Finally, direct winter flights.

It is finally possible to get direct flights to and from Corfu during the winter season. German carrier LTU now flies from Dusseldorf to Corfu on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

From Dusseldorf it's possible to find connecting flights to most destinations in the UK and other countries. For details visit the LTU website.

There are of course still other winter flight alternatives. Olympic Airlines flies to Corfu via Athens, as does Aegean Air. The budget conscious can use EasyJet as far as Athens or fly with Ryan Air to Ancona, Venice, Bari, Pescara and Brindisi, and then take a ferry to Corfu.
 

Recent research reveals...

Greeks are the most religious people in Europe and the eighth most devout in the world, according to the results of a worldwide survey conducted across 68 countries. An overwhelming 86 percent of Greeks claim to be religious. The poll defined "religious" as believing in a faith rather than attending church regularly. "Religion may not play a decisive role in daily life but religious faith is, to a large extent, a matter of tradition," said Panayiotis Pachis, a professor of theology at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University. "For example, the overwhelming majority of Greeks attend church during Orthodox Easter," he said.
 

Scientists have suggested that Greek grandmothers who promote mountain tea as a panacea for most illnesses are remarkably close to the truth. They discovered that the drink, and other organic products found in relative abundance in many parts of Greece, were useful in protecting against breast cancer in particular, as well as other forms of the disease, and osteoporosis. A team of Greek experts from the University of Athens Medical School recently unveiled the results of experiments they have been carrying out on a number of organic products found in Greece and their effect on humans. The products tested included camomile, aniseed, pomegranates, strawberries, honey and royal jelly.
 

One in two Greeks can communicate in a foreign language, according to a survey held by the European Commission, while only about a third of people in countries like Britain and Italy can speak a language other than their mother tongue. Data showed that Greeks are in line with the EU average as 50 percent of the bloc's citizens can communicate in a foreign language. Younger Greeks lead the way, with eight in 10 students able to communicate in a language other than Greek. Some 44 percent of Greeks speak English, while 8 percent speak French or German. At the bottom end of the scale come the British, of whom only 30 percent know a language other than English.

Close to victory in battle to save olive groves

An end to the destruction of Corfu's olive groves is in sight, after intervention by the New Democracy parliamentary deputy Nikos Georgiades. His last minute action resulted in the amendment of a law setting new strict penalties for illegal cutting of trees. The law was being presented to Parliament without provision for Corfu's olive groves, and it was only after Georgiades threatened to resign that a clause applying to Corfu was added.

Catastrophic cutting of the trees (to lower than a height of three metres) was made illegal by laws passed in the first part of the last century, but fines remained at levels set in those days. Systematic cutting to near-ground level of Corfu's 400-year-old trees began recently when the wholesaler and supermarket chain Diellas began subsidizing its imported products by filling lorries otherwise returning empty to Italy with wood destined for pizza ovens. Subsequently, teams of Albanians cashed in by providing a hungry labour force operating in Mafia style. Tree owners, desperate for cash due to a drop in tourism and losses on the stock market, were paid a pittance for the wood. In some cases, untended olive groves were cut down without the owners' permission or even knowledge. It is estimated that up to 10% of Corfu's olive groves have been lost.

The law sets out the new rules: - The transportation of olive wood whose cutting violates the law is forbidden. - The transportation of olive wood is permitted only with a special license issued by the Department of Agriculture of the Prefecture of Corfu. - Whoever transports olive wood in violation of the above, as well as the owner of the wood, is liable to a prison sentence of up to two months. - Olive wood which is being transported without license, as well as the vehicle transporting it, will be confiscated by representatives of the Ministry of Economics, the Greek Police or the Port Authority. - Licenses will not be issued for the catastrophic cutting of olive trees, this being defined as cutting of the main part of the tree in a way that will damage its long-term production capacity.

Nikos Georgiades described the decision as a historic one. Corfu's two other deputies, Nikos Dendias and Angela Gerekou, have both supported a ban on the cutting. The Corfu Environmental Initiative called the new law "the second great environmental victory of the last five years, after the ban on aerial spraying." The organization emphasized that the time is now right for the implementation of ecological farming techniques in Corfu's olive groves.

Footnote: One local property agency has stopped marketing property of any description owned by people who have cut down trees.

Cookery Corner

This page gives you the opportunity to re-create some of your favourite Corfiot taverna recipes at home. This month, with the upcoming holiday season in mind, Stuffed Turkey.

Ingredients

1 turkey. 2 kg potatoes. Salt and black pepper. Juice of 2 lemons. 4 tablespoons olive oil. 1 tablespoon oregano.1 tablespoon thyme. 30 gr. butter. 200 ml water. For the stuffing - 1.5 glass white wine, or juice of a lemon. 120 gr. pine nuts. 270 gr. lean beef, minced. 150 ml water. Salt and black pepper. Turkey liver and heart, rinsed and finely sliced. 5 tablespoons chopped parsley. 1 medium onion, finely sliced. 1 piece cinnamon stick. 45 gr. long-grain rice, rinsed. 5 whole grains allspice.

Instructions

Rinse and dry the turkey. Season the turkey with salt and black pepper all over, as well as in its cavity. Prepare the stuffing. Put the pine nuts in a dry frying pan and roast them over a medium heat, shaking or stirring almost continuously for 3-4 minutes until they look nicely brown. Keep aside. Sauté the minced meat, which should produce its own fat so there is no need to add more, and the giblets for a few minutes, breaking down any lumps. Add the onion and the spices and sauté for a further 3-4 minutes. Pour over the wine or lemon juice and, when the steaming subsides, add the water. Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the rice, pine nuts, parsley and mix well. Stuff the turkey and place the turkey in the middle of a roasting tin, breast up. Peel and quarter the potatoes lengthways (quarter-moon shape), rinse them and arrange evenly around the turkey. Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over the turkey and potatoes, then sprinkle with most of the herbs. Dot the butter all over and carefully pour the water into a corner of the pan. Roast in a pre-heated oven for two and a half to three hours. A little water may be added if it looks as if it is drying up, no more than 6 tablespoons. The turkey should be golden brown by the end and the potatoes a little less so.

Editorial

Last year's successful Olympic Games, along with a promotional campaign of the country abroad, led to a bumper tourism season this summer. Recent data shows the rise in foreigner arrivals may exceed 6 percent for 2005, while Corfu posted the only rise among the Ionian Islands with +3.3 percent.
Greece competes in the international tourism market with many cheaper destinations, which many say offer deals with much better value for money. The government has launched a 50-million-euro promotional campaign in a bid to lift the country's appeal and help turn it into a year-round destination. The ruling conservatives have increased Greece's focus on tourism, a sector which economists say contributes almost 40 percent every year to the country's gross domestic product. Along with the extended advertising campaign, the government created a separate tourism ministry soon after its election in March last year.
Greece is expecting a good tourism year in 2006 and predicted higher figures in tourist arrivals compared with the current year. The forecast that next year's rise will exceed this year's is based on a number of factors, including global growth - particularly that of Germany, a key market for Greek tourism - the impact of terrorism, the state's recent ad campaign, greater demand from Eastern European states, more competitive accommodation rates and a likely rise in US interest rates which would strengthen the dollar.

An apology. Once again we are sorry that the Autumn edition of Pelekas News failed to materialise this year. It appears that all our contributors are too busy at that time of the year winding down after a long hot summer.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all, wherever in the world you may be, a festive holiday season and hope you all have a peaceful and prosperous New Year. We hope to see as many of you as possible in Pelekas next summer.

On TV this Christmas

Corfu was recently transported back to the 1930s as a camera crew from the BBC filmed shots for an upcoming television movie based on the book "My Family and Other Animals" by British writer Gerald Durrell. The book was first published in 1956 and was instrumental in making both the island, where Durrell spent much of his childhood, and the author himself, famous. The film is due to be shown on Christmas Day in Britain and features Oscar-nominated actress Imelda Staunton in the role of Durrell's mother.

Easter 2006

An early reminder that in Greece next year Easter Sunday falls on April 23rd.
 

Sky arrives in Pelekas

Good news for sports fans is that Hawaii Bar has become the first venue in Pelekas to introduce the satellite channel Sky TV. You can now follow all the top sporting fixtures, as well as keeping up with the news and watching the latest movies while you enjoy a drink. This is an especially welcome development with the 2006 World Cup just months away.
 

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