Local elections bring new faces

Local elections were held on 15 October 2006. Pelekas is one of the ten villages that make up the Municipality of Parelion and has five village councillors, of which the one with the most votes is named as mayor. (This is an unpaid, honorary position and lasts for four years.) The mayor's duties are to represent the people of Pelekas on the wider stage of Municipal politics, to act as a mediator and to look after various aspects of everyday life such as the supply of utilities (water, electric, etc.).

The new mayor of Pelekas is Spyros Bizis (pictured above with his family). Spyros, who is 46, is an American educated anthropologist who is currently a curator at the Mon Repos Museum. He is aiming to oversee a number of projects aimed at improving local infrastructure before the end of the year. These include finishing the new car park in time for Easter; new drainage; setting up a water purification system and an outlet where villagers can collect this water; improvements to some of the local roads; and creating a village museum.

Pelekas council normally meets once a month. The other councillors elected were Alekos Martinis, George Monopolis (from Antonis), Nikos Pantelios and Stavros Vergis (from Alexandros).

BA Launches scheduled Corfu service

For the first time British Airways will be operating a regular (4 times a week) scheduled service to Corfu this summer.  This is great news for everyone who want to choose the time they want to fly and the type of accommodation they want to stay in this summer.

The service operates from Gatwick and starts running from 2nd May 2007 every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  There are also connecting flights from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness & Aberdeen. So if you are thinking of booking independently this summer have a look at this site first!

New Bins

Greece is processing only 25% of its recyclable materials due to inadequate recycling infrastructure and ineffective public awareness campaigns.

Out of a million tons of recyclable materials produced in Greece every year, only 266,623 tons are actually recycled, according to the Hellenic Recovery Recycling Corporation. This means Greece is seriously lagging behind a European Union target dictating that member states process 60 percent of their recyclable materials by 2011.

But there has been some progress. Last year, the corporation cooperated with a total of 337 municipalities across the country maintaining 25,000 recycling dumpsters and 12 sorting centres across the country.

As we previously reported, Pelekas (and the rest of the Parelion Municipality) has joined this long overdue recycling drive and several new bins are in place around the village intended for paper, glass, cardboard, tin and aluminium.

New Baker's

A new baker's has opened in the main square of Pelekas in what was previously a tourist office. Named "Kalimera" it is owned by Dimitris and Argiro Kontis.

As well as fresh bread and rolls it sells a selection of pies, cakes and biscuits as well as coffee and ice-creams and is a welcome addition for tourists and residents alike.

New Viewing Opportunities
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For the first time in Pelekas you can watch all the latest sport live on Sky and BBC TV at Hawaii Bar. Whether you follow football, cricket, rugby or golf it's all available day and night on two large screens. Situated opposite Agios Nikolaos church in the top square, Hawaii Bar is especially handy for those returning in the evening from the beach as the free shuttle bus stops outside.

Cookery Corner

This section gives you the opportunity to re-create some of your favourite Corfiot taverna recipes at home. This time, Kotopoulo Lemonato - Chicken in Lemon Sauce.

Ingredients

1 chicken, about 1.5 kg, jointed. 1 stick celery with leaves, rinsed, trimmed and thinly sliced. Olive oil. Salt and black pepper. Some sprigs of fresh basil or half a teaspoon of dried basil. 1 small onion, finely sliced. Juice of two lemons. 3 carrots, sliced. 300 ml hot water.

Instructions

Rinse and dry the chicken pieces. Put the olive oil in a wide saucepan and, when fairly hot but not brown, season the chicken pieces and sautee them gently on both sides. They should not get brown. Remove them to a plate. Put the onion in the same saucepan and sautee until it becomes transparent. Add all the vegetables and the basil and sautee for a few more minutes, until they are all coated in oil. Add the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables and pour the lemon juice all over. It is best to start with one lemon and adjust to taste before you add any more. When the steam from the lemon has subsided add the water and more seasoning, then cover and cook slowly for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve the chicken and vegetables on top of pasta or rice and coat with the delicious thick sauce.

Archive

Weather

Editorial

As Spring is associated with new beginnings, in this issue we have focused on some of the things that may have changed since you last visited Pelekas.
One of the most noticeable changes for those who live here all year round has been in annual weather patterns.
This winter was one of the warmest and driest on record. Although March brought some welcome rain, there is now serious debate in Greece (and the rest of the world) about the effects of climate change.
In Corfu it remains to be seen whether it will affect tourism (either adversely or positively) and whether the time of year that tourists choose to visit will change. What is certain is that the next decade will certainly see significant changes both locally and internationally.
If we are to regularly have shorter, warmer winters then we may have much longer summer tourist seasons. The fear of course is that if western Europe finds itself basking in a Mediterranean climate people may opt to stay at home.

One of the advantages of choosing to visit places like Pelekas - which cater for independent rather than package tourism - is that you can be a little more flexible with your travel arrangements. With this in mind we welcome the news that finally, and after many false starts, it really does appear that we will have more all year round flights, courtesy of British Airways. This is in addition to the existing twice weekly LTU flights from Germany.

Finally, as ever at this time of year, we look forward to seeing lots of old friends this summer and hopefully making many new ones.

Easter 2007

This year Orthodox Easter fell on the same day as Easter in the rest of the world, April 8th. If you have ever wondered how the date of Easter is arrived at the answer is here.

Pelekas Reunited

There is a new section on Pelekas.com and if you were wondering what had happened to those great friends you made on Pelekas Beach 15 years ago it's the place to go. Adding yourself to the list is absolutely free - all we need is a little information and a photo. To see who may already be looking for you click here.

New Car Park - Update

The new car park is nearing completion and expected to be ready by the beginning of May.

New View

Some rather drastic "tree-trimming" has opened up an interesting new vista next to Pink Panther Restaurant on the road to Glyfada .

Pelekas Carnival

The traditional pre-Lenten Carnival took place on February 18th. This photo was taken in Pelekas Cafe which hosted a memorable masque party that night!