Volume 2, Issue 4
September 2009
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Roda’s wildlife retreats at the peak of the season, spreading to the perimeters of the village and off into the diverse natural habitat that makes Corfu so unique. Unless you venture out beyond the village and into the mountains or countryside proper, you are unlikely to see one of our most fascinating creatures – the grass snake. This harmless reptile is
to see a grass snake is in the water, where it hunts for its favourite food, small frogs. This is a snake that can remain
streams that tend to still be running after the winter rains. As soon as the rains are over and the streams become brackish with salt water, the snakes move further inland to mate and to find their prey. We were lucky enough to watch this one for some time before it headed off into river margins because of all the attention.
Remarkably resistant to storms and fire, drought tolerant, needing
One of our favourite fast-food snacks in Roda is the ‘Giros Pitta’ and there has been some discussion on the rodaonline forum as to who makes the best one. Most of us know about pitta bread, but what about the word ‘giros’ – where does that come from?
Our Greek dictionary defines it as – circle, round, brim, hem, stroll or tour and it is easy to see how meat that is grilled on a rotating spit and wrapped around with bread became a ‘giros’. Of course, the English language changed things slightly by dropping the ‘s’ to avoid confusion and the prefix ‘giro’ was born creating more than thirty words in the language of today. The most obvious are autogiro & gyroscope, gyration & gyrocompass, gyroidal and, perhaps my favourite, ‘gyromancy’, defined as divination by walking in a circle until dizziness caused a person to fall.
On you next trip to Roda, you will no doubt walk ‘giro giro’, round & round the village and you may even buy something from a pedlar that goes around several villages – the ‘girologos’.
Our Greek dictionary defines it as – circle, round, brim, hem, stroll or tour and it is easy to see how meat that is grilled on a rotating spit and wrapped around with bread became a ‘giros’. Of course, the English language changed things slightly by dropping the ‘s’ to avoid confusion and the prefix ‘giro’ was born creating more than thirty words in the language of today. The most obvious are autogiro & gyroscope, gyration & gyrocompass, gyroidal and, perhaps my favourite, ‘gyromancy’, defined as divination by walking in a circle until dizziness caused a person to fall.
On you next trip to Roda, you will no doubt walk ‘giro giro’, round & round the village and you may even buy something from a pedlar that goes around several villages – the ‘girologos’.
submerged under water for long periods and early in the season, they can often be seen in the clear fresh
has ceased and many of the oaks have disappeared to the point of becoming endangered in some areas. We saw our first Valonia Oak behind the school in Acharavi and a recent short, but steep climb on one of the old tracks leading to Episkepsi revealed several others standing majestically on a hilltop looking out over St George’s Bay.
Sitting quietly on a log in the shade of one of these trees, it is easy to see why Zeus chose the oak tree to symbolise his power and priests would listen to the rustling of the leaves to interpret his will. Even today, people are quoted as saying that the oak is a prophetic tree, with the breath of God passing through its foliage.
It is good to know that the re-establishment of this once-distinctive species of the Balkans and east Mediterranean is being championed by the Society of Friends of the Valonia Oak, whose aim is to re-create aesthetic woodlands on barren hillsides.
Sitting quietly on a log in the shade of one of these trees, it is easy to see why Zeus chose the oak tree to symbolise his power and priests would listen to the rustling of the leaves to interpret his will. Even today, people are quoted as saying that the oak is a prophetic tree, with the breath of God passing through its foliage.
It is good to know that the re-establishment of this once-distinctive species of the Balkans and east Mediterranean is being championed by the Society of Friends of the Valonia Oak, whose aim is to re-create aesthetic woodlands on barren hillsides.
very little water, it is surprising that the Valonia Oak is not more widely seen on the lower hillsides of Corfu. A relic of the primeval forests that covered the island, it is a majestic deciduous or semi-evergreen tree that provides a habitat for a countless creatures amongst its branches and around its base.
The word ‘Valonia’ is thought to originate from the Greek word ‘balanidi’ meaning acorn, and it is the acorns of this magnificent tree that make it easily identifiable. The huge, furry-cupped acorns produced fodder for both wild and domestic animals and once supported the Mediterranean`s dye and tanning industries, thus providing valuable additional incomes for small communities across Greece. Since the introduction of synthetic chemicals, this practice
The word ‘Valonia’ is thought to originate from the Greek word ‘balanidi’ meaning acorn, and it is the acorns of this magnificent tree that make it easily identifiable. The huge, furry-cupped acorns produced fodder for both wild and domestic animals and once supported the Mediterranean`s dye and tanning industries, thus providing valuable additional incomes for small communities across Greece. Since the introduction of synthetic chemicals, this practice
known by the Greeks as ‘nerofido’ – the water snake, and it is a close relative to the other members of the ‘natrix’ species found throughout northern Europe. The best place
