close to the shops, bars and tavernas in the centre of the village. It offers twins, double and family rooms - and of course a great welcome! The Monros have many years of experience in Corfu, (in fact Sarah Jane is one of the partners in Corfuhomerentals) so you can take advantage of their knowledge of the island.
Diana

Dassia office moves (photo to follow)

Our office in Dassia has moved - but just how do we tell people where we are?

We used to say that we were opposite the Corfu Chandris Hotel, near to the flashing overhead traffic light. We have only moved two doors along, but we are no longer opposite the hotel. Telling people looking for us that we are between the Drunken Duck bar and the naked statue doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?
Sarah

Antiques on the roadside

Just past the Chandris hotels on the way north a new shop has opened displaying quantities of old furniture and bric-a-brac on its wide pavement. Looking rather like a cross between a shop and a selection of market stalls, this is a great place to stop and browse. Anyone looking for decorative items for their newly finished renovation project, or a special piece of traditional furniture might well find it here.

There are trays full of old watches - great for a collector, and rows of old stone and wood mortars which would make wonderful garden decor, or - even better - vast quantities of skordalia! Some rather strange stone statues jostle for space with old wooden threshing slabs (I've seen one made into a coffee table in one of the smartest villas on the island). I saw an old wireless and typewriters and Nazi helmets (don't ask!) as well as cutlery, glass bottles, wagon weels and even a couple of donkey carts. Inside are heavy wooden dining tables and benches, intricately carved dark wood sideboards that wouldn't look out of place in a castle, and quite a lot of furniture whose original purpose you need to ask about.

When we there at about 1.00 p.m. one of the large tables was being put to use by the entire family of the shopkeeper. Plates of macaroni and tomato sauce were being served and we were asked if we would like to join them just before they all crossed themselves and tucked in. Only in Greece!
Susan

Roadworks!

Roadworks seem to be spreading all over the south of the island. On the way from Corfu town to Moraitika there are now three sets of traffic lights, plus the occasional man with a red flag, ending in the brand new roundabout. A very nice roundabout - the only problem is there are no lines on the road to indicate who has right of way. And in some cases people have problems working out which way.

Then, when you go over to Halikouna, the bits of road that are not now tarmac have been covered in grit/sand - all except for the 50 metres or so outside my house. I begin to wonder if someone has something against us! However, when you look at the photo, perhaps we are better off just being left alone, if this is what happens to the road after roadworks and tarmac!
Diana

Lost in translation

There is a plethora of online translation software to choose from - some of which is actually quite good. This company obviously chose the wrong one.

This short extract is from something called "An Investors Guide to Buying Real Estate in Greece" and is, we think, supposed to be about buying land as an investment.

Investing into a concept in a assorted land is a bounteous selection and would order competent investigate and some visits. Planning a budget and employed by is advisable. It is sharp to ready opening options acquirable by studying the sellers mart as concept prices and situations dont rest constant. Professional instrument from a topical attorney or concept consultant would be the prizewinning artefact to move it. Factors same concept valuation, rentals and ontogeny possibleness are areas of skillfulness and it is prizewinning to lease the services of a proven consultant . A beatific discernment of the regulations for apiece land is also pivotal before language some acquire agreement. Be player certain if it is a partnership or daylong constituent deal.

Hospital praised

We met a very nice couple this week who are intending to buy a property from us in the village of Episkepsi. Unfortunately the lady was taken ill in the early hours of this morning with severe stomach pains and taken by ambulance to the Corfu General Hospital.

Once I heard the news, I phoned her husband to find out if he needed any help, and he told me that everything was in hand and he was hoping to take her out of the hospital today with some antibiotics, as the tests had revealed a kidney problem. I warned him that as doctors are in short supply on a Sunday it was likely that she would have to wait till Monday morning before being discharged, thus missing their flight home.

He called me again later, to say that there was a doctor in attendance who had discharged her with a prescription and a report to take to her doctor in the UK. Full of praise for our usually much maligned hospital, he said that they couldn't ask for anything more and that all the staff had been very helpful and polite to them. How nice to hear praise for a change!
Sarah

Berry strange indeed!

I wasn't quick enough to take a photo, and probably would have had a car accident had I tried to, but I am intrigued to know why a police car was full to its ceiling with boxes of strawberries. Right in the middle of San Rocco Square, there didn't appear to be enough room for two policemen to fit in.

Perhaps our Police Force are being encouraged to top-up their Vitamin C intake?
Sarah

Cricket in Corfu

For a few years most of the cricket matches in Corfu have been played on the comparatively new pitch at the Gouvia Marina. Last Saturday afternoon, however, saw a team from the UK playing against a local team on the Liston like in the old days. Makes for an exciting time for the spectators, as the cafes are very close and a "six" could quite easily end up in amongst the coffee cups, and if you love your car don't leave it in the car park! (Photo courtesy of Island Magazine.)
Susan

A village shop with a difference

We had no intention of spending any money, but Heidi's little shop in Afionas village square drew us in like magnets. What a change from the all too common tourist shops elsewhere in Corfu. Her shelves are full of tempting souvenirs, not all of them traditionally Corfiot, but all chosen carefully to attract the discerning holiday shopper. From local olive oil sensibly packed in easily transportable tins, really pretty boxes of guest soaps, tablecloths in olive patterned fabrics, to more expensive pottery, artwork and jewellery, the shop is a treasure trove. Two out of three of us succumbed and left the shop with a selection of gifts for some lucky friends.
Susan

Stairway to Heaven

Visiting a lovely village in the north west today to check on a property for its hopeful owner-in-waiting, we looked at the house from a new angle and took the attached "optical illusion" shot. With the bright blue sky and balmy temperature it really looked as if the builder had a spiritual destination in mind instead of the flat roof of the building!
Susan

Airplanes and orchids

I haven't been "blogging" very much in the last week, instead I have been very busy with a first-time visitor to Corfu (and Greece) trying to ensure that she appreciated our island despite the dreadful, unseasonal weather.

Loved-one's sister arrived just in time to catch a few rays of sun before the bad weather began, and left today just as the sun came out again. She mucked in (literally) helping to get the two villas and their gardens ready for our first arrivals on Friday, and then collapsed in a heap with us on Saturday. Unfortunately she didn't get to use her beach towel or sun-tan lotion, but she did make good use of my old trainers and socks.

It was lovely to hear her say that she felt very at home here, despite this being her first trip. That is exactly the feeling I had on first visiting Corfu, and I have it every time I go away and come back. What is it about a place that you just know it's where you want to be?

Seeing her off at the airport today and walking back to my car, I spotted orchids growing in a patch of ground between the airport and the road.Checking in my wild flower book, I think they are orchis morio - green-winged orchids. Who would expect to find orchids growing wild right outside an airport!
Sarah

Wow!

In one of those spectacular turn-arounds in which Corfu specializes, we have gone from winter to summer in 24 hours. I'm adding this to the blog so that anyone reading who is about to travel here doesn't worry too much about the weather. From central heating and two long sleeved sweaters, we are now eating outside and wearing short-sleeves. Hurray!
Susan

Charter flights again!

Yes, I know Easyjet have been flying into Corfu since early April, but today is the first day of "real" charters - holidaymakers arriving for packages including hotels, villas, self-catering accommodation, etc. Unfortunately we have not been able to turn on very nice weather for the first day of the season. It's really quite cool outside - 15c at the moment - with looming clouds as well.

We were talking about the weather last week as we squelched through a particularly muddy garden to take photos of a new-build house for sale. It was pouring down, and not at all easy to take photos whilst holding an umbrella over the camera lens (and me!).

What do tourists do when the weather is not as they are expecting? We all know that nobody is responsible for this unseasonal surprise, but our first visitors of the summer are going to be staying in accommodation that has been closed up for the entire winter, accommodation that is meant for full summer weather - ceramic tiles or marble floors, and NO HEATING! Add this to the fact that most suitcases will be packed with bikinis, tee-shirts and flip flops, and I predict a few unhappy faces unless we can produce some sunshine fairly quickly.

Personally I really like watching the 'planes flying overhead, and the ferries steaming gracefully up the coast. It makes me feel part of a greater whole, somehow. The to-ings and fro-ings of travellers connecting Corfu with the rest of Europe.
Susan

Hielidonia/Swallows

I mentioned swallows, in passing, in an earlier post about the coming of spring. This year we have two families busily making nests, one under the eaves of our upstairs covered balcony and one downstairs, similarly protected from the elements.

What a mess they are making, and how lovely it is, at the same time, to listen to their busy twitterings. More than any other bird, I think, they seem to be having conversations as they work. I can understand why (nice) shop-keepers and taverna owners build elaborate constructions under the nests to catch the mess and why (nasty) ones destroy the nests to "encourage" the birds to go elsewhere. This year's lot are particularly casual in their housekeeping methods - not only do we have the little piles of discarded nesting material and poops, but they leave evidence of their flight-paths as well, and the walls are splattered under every resting place - lintels, light-fittings, picture frames (yes, they come inside through any open windows).

One of my oldest Corfu friends, an English lady who married into a local family, used to move her bed every spring in order for the swallows to nest undisturbed in their usual place inside her bedroom.

Another swallow story - when I was a villa rep, I visited some perfectly pleasant clients in a rather smart villa on the north-east coast. They asked me, one day, to arrange for the removal of a wasps nest. When I went to have a look at the offending construction it was a particularly elaborate swallows nest - one of the ones with a little tunnel entrance leading to the main dwelling. In vain did I explain that it was swallows not wasps or bees, but to no avail. It is rather disconcerting to be "told" that you are wrong when you absolutely positively know that you are right! Especially when in a "customer is always right" context. What a quandary! I'm afraid I refused to destroy the hard-work of the swallows, and promised the clients that I would be back immediately if they saw as much as one single wasp entering or leaving "their" nest.
Susan

Is this a first?

After a busy property viewing day yesterday, I sat down today (Sunday!) to put some of the properties I had seen on the website, whilst they were still fresh in my mind. Imagine my surprise when I went to the Corfuhomefinders home page to review them, to find that ALL the most recent additions are either in the south or centre of Corfu. Usually mine are in a definite minority (about 75% are north Corfu), but this time I am definitely taking over! Which probably actually means that Susan and Sarah have been too busy showing clients around to add anything new, but still, this is a definite first for me.

Two weeks ago I went to see a house on the main central island road going towards the south. I drove straight past it the first time - and then I found a lovely, wonderfully renovated house, with galleried living space, great views, gardens, land, and gated parking.

Then on Saturday I was asked to go and view a house which turned out to be close to the previous one and again was a pretty, comfortable home, 'ticking all the boxes' with terraces, rock garden, lovely views, etc. now on our site as Nectarine House. After this I went off to a meeting to look at a villa, but on the way got diverted by a phone call asking me to go and look at land in Halikouna NOW, as the seller was just leaving Corfu for Athens and had only just made the decision to sell. Definitely worth diverting for - a nice flat, easy to build, large piece of land with sea views and only five minutes walk from the beach.

Back on track, off I went to look at the villa. Absolutely wonderful! Have a look at it and I need say no more. I decided to be creative and drove some distance around the side of the hill to try and get a good long distance shot of the villa. On this part of the coast the local council have been busy putting down tarmac all year, so that all the dirt tracks are getting frightfully smart. I drove off down the road, nearly got to what I thought was the best vantage point for my photo - only to find that the beautiful new tarmac road has fallen into the sea! I was so shocked I forgot to take a picture of it. It reminds me on one of those earthquake shots - two sides of the road, a thin ribbon of tarmac and a gaping hole with a massive drop. So much for new roads.
Diana