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The Independent
07-07-2025
- The Independent
Corfu beyond the crowds: Escape parties and package holidays for authentic tavernas and quiet hilltop villages
Hailing from south Corfu, I was raised during the summer months by my wilful and wild Greek yiayia (grandmother), and the enduring charm that this part of the island holds over me has had an undeniable influence on every aspect of my life. Even after my parents moved my brother and me to the UK in our youth, the misunderstood south of Corfu, which people usually associate with package holidays and a party atmosphere, has always been my home. My yiayia is an extension of this and the inspiration behind my latest cookbook, Mediterranea: Life-perfected Recipes from Grandmothers of the Mediterranean. She, like many others in her village, has rarely ventured elsewhere, and the locals she is friends with there have become my extended family and a reminder of the charm that this part of Corfu holds over me. While the north of the island promises a glimpse of how the famed writer Gerald Durrell's family lived – in an idyllic white coastal mansion in Kalami village surrounded by ritzy port towns – the south offers an insight into the true life of Corfiot islanders, from family-run vineyards to undisturbed fishing villages and beachside tavernas. For me, there's nothing quite like taking the main coastal road south of Corfu from the much-frequented airport that sits at this verdant Ionian island's heart. While most visitors will head straight for the pastel-toned Venetian old town of the capital, or else the aptly coined 'Kensington-on-Sea' in the northeast, due to the well-heeled British community that decamps to their perfectly preened villas there each summer, my destination of choice in Corfu will always be the south. This area has a sullied reputation due to the 18-30s crowds drawn to its infamous Kavos strip and the lure of package tourism that boomed here in the 1990s. Yet that single road of beach clubs and bars is a half-hour drive away from where I grew up and is becoming a forgotten pocket of the island as the years tick by. As I drive towards our white-washed village away from town, personal landmarks signal that I'm approaching home. A sprawling, centuries-old olive tree hangs over the winding road after I pass the tourist strip of Messonghi, signalling the untamed terrain that lies ahead. Oleander grows along the turquoise-lapped coastline, uncontrollable shocks of pink reaching in through the car windows. What the north has in fancy villas, the south makes up for in nature. The 'Corfu Trail' – a hiking route that weaves from the south to the north of the island – begins at Arkoudilas beach, where Jurassic cliffs and dense forest dripping with wild strawberries and figs feel prehistoric, lost completely to time and far from civilisation. 'These olive trees were here long before us and will be here long after us,' says my friend Spiros Dafnis when I drop by his olive mill, The Governor, to pick up my five-litre can of oil en route home. He speaks in a very poetic way and manages to romanticise the elements of nature that I took for granted in my youth. Together with his brother George, Spiros has taken over the family plots of land around Agios Matthaios village, producing a high phenolic olive oil. Locally, the young brothers are credited for bringing a heightened awareness of the value of the land and the importance of milling quality olive oil. They offer tours amongst the ancient, gnarly trees that take visitors deep into the groves of the south, on hikes that reveal palaeolithic caves and the remarkably well-preserved Byzantine castle of Gardiki. Similarly, the family-run vineyard Pontiglio has revived winemaking on the island, investing their livelihoods at a time of economic crisis in Greece into preserving grape varieties unique to Corfu. 'When we started, the vineyards of Corfu were in danger of disappearing,' says Konstantina Ntini, whose family's mission is to preserve abandoned vineyards across the south of the island. Sprawling 60 acres outside of Lefkimmi, Pontiglio is a 20-minute drive from my village, set away from the tourist hotspots of the island, tucked into wild-flower-flecked meadows where the hum of the cicadas is the soundscape to an afternoon of wine tasting. The matriarch of the household, Athina Kirtzoglou, serves up local Corfiot dishes and offers culinary classes as cats slink in and out from beneath the vines, while stepfather and daughter Charalambos Kouris and Konstantina Ntini tend to the harvest or otherwise, their speciality Corfiot wines. While I will forever adore the holy trinity of grilled sea bream, chorta (wild greens) and tzatziki at my local Taverna Aristos in Perivoli village, a culture of gastronomy is flourishing in southern Corfu, partly thanks to the young producers championing local produce. On the sandy, cliff-lined beach of Agios Gordios, Mikro Nisi cooks fish he catches locally from his traditional kaiki boat, while the contemporary restaurant, Taverna, prides itself on locally sourced, organic ingredients crafted into dishes that sing of a Mediterranean summer. And nothing says summer to me more than balmy afternoons spent in the company of locals in the hilltop villages of Argyrades (the village my grandmother comes from) and Chlomos, where old men sit outside of Kafeneions, playing backgammon while they sip ouzo or silty Greek coffees. Here, women like my own yiayia sit on plastic chairs outside of pastel-toned homes, waiting to welcome strangers through beaded curtains and drapery they crocheted themselves to demonstrate their famous Greek hospitality with a snack and a chat. It is these women who have inspired my latest cookbook about Mediterranean living, and it's the very essence of these afternoons, whiling away the hours with 'the girls' (my yiayia's nonagenarian friends) that has made me truly appreciate where I am from. Still largely untouched by tourism, these villages and the wild areas that surround them are a testament to slow living, a true insight into the real Corfu and a reason to visit beyond the obvious sun, sea and sand. Where to stay Panorama Notos is a collection of simple, self-catering apartments on a turquoise-lapped private beach surrounded by tropical flora (from £65 per night). Roumanades Estate is an authentic Venetian home surrounded by dense olive groves. Oliver Suites, A former olive mill transformed into a luxury hotel on the picturesque southeast of the island (from £350 per night).
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Why Greeks are in pole position when it comes to artificial intelligence
In late May, two British women who were visiting Corfu for a 'pole dancing festival' were filmed in action on the terrace of the historic Palace of St Michael and St George, built as the administrative headquarters during the British protectorate of the Ionian Islands 1814-1864. Today, the building houses Greece's only Museum of Asian Art and the Municipal Art Gallery. It is frequently used for concerts and exhibitions. When the video of the dancing went viral, residents and cultural institutions objected to what they described as an offence to the cultural heritage, a nationwide concern about the protection and proper use of monuments. The Greek ministry of culture said the dancing was in breach of laws protecting historic sites, and the women and the cameraman were put on trial two days later. Despite apologising for their behaviour, in which they said they were misled by the operator of the video, they were given a suspended six-month sentenceand fined. The incident in Corfu is not isolated. READ MORE The chief focus for disputed use of archaeological and historical sites is, predictably, the Acropolis in Athens, the archetypal symbol of Greek classical culture. Last month, the Athens prosecutor ordered an investigation into an event in which unauthorised illuminated drones formed a giant rotating Adidas shoe on top of the Parthenon temple in the night sky. The event was condemned by politicians as 'an offensive commercialisation of the core of our cultural heritage', but it is not only commercial interests which have provoked objections. Earlier in the year the ministry of culture refused permission for the leading Greek film-maker, Yorgos Lanthimos , who has been nominated five times for Oscar awards, to film on the Acropolis. In 2017 the Central Archaeological Council rejected a request from fashion house Gucci to hold a show for its 2018 couture collection on the Acropolis. The rejection stated that, as a world heritage symbol, the Acropolis was not an appropriate site for a commercial activity. The director of the Acropolis Museum said the site would be 'degraded' if used as a 'backdrop' for a 'fashion runway', but this view was disputed by the head of the Greek Tourism Confederation, who argued that the Gucci event was sufficiently high-profile and would have showcased the Acropolis. On a somewhat different level from pole dancing and commercial activity, the Acropolis was last year at the centre of a dispute about the use of 'Sophia', a humanoid artificial intelligence (AI) robot, which (or should that be 'who'?) appeared, dressed in classical Greek costume, as part of a technology conference. The robot allegedly speaks 20 languages, has given television interviews (including Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan) and is a citizen of Saudi Arabia . The newspaper Athens Voice described Sophia as 'an innovation ambassador for the United Nations development programme'. In 2017 she held a conversation with the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations. Described as 'the most advanced humanoid artificial intelligence robot' with 'an IQ higher than Einstein', Sophia was conceived (if that is the correct term) in Hong Kong on St Valentine's Day 2016 and is said to merge the attributes of the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti, Audrey Hepburn and the inventor's wife. What a claim. No one seems to have disputed Sophia's right to appear in Greek costume or in the environs of classical Athens. But her existence highlights the Greek capacity for AI invention, since Greek scientists have made equally impressive strides in robot and AI technology. Last year the Blueprint for Greece's AI Transformation was launched, aiming to incorporate AI know-how into the public service. At the same time, Greece hosted the World Robot Olympiad. A reconstruction of Antikythera Mechanism in Athens. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/Getty This is nothing new to the Greek mind. Homer imagined automata in the Iliad, and it would be a gross impertinence on the part of modern science to suggest that its current use of AI was in some way an advance on the Antikythera Mechanism, described as 'the oldest known example of an analogue computer', probably built in the second century BC. Ironically, Sophia was anticipated as a Greek miracle 60 years ago when Lawrence Durrell, in his novel Nunquam (1970), imagined a robot, Iolanthe, which was based on Pat, a speaking computer he had seen in Edinburgh in 1962. If Durrell were alive today, he would laugh at the idea that Sophia, a 21st-century robot, using the Greek name for 'wisdom', could appear on the Acropolis – where, in the 1960s, his own Iolanthe had made love, fictionally. Whether AI can develop a robot that could accomplish pole dancing while conversing with an official of the United Nations is yet to be seen.
Irish Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism: A ‘crooked line' leading to war and independence
The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism Author : Yanni Kotsonis ISBN-13 : 978-069121526 Publisher : Princeton University Press Guideline Price : £30 The bicentenary of the 1821 start of the Greek war of independence from the Ottoman empire has prompted several academic studies, chief of them Mark Mazower's The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe. The war (which continued until 1827) is now referred to as 'the Greek Revolution' because it indicates the creation, on liberal lines, of the first modern state in Europe. Well, almost. The author acknowledges that the 'Septinsular Republic' of the seven principal Ionian islands (1800-1807) was 'the first modern Greek state', even though Greece itself had not yet come into existence, and the islands looked across at a mainland that remained under Turkish rule. Kotsonis excellently details the way that the 'revolution' simmered while the imperial powers of Russia, Britain and France weighed up their territorial options: the war of independence could not have opened if diplomatic conditions had not permitted it. It was a 'crooked line' rather than a straight one, leading directly to war and then independence. The impetus may have come from Greeks in Odesa, but the decisions were made by the great powers, as they were at Vienna in 1815 and Versailles in 1918-19 and, as we see only too horribly today, on the future of Ukraine (where the Greek 'revolution' began!) READ MORE On the nature of 'violence', Kotsonis offers that it was caused, and justified, by the concept of a unified Greek-Christian state whose primary purpose was to defeat and eliminate the Muslim Turk. 'It was a Christian war of liberation from an alien, Oriental power.' [ Old-fashioned Greece has no chance of becoming truly developed Opens in new window ] This seems to explain how Greece became, then and now, the border of Europe and its bastion against immigration, which is largely Muslim. As a historian's argument, this is both simplistic and naive, ignoring as it does the chessboard profile of the Balkans. His story ignores the entire 'Great Idea' (first enunciated in 1844) which aimed to embrace all ethnic Greeks and directly or indirectly caused the Balkan wars of 1912-13 and the disastrous Asia Minor campaign of 1920-22, which humiliated and bankrupted Greece morally and politically. The modern state was created by the fiat of the Russian, British and French empires. The author, although Greek in origin, is a Russian specialist (at New York University) and his bias in this book towards the Russian contribution to Greek independence is overwhelming and at times alarmingly overstated. His assertion that 'Greek independence became a certainty because of Russian arms and diplomatic persistence' is simply unsustainable. One 'Russian' fact is, however, inescapable: the 'revolution' was conceived in Odesa, which, like Taganrog, Nizhyn and Kherson (now fought over by Ukraine and Russia), was originally a Greek city, and remains a matter of concern for diasporic Greece today. Kotsonis's book needs to be read alongside Liberalism after the Revolution: the intellectual foundations of the Greek state c. 1830-1880 by Michalis Sotiropoulos because the emergence of violence and that of liberalism have coincided throughout modern Greek history and have bedevilled the creation of a modern democratic state up to the present day. Kotsonis tells us that 'Solidarity within the elite' had effectively suppressed discontent, which was certainly true of the well-established landowners and tax-gatherers under Ottoman rule of mainland Greece. It remains true of conservative Greece today, and explains the virtual exclusion of the Left from political life. It also explains the continuing presence of discontent and the undercurrent of violence (which frequently breaks the surface) within the Greek state which is, admittedly, not within the scope of this book. In Kotsonis's thesis, war and nationalism were synonymous, but he seems to discount the continuing presence of violence. To refer in his epilogue to Pontic Greeks coming into the new state, without referring to the violence (both physical and mental) which that influx has occasioned, is to limit his argument about how 'violence' exists in the modern state. Kotsonis acknowledges that the consequences of creating the state of Greece 'are still with us' and that the status of modern Greece is 'up for grabs'. He can say that '1821 is a current event' and that 'the Revolution is still with us and there are new stories to be told', but he doesn't tell them, although his references to his research make it clear that he knows what they are. The insistence throughout this book on the polarisation of Christian and Muslim conceals the fact that languages, faiths, cultures and, indeed, landscapes themselves can never be defined by nation states (as Kapka Kassabova shows in her recent Elixir: in the Valley at the End of Time). Kotsonis's writing is casual, and refreshingly unacademic, but the lack of a bibliography is disappointing, and the author's suggestions for further reading are surprisingly superficial. Richard Pine's books include Greece Through Irish Eyes (2015) and The Eye of the Xenos: Letters about Greece (2021). He contributes Letter from Greece to The Irish Times.
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Where to eat, stay and play on the Greek island of Corfu
EAT Corfu classic Alfresco side-street dinners are what Corfu holidays are made for and Rex, off Corfu Old Town's main square, has plenty of old-school charm. Try the spinach pie with feta-cheese cream (above, £14) or beef sofrito (£19), an island speciality ( Gone fishing Pasta is prevalent on this 64km-long Greek island, which is just seven hours by ferry from Brindisi, Italy. Find the ultimate octopus pastitsada (slow-cooked with spaghetti) at Klimataria in coastal town Benitses. Book early, there are only 11 tables ( Sweet spot Papagiorgis patisserie is more than 100 years old and perfectly placed for a sugar-hit pit stop while exploring Corfu Town. The Dafnis family's secret recipes make for renowned ice cream, baklava and chocolate-dipped kumquats ( STAY Family favourite Ikos Dassia, a 20-minute drive from the Old Town on the island's east coast, is a luxurious, all-inclusive parents' paradise, with private beach, pools, restaurants with menus from Michelin-starred chefs and, most importantly, clubs for kids and teens. The adults-only areas offer zen-level calm (from £259, Uptown pearl A gem of a hotel in Corfu Old Town, Bella Venezia's main selling point is its picturesque terrace, where breakfast is served in warmer months (from £150 B&B, Spa special The all-inclusive Luxme Costa Botanica (above), on Corfu's quieter north coast, has a new spa, private white sandy beach and a village feel with its selection of restaurants, accommodation and pools (from £290 with a private balcony, Beach life Narrowing down which of Corfu's many beaches to frequent is tricky. Do you go for the wild, unspoilt Megas Choros in the southwest? The shallow, snorkel-friendly waters of Cape Drastis up north? Or golden Glyfada on the west coast, with its backdrop of olive groves and water sports aplenty? Back in time Taste traditional Corfiot life with a visit to one of the island's villages. Pelekas, 20 minutes from Corfu Town, is a delight. Heavenly scent With its colourful bougainvillea-strewn courtyard, the hilltop Theotokos Monastery (above) is a pinnacle of peace, 40 minutes from Corfu Town in Paleokastritsa, on the island's west coast. Boho bar After the monastery, head to nearby La Grotta, a boho beach bar with a diving board above a perfect turquoise cove.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Why this infamous Greek party island is shedding its reputation and going upmarket
Shipwreck Beach on the island of Zante (also known as Zakynthos) is one of Greece 's most photographed spots, with the skeletal remains of a ship lying in the centre of its golden sands. We're whizzing towards the shore on a speedboat tour of the southernmost of the Ionian islands, to which Corfu and Kefalonia also belong. It's a beautiful location surrounded by high limestone cliffs that attracts thousands of holidaymakers, many taking day trips from the resort of Laganas with its bars and cheap hotels popular with young Britons. Yet there's another side to Zante that remains virtually untouched by tourism: a patchwork of olive groves and farms covering large parts of the island linked by quiet lanes and one-track roads. Devastated by an earthquake in 1953, many islanders left Zante - and much of the landscape has remained undiscovered ever since. But not Shipwreck Beach. It's become such a popular attraction you're no longer allowed to swim off the sands due to restrictions to control overtourism. Instead, on our early morning visit we escape before the main daily crowds arrive and head to a nearby beach for a dip in the aquamarine waters, and then cruise into the Blue Caves. Here we leap into the vivid, teal-coloured water, created by sunlight reflecting off the limestone walls, giggling at the sight of our legs and arms glowing Smurf-blue beneath the surface. Our watery tour is part of discovering the other side of Zante including a new wave of luxury hotels whose owners hope to change the island's reputation and encourage visitors to explore beyond the southern coast resorts. Our first base is the recently opened King Jason Zante, an adults-only, all-inclusive resort where the big draw is the Maldivian-style rooms, many with terraces that open straight onto the patchwork of pools that form a lattice down a hillside. It's blisteringly hot when we arrive, touching 40C, so the cool, modernist design - lots of pale grey concrete and glass walls - is welcome. The suites continue the Maldivian ethos, with the king-sized bed in the centre of the room, a retractable screen separating the open plan bathroom behind. It's a world away from the simplicity that lies outside. The next day we hire a car and follow the winding lanes into the island's quiet hinterland, stopping to drink thimbles of thick, bitter coffee on the ramshackle square in the quiet village of Keri. THE sun beats down as we wander along silent alleyways leading between one-storey whitewashed houses with faded blue doors and window shutters. Muted conversations float out from the darkness inside. 'This is what makes Zante special,' says Venia Xenou, whose family owns the Olea All Suite Hotel, which re-set the bar for luxury accommodation when it opened in 2018. 'Farming is still the most important economy here. Tourism is growing but the trick is to do it without disturbing the traditional way of life. We look at other islands, where overtourism is a problem, and think no, we don't want that here.' The Olea All Suite could have been the template for the King Jason, with the same arrangement of swimming pools and rooms opening directly onto the water. The vibe is slightly different, though. Guests are a little younger and there's more of a club, Ibiza-style feel, although the sandy-floored, open-sided Cocoon bar and restaurant (shoes definitely optional) is straight out of an Indian Ocean resort. The vibe is slightly different at the Olea All Suite, where guests are a little younger and there's more of a club feel The biggest treat is the Flow restaurant, set high on the hillside, where tables and a clutch of spherical basket chairs are positioned to make the most of the gorgeous view across the valley below. Dinner at Flow - succulent seabass fresh off the boat and flamegrilled lamb - is so lovely it seems impossible to better. Yet our final night at the Lesante Blu - a waterfront resort with a stretch of private beach - proves to be the most memorable of all. As the sun dips, a violinist steps on to the square of lawn between the restaurant tables and begins to play, accompanied by a background DJ. The sound is exquisite, the whole elegant experience the polar opposite of the hectic streets of Laganas. As the music emanates, I think of all the post A-level students on our flight, giddy with excitement for their first trip away. It makes me hope that rather than simply turning into a fully-blown 'party island' - or becoming a luxury retreat - Zante will adapt to accommodate both.
