Hot Summer Weather
As we enter the middle of summer here on Corfu, you can always expect a mini heat wave and that has been the case for the last 10 days or so. While the temps haven’t been in to the 40Deg mark, consistent 35deg temperatures - mixed with little or no wind has been creating some hot days. Anyone living along the coast will have missed the hottest parts of this heat wave as there is always an ocean breeze to cool off in but for those living inland or in Corfu Town, I’m sure the air con has been on full blast for a while now.From the forcast on Meteo.gr, more heat is on the way and while July does tend to be the hottest month on Corfu, I have a feeling Aug will be no snow storm!! Yet, the best part of all this is - That’s what tourists want! The beach and pool areas are always more busy and swimming in hot weather is always more enjoyable. So pack your bags, grab your tickets and come on over to Corfu for a fortnight!!!!
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Thomas Cook Adding Flights From Bournemouth
THOMAS Cook has announced it will be flying again from Bournemouth Airport in a return move to the transformed facility next summer.The airline will be laying on three flights to the Turkish resorts of Dalaman and Antalya as well as to the Greek Island of Corfu.
Ian Derbyshire, chief executive officer of Thomas Cook UK and Ireland, said: “Turkey and Greece are fantastic options for families, couples and groups looking for great beaches, food and sightseeing.
“We’re committed to our flying program from the region, so with these extra options, we’re really pleased to be able to offer even more choice to travellers from Bournemouth.”
All the flights are scheduled for afternoon or early evening departures with the Corfu flight leaving Monday at 2.55pm, the flight to Dalaman departing at 5.45pm on Friday and the Saturday flight to Antalya leaving at 6pm.
All three will return by 5pm.
Corfu Makes The Top 10
According to reports of hotel price comparison, three island of Greece: Rhodes, Corfu, and Santorini Islands rank the top 10 of European Islands. The top ten islands in Europe include Rhodes (Greece), Corfu (Greece), Santorini (Greece), Mallorca (Spain), Grand Canary (Spain), Tenerife (Spain), Ibiza (Spain), Fuerteventura (Spain), Lanzarote (Spain), and Menorca (Spain).Rhodes, which belongs to Dodecanese, has all the rural landscape that you can not imagine. The Most Showstopping shoulder bag Are on The Market, Go to Have a Look! All the tourists dreaming of leisure vocation should visit the off-the-wall Kalithea beach.Surprise!
Corfu Island is one of the most famous islands in Greece, and it is the heaven in the work of the poet Homer. You Know What? I Bought a Designer 14500 cree flashlight for My Mother at a Very Low Price It gains the reputation of the green island due to its botanic diversity. There are exuberant olive tree on the southernmost part of the island, and among them are olive trees reach 20 meters high. -www.stockmarketsreview.com - Read Whole Article
Corfu Summer Calander
Corfu isn’t all about beautiful beaches and hot weather......I know, it’s hard to believe. There are countless events happening all over the Island during the summer holiday season and below, we have made a small list for you. So, spend some time on the beach, go for a swim but also check out some of the really cool local events happening on Corfu.Noteworthy events of Corfu include:
- Cheese-Eating Sunday – mid-February, in central Corfu Town
- All Saints Day – June 3rd, around Agii Douli
- Saint Kyriaki Day – July 7th, in Peroulades
- Festival of Folklore Dance – mid-July, in Benitses
- Festival of Saint Paraskevi – July 26th, in Velonades
- Corfu Sardine Festival – mid-August, in Benitses
- Varkarola Music Festival – mid-August, at Paleokastritsa
- Return of the Virgin from Assumption – August 22nd and August 23rd, at Agraphi
- Pie Festival in Loustri – September 1st
- Revolution Processions – late October, throughout the Ionian islands
- Corfu St. Spyridon Celebrations – early November
Additionally, if you have any questions about events, activities, trips and accommodations - just shoot us over and Email and we’ll be more than happy to help you out. We love hearing from people
Agios Ioannis Music Festival
Agiotfest is held each summer in the village of Agios Ioannis in central Corfu - just 15 minutes drive from Corfu Town. This year's entertainment takes place over two days - Friday 27 and Saturday 28 August - and each night's seated audience will be restricted to 1,000 people, to allow for easy access and parking.Topping the bill on Saturday will be the legendary Joe Brown and his band. Joe was one of the UK's original rock & roll stars who topped the charts and had The Beatles open shows for him. In a career packed with musical highlights he has also presented several series of the Joe Brown Show on TV, two series for Radio 2, and finds time to do around 100 live shows a year in the UK.
On Friday the headline attraction will be One Drop Forward, considered to be one of the best reggae bands in Greece. At this early stage, support acts already include folk/rock band 4Square, jazz singer Laura Zakian and local band Omega 5 (back due to popular demand following their AgiotFest 09 performance). It is also expected that several local Greek bands will participate. -www.agiotfest.co.uk - Read Whole Article
Corfu Cricket Festival
There aren’t many more romantic, or historic, places to play cricket than the Esplanade in Corfu Town, the only ground in the world, apparently, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The ground has seen better days: part of the outfield has been turned into a car park. But the Hellenic Cricket Federation is working to change that, and from next year it will form part of a major new initiative, the Corfu Cricket Festival.
The Festival was launched on November 10 at another almost unbelievably historic venue, the Long Room at Lord’s. Around a hundred people gathered to hear the Deputy Minister for Culture and Tourism in the new Greek government, Angela Gerekou – who is an MP for Corfu – declare her support for the new enterprise. -ICC Read Whole Articles
Hot Greek Summer!!
Three weeks into the holiday season and the summer sun is starting to really heat up. Here on Corfu, the last 5 days have been really hot, well above average for this time of year. Obviously, for the people visiting the Island, this is perfect - especially for swimming, snorkeling, scuba and all types of water sports like: ringos, paragliding, flying fish and banana rides. The crisp emerald water is a perfect temp, just cool enough to wake you up!The streets here in Sidari are starting to come alive with families and visitors from all over and hopefully the season will turn out to be fun and busy. We’ve been hearing stories from other resorts on Corfu and the news seems to be the same: “Not very busy.” The bright news so far is the Pounds rise since last year. Hope everyone has a great summer!!!
Volcanic Ash Returns
Right on the heels of the economic troubles Europe is facing, the volcano in Iceland has decided to make things even harder, especially for the already stressed holiday resorts of southern Europe.“Civil aviation officials on Sunday said a drifting, dense cloud of volcanic ash is "rapidly encroaching" on British airspace, forcing the closure of airports in Northern Ireland.
The National Air Traffic Service said a no-fly zone has been imposed over parts of Northern Ireland, and no flights are going in or out of airports in Belfast or the Isle of Man.” -AP News - Whole Article
A quick look at wikipedia revealed some troubling information concerning Eyjafjallajokull’s eruption history. The last major eruption the Volcano had, which was less than 100 years ago, lasted 2 years. If this cycle stays with our current situation, the aviation industry will have some heavy losses for some time to come.
Greece Passes Austerity Measure
Late on Thursday, Greece’s parliament voted and passed harsh austerity measures to combat defaulting on their debt. While riots and demonstrations ( hundreds of thousands) raged outside parliament on Thursday night, both of Greece’s main parties argued for hours over what should be executed to help Greece.“The 172-121 win was a joyless affair, however, for Prime Minister George Papandreou and his Socialist Party. The three-year austerity package, which the European Union and the International Monetary Fund required in return for a 110-billion-euro ($145 billion) bailout, will impose painful and far-reaching changes on Greece.” -USA Today - Linked Artilce
Without getting into political options, the overall effect of these austerity measures is that the greek working class will once again carry the burden of political/Corporate theft. Just like the Americans did, 9 months ago, having to bail out AIG and most of the US financial institutions, Greek citizens will shoulder the Euro/IMF rescue plan. What overall effect this will have on the actual debt problem is unknown but life for the lower/middle class is just about to get very hard for the prolonged future.
Pound Sterling Vs. The Euro
While Southern Europe, especially Greece, prepare to tighten their belts and agree to harsh austerity measures, it’s the Pound Sterling that will see the most out of the bad economic situations facing the South. “Sterling rose to a near 9-month high against the euro on Wednesday as deepening concerns that euro zone debt problems will spread beyond Greece battered the single currency.” - Reuters - Link to article
The saving grace for tourist areas of Greece may be the strengthening Pound Sterling because the new austerity measures passed on Thursday in Athens, will strangle the working class greeks. As I write this article, one pound sterling is about 1.169 €, which is better than what it was all last year. In a weird turn of events, Greece bringing down the Euro, might be the only thing that ends up saving Greece in the end.
Volcanic Ash Could Reach Greece
The cloud of ashes after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland may reach Greece on Tuesday, Greek Antena TV reports. The national meteorological service prognosticates Northwest wind in Central Europe, Italy and the Balkans, including Greece, which may bring the volcanic ashes on the territory of the country.As of April 22, the winds in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Balkans will change their direction to West-Southwest and even if the ashes reach Greece, they will be pushed away from this area again.
Euro Fall Due To Panic
(Bloomberg) -- Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein said the euro’s 4.6 percent decline against the dollar this year has been “panic selling” stemming from the financial crisis in Greece.
“The euro is weakening despite their better trade balance,” Feldstein, an economist, said in a Bloomberg Television interview broadcast today. “This is a kind of an irrational or panic selling where people are just saying, ‘I don’t know what is going on, I am just going to step to the sidelines and not leave money in euros.’” Read the full article
The only good that I can see in this whole disaster (Criminal Ponzi Scheme) is that if the Euro currency falls, especially against the British Pound, it might translate to more tourists coming to Corfu in the summer. The weak Pound has hurt tourist all over Greece and especially on Corfu. We can only wait and see.
EU Nearing Bailout For Greece...
(RTTNews) - The European Union is working on reaching an agreement on a bail-out deal for Greece, media reports said Saturday. Euro leaders are set to meet in Brussels on Monday to finalize the proposal.
The multi-billion euro rescue package would provide loans and guarantees for Greece if it sought help for financing its deficit, reports said citing EU officials. The Greek crisis had hurt the 16-nation currency, euro. Greece has not asked for financial help thus far.
Possible Corfu Offshore Wind Farm
Offshore Wind Farm - Corfu: Plans have been drawn and survey teams have been sent to Corfu's north coast for a possible offshore wind farm directly off the coast of San Stefanos. While Spain, Italy and Greece have taken steps to "Go Green" there has been considerable opposition from local communities, especially areas where tourism is the main source of income. While the final decision has not been made on the future of the proposed Corfu wind farm, there have been several local organizations that have voiced opposition to the project. Their website can be found here and their facebook page can be found here. In addition, there is also a petition people can sign on the groups main page and many tourists that have been coming to Corfu for years have already sign up.
Corfu Carbon Monoxide Posioning Trial
Twelve people went on trial on February 4 regarding the carbon monoxide poisoning of two British children at a luxury hotel in Corfu. Seven-year-old Christianne Shepherd and her 6-year-old brother Robert were found dead in October 2006 in their bungalow at the island’s Corcyra Beach Hotel. Their father, Neil Shepherd, and his partner Ruth-Emy Beatson were found unconscious but made a full recovery. Twelve people, including two British nationals who worked for the Thomas Cook tour operator, have been charged with negligent manslaughter and causing injury by negligence. Some also have been charged with violating building codes. The case was being heard in a misdemeanour court in Corfu. Water Quality In Greece
The European Commission's (EEA) report on the quality of bathing waters in Greece, indicated that 97.7% complied with EU standards. More than 2,000 Greek beaches were tested as part of the survey. We are glad to hear that Corfu has passed with flying colors and we’re sure the quality will only get better with time and the wide spread expansion of sewer systems that are being completed all over Corfu. Read the whole report by clicking here: EU Water Report 2009