Yiassas!
Moira and Spiros Stravoravdis offer you a warm welcome to their new `Simply Paleocastritsa` website. Our home is situated on the outskirts of Lakones, a small village, nestling on the hillside above Paleocastritsa, on the west coast of Corfu, where we live with our two daughters, Marianna and Becky.

"I wish i could give you and idea of the beauty of this place - it really is paradise. The chief charm is the great variety of the scenery, and the extreme greenness of every place. Such magnificent groves of olives I never saw - they are gigantic.". Even after 22 years here I am still discovering some of its magnificent beauty. Winter is also the time when I manage to visit my parents in North East England, taking in some Christmas shopping too, but winter is also the time of the olives. Olives are very important here in Corfu, Very important.
In fact, so precious are olives here, that unlike anywhere else in the olive growing world, we wait for the olives to fall from the trees onto strategically placed nets, rather than beating the tree with sticks to `encourage` the fruit to fall!
Neither do we prune the olive trees, instead we allow them to

grow at will, which is why Edward Lear was so captivated by the Corfiot olive groves, they possess a haunting beauty that is unique and very picturesque.
In the springtime, without fail, Spiros' boat needs repainting. The harbour at Paleocasritsa becomes a hive of activity as locals emerge from the winter and head to their boats to get them ready, more than occasionally heading off to the harbour bar to share a drink or two and put the world back on track!
Spring in Corfu bursts forth with a mass of colourful and fragrent spring flowers from bee orchids, hellebores. pink and white cistus; lupins; widow iris through to grape hyacinth, all of which heralds the arrival of the new season which we head into with enthusiasm, optimism and lots of energy!
We hope you like our website and that it can share with you even a little of the magic that brings people back to Corfu and Paleokastritsa time and time again!

Pink, terracotta, cherry - it even feels Greek, but where's the blue?

Our lifestyle on the island is fairly typical of most Corfiot villagers, very busy in the summertime (May - October) and considerably quieter in the winter.
In Corfu late summer we pick our grapes and produce our own wine, some years being more successful than others...
Winter is a time to slow down, catch up with friends, and get out on some of the scenic walks in this beautiful corner of Corfu, it's totally understandable why Edward Lear fell in love with Corfu. One of his diary entries reads:

As the sun goes down - we see the moon

Paleokastritsa

Paleokastritsa is 25 kilometres from Corfu Town, linked by the widest and best lroad on the island. Paleokastritsa has six bays / coves and two headlands, with lots of green vegetation, cliffs and sandy beaches has established itself as a top-class Greek island resort.
In Paleokastritsa you will find some of the island's biggest hotels, best restaurants and liveliest bars ... but there are lots of quiet, reflective areas of Paleokastritsa which is spread along a winding road for three miles between the bays and the centre of the town. Even in high summer it's not crowded - though the Italians seem to congregate there for two weeks - Italian Fortnight the locals call it!

One of the bays from Anthimos Rooms

Spiros on the barbecue - lemon chicken with herbs. Mmm.....

© COPYRIGHT 2010 Photography by Dirk van der Werff AQphotos.com