- Added: 5th of August 2008
- Area: Koukouli
- Category: Hotels and Travel
Koukouli 440 07
+30-26530 71743
maste2 said
Interview with Roy Hounsell, author of «The Papas
The Papas and the Englishman begins with Roy Hounsell and his wife emigrating to Corfu, where they lived for 6 years. In the meantime though, during a holiday trip to the Northwest region of mainland
Greece known as Zagoria, they fall in love with the area and decide to buy an old tumbledown
house in the tiny village of Koukouli. The story centres around their first year of life in Koukouli and their experiences while renovating their house into a small hotel and getting to know the locals in their unique little community.
The story provides an amusing and touching insight into the simplicity of life in this remote mountain region, the close-knit traditional community there and how Roy and his wife integrated themselves into it.
Why did you decide to write about your Zagori experience?
The main reason was that Zagori is so different to Corfu that when we first came here I wanted to write everything down while it was fresh in my memory. You know, all the funny stories and things that
struck us as so different at the time, which now seem ordinary to us and part of everyday life.
So I actually wrote the book back then, nearly 17 years ago, but just didn’t publish it.
Has life changed much in those 17 years you’ve lived in Zagori?
Yes and no. There’s a lot of renovation of old buildings going on, as well as new houses being built, which was more unusual when we first moved here. But the basic style of building is exactly the same
– the regulations are very strict so all the houses conform to the traditional Zagori character,
whether they’re old or new. People aren’t allowed to build outside the village units either
and outdoor swimming pools are illegal as they’re considered a blot on the landscape.
Luckily, people here haven’t changed at all – everyone rallies round and helps each other
out – they are fantastic people.
Did you manage to get your hotel up and running?
Yes! It’s now been open for around 10 years. We had to pull he old building down and rebuild it and it now houses two rooms, which we let to visitors.
There is still work to be done – we want to renovate a further section of building into a breakfast
room and an extra bedroom.
But we do things gradually and thoroughly round here. We have never had internet or email for
the business and yet in the first 4 years of running we’d had visitors from 49 different countries!
We must be doing something right as we have customers who keep returning – one couple has been back 5 times!
Do you ever visit Corfu and if so, do you find it very changed?
I hadn’t been back for 6 years, but when I did, I hardly recognized it. The change was shocking
– the main road north from Corfu town looks like a motorway and all those traffic lights!
Yes, we’re not particularly fond of the traffic lights ourselves…
Are you planning a sequel to The Papas and the Englishman?
No, but I do have another book in mind, which I’ve already started. In 1962, I got a job with
a travel company who were offering the first ever package holidays. The package involved a flight from Gatwick on a propeller Dakota plane which held 25 people and featured windows you could open for fresh air, a refuel stop in Marseilles, then final destination of Corsica or Sardinia where the company had 2 or 3 villas for rent. My job was to drive the clients round in the old army trucks the company had bought for £72 each. It was a great experience and there are lots of fun stories to be told.
The Papas and the Englishman is available to buy on Amazon. Roy & Efi’s Place has two beautiful traditional double rooms, which are each available to rent for 60 euros a night, including breakfast. Tel. +30-26530 71743 Koukouli (Zagori), Mainland
Roy Hounsell was born in Woldingham, Surrey in 1942 and educated at Millfield College, Somerset. In 1980, made redundant, he and his wife decided to decamp from gloomy England and try their hand at establishing themselves in sunny, green, sea-bound Corfu. The Papas and the Englishman is his first book.
Region
The village Koukouli (its name comes from the word koukouli = rock), is situated 38km North of Ioannina on the road to Kipi and it is situated at an altitude of 900m. The region was inhabited for the first time round 1430 A.D. according to a relevant inscription that is written in the church of the Assumption (1788).
The village enjoyed great prosperity in the 19th century and many people who had emigrated became important benefactors. The houses, the bridges, the fountains as well as the churches are traditionally built and and stone is the dominant material. The visitor will definitely be enchanted by the scenery. The old school and its five fountains are also very interesting shights for the visitor to see.
Around the village you see the bridges of Kokoris and the three-arched bridges of Kalogeriko both of which have traditional architecture from Epirus. Moreover, one can see the old mansion houses of Kokoris, Plakidas and other. Today, K Lazaridis runs a Cultural Centre which has an archive, library as well as a botanical collection.
Koukouli Activities
* The Vikos National Park has countless birds, flowers and wild animals - for those without a car, Elektra has a network of friends who will organise transfers at taxi rates eg: Vikos back to Koukouli for 40
* Or explore the Lazarides botanical collection in the village (closed Mon, Tue, all Nov)
* Drive to Tsepelovo, with its breathtaking, fresco-covered church (you ll need help locating the keyholder) and the nearby abandoned monastery of Rongovou
* Take a day-trip to the lakeside town of Ioannina, with its museums, fortress, silver and jewellery shops
* A bit further away is the beautifully-preserved ancient theatre of Dodonae
* If you enjoy hiking, there are countless day-walks, either circular, or to other hotels on our site.
* A short stroll to Kipi, with its elegantly arched stone bridges, and the bursting folk museum of Agapios Tollis (check opening times)
* A walk through the upper Vikos gorge, climbing the skala (mulepath) to Vitsa or Monodendri (cliffside monastery)
* The ascent of the famous cliff-clinging mulepath from Kapesovo to Vradeto, and on to the viewpoint over the Vikos gorge
* Or the arduous hike through the Vikos gorge: 14 km long, 1200m deep, and probably the most spectacular gorge-walk in Europe, ending either at Papingo or Vitsiko (taxi back)
* Adrenaline junkies can don a wetsuit and swim / walk through the impossibly narrow Vikakis canyon (supplier/guide in Kipi)
* Go rafting or canoeing on the Aoos or Voidomatis rivers (1 hr away)
* Or just sit under the plane tree learning the Greek art of doing nothing!
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