[Julia] The Greek islands
are held with great affection in the hearts of our sprits. Every year, 3 million of us
head there for our holidays. And it's easy to see why. This is great, look at that. I have a strong affinity with the islands. My mum is Greek. Although she despairs that I
still can't speak the lingo. (speaking in Greek) I'm proud of my Greek heritage. My Greekness. - Look my nose. - My nose. - But I've only holidayed here and I've never really explored
beyond the tourist trail. Here we go. Until now. I'm going to see the hidden side. Wow, it's so beautiful. - Hello everybody. - [Julia] Look at it, it's so lush from the historical and
rugged terrain of Crete, Oh, I think I am fooled. - Yamas. to the glamor of a sunset in Santorini, - Isn't it gorgeous - Uh, Thank you it's our luck but I'll also be taking in the lesser known islands from the architectural splendor of Symi to the natural wonder of Skopelos. Aww, it makes me proud to be
just that little bit Greek. Before ending my journey on the Island where my family story first began. This is a voyage of discovery
and I'm taking you with me. (instrumental music) (Boat engine roaring) So as you arrive towards Corfu, it's very impressive, beautiful buildings very structurally imposing
and very Italian looking. They say Corfu is the least
Greek of all the Greek islands. I was talking to my dad
before I left for this trip. And when I mentioned Corfu, he was ah yes I think you'll find that
have their own cricket club. But I'm expecting the British
influence to be quite strong, I think here in Corfu because
Brits had been coming here on holiday since the fifties. So I'm sure they've left
their Mark good and bad. And so have many other countries. Corfu has spent seven
centuries under foreign rule making this Island a cultural melting pot. (motor boat engine roaring) Located off the West
coast of Northern Greece, Corfu has only been a
Greek Island since 1864. It's capital is Corfu town. And it really doesn't look Greek at all. Oh, come on. Seriously. It's as if I'm in Venice, honestly if you hypnotized
me, then plop me down here and said, where are you? I would bet good money, that it was Venice. It's like San Marco square. That's because Corfu was
ruled by the Venetians for four centuries. (guitar music) And my dad, Michael was right, they really do play cricket here. (man singing in Greek) Just as surprising as cricket, is the abundance kumquats of everywhere. A fruit that's more at home in South Asia. And in case you don't know what kumquat is it's this little thing
it's a tiny, like this big it's a tiny little citrus fruit. I do know what it is. Cause I happened to
taste one when I was 20 and I love them. So I'm quite excited that it's such a big deal over here. They make everything out of it. Sweets, marmalade, liquors. Definitely a good little gift idea. Look at that. Who wouldn't like that gathering dust in their
drinks cabinets at home. And not forgetting the kumquat ice cream (talking in Greek) Happy face. (Man singing in Greek and guitar music) Um, that is an exotic flavor. It tastes like an orange, but also there's lemon
with a bit of grapefruit, and it was a Brit that
brought kumquats to Corfu, a British botanist. Um I really like them. (guitar music and humming) It's Corfu's location on
the major shipping routes, that's responsible for
oddities like the kumquat, and another Corfiot obsession, spices. Smoked sea salt, veggie
mix, fish and sea food, sweet and spicy potato. Why? Why so many spices? Now the Greeks like their spices, but this is a whole new level. Hello, Catarina. - [Catarina] Hi, hi, Welcome. - [Julia] My nose was
tingling, what a lovely smell. This aromatic shop is owned by Catarina and it's her passion. She's a real life spice girl. You got spices from all
over the world here. - [Catarina] Well, all of
the blends that you see, I personally make them. - So tell me a little
bit about the history of Corfu and why there are
so many spice shops here? - [Catarina] Oh, we were blessed to be a part of the Venetian
era, over 400 years, uh, that Venetians had Corfu. - [Julia] To give you
the lovely buildings. - [Catarina] Yes, yes. Corfu was probably the first island or the area in Greece that had spices. - [Julia] So this was on the
spice route, the silk road. - [Catarina] That's
the silk road, exactly. - [Julia] The famous silk road. - [Catarina] Yeah, yeah, yeah. - [Julia] So they really are
spices from all over the world. - [Catarina] Absolutely. - [Julia] And now the Corfiots, - [Catarina] The Corfiots, yeah. - [Julia] The Corfiots have adopted. - [Catarina] Absolutely.
We have most of the names of the dishes, that they have here in Corfu are Italian names
because of the Venetian era. - [Julia] So what are some of the spices, that are particular to Corfu, that you won't find
anywhere else in Greece? - [Catarina] There's
the blend that we have, the most famous one, which
is the Pastitsada blend. - [Julia] Pasissada. -
[Catarina] Pastitsada - [Julia] Pastitsada,
that's the tricky bit 'cause it said it's a sound
- [Catarina] It's like a Ts. - [Julia] Tsada, [Both
Together] Pastitsada. - [Catarina] Bravo, bravo,
you're good, bravo, good. - [Julia] And please tell me that, that bubbling over there is Pastitsada. - [Catarina] Oh yes it is. I cannot have you here and not
Taste Pastitsada (laughing). - [Julia] Pastitsada is a
hundred percent Corfiot dish, the signature dish of the island. They eat it at family
gatherings on a Sunday, kind of like our Sunday roast
and it's heavy on the spice. Oh good Lord. - [Catarina] I know. Inside. There is a cinnamon,
clove, nutmeg, all spice, a bit of salt and pepper,
some chili pepper, paprika. - [Julia] Um hm. - [Catarina] Okay, and I also add a pinch of cumin inside. - [Julia] And another
note to the Italians, they serve it on a bed of pasta. - [Catarina] It's kind of a
hassle, this type of pasta, but - [Julia] Oh, okay this
isn't gonna be pretty. - [Catarina] That's was
the whole fun point. - [Julia] I apologize now. - [Catarina] There you go. How is it? Okay, I could tell by
the look at your face, you love it. - [Julia] Um, Oh my gosh. - [Catarina] I'm happy. - [Julia] The flavors
Catarina are incredible - [Catarina] The after
taste is incredible. Yeah. - [Julia] You know what I can taste. I can taste the love (Catarina laughing). Corfu, on a plate. Well, now I need to work
off that Pastitsada, a good job that Corfu is
a great place for walkers. There's a 220 kilometer
path called the Corfu trail, that zigzags through
the heart of the Island from the North to the South. It takes hikers into landscapes, untouched by mass tourism. In the North of the Island, it's brought me to one of
Corfu's best kept secrets, the abandoned village of Old Perithia. Hidden in the valley of
Corfu's highest mountain, this Venetian wonder, is a
14th century time capsule. - [Mark] Julia. - [Julia] Hello Mark.
- [Mark] Hey, great to see. - [Julia] Oh, good to see you as well. - [Julia] Mark is a Brit who
runs a BNB in the village with his wife Saskia. They're the driving force
behind the restoration of the Old Perithia. - [Mark] Saskia, and I happened
upon it about 12 years ago. And we came up here, not really with any
intention of doing anything, We just read about a ghost village and wanted to have a look. - [Julia] This essentially
was an abandoned village. - [Mark] Yeah. Um, the - [Julia] Why? - [Mark] The, the tourist
trade kind of started up in the 50's, 60's, and until
then there wasn't tourism, people didn't want to be by the sea. And at that time, there
was sort of culture was that you gave land by
the sea to the daughters because it was worthless or salty. We couldn't grow anything there. The villages will be for the sons. And of course, that all flipped
around when tourism started. - [Julia] So they just walked away. - [Mark] They just walked
away. And the nature pretty much took over the whole village. - [Julia] During the 14th century, Corfu was constantly being raided. So the Venetians built
Perithia as a hidden village, where you could see, but not be seen. - [Mark] Those are the
pirate attacks on the Island, - [Julia] Pirates, like real life pirates? - [Mark] Real life pirates,
Turks, Cyrus an's type of thing. - [Julia] Yes. - [Mark] People who owned the
houses would have chambers underneath where they
could hide like this. And they would either
put their possessions or themselves down here. - [Julia] This was the hiding spot. - [Mark] Cause made it safe. Yeah. - [Julia] In its heyday,
this village was home to around 1500 people,
but that's hard to imagine looking at the buildings today. I've gotten very fond of
renovating old properties, but I have to say I haven't
taken on anything quite, quite as challenging as this. When Mark arrived there were
only two permanent residents. Now there are up to 20 people
who call Perithia home. - [Mark] If you look back here, you've gotta be start to see
how big the village is, and - [Julia] It's huge. And actually, a lot of those buildings don't look, derelict. - [Mark] They look so bad. - [Julia] Of the original
130 houses, a third of them are now restored, or in the process. Property sell here anywhere
from a hundred thousand euros to a million. But it's not just the
houses that have been given a new lease of life. - [Mark] This church
has only recently been restored and reopened, and it had its first baptism
after 60 years, just last year. - [Julia] How old is the church? - [Mark] I think it dates from about 1300 because the village's
records go back to 1357 and all of these frescoes
were covered in lime, so it was a painstaking process to pick everything off the walls here. - [Julia] Aren't they beautiful. - [Mark] It's quite special. - [Julia] It is very special. The rejuvenation of the
village has even begun to entice back some of
the original residents. - [Julia] (greeting in Greek)
I am good, how are you? - [Mark] Julia, Versailles. - [Julia] Versailles
is the local beekeeper. He's recently returned
to his ancestral home selling his honey to passing tourists. - [Julia] How are the bees today? Are they feeling happy and calm? - [Versailles] The bees? You're happy. They're happy. Everybody's happy. If you love your job,
you make a lot of honey. - [Julia] Versailles spends his days tending to his 7 million bees who live in the 90 year
old pastel blue hives, he inherited from his grandfather. - [Julia] Oh, look at this. - [Versailles] You see the queen? - [Mark] I see the queen. Yeah. - [Julia] Isn't that just magical. - [Mark] It's astonishing eh. - [Julia] That is the queen bee? - [Versailles] Yeah,
this is the queen bee. - [Julia] She likes us, the queen bee, she's hanging around. There was a one in 80,000 chance of seeing the queen bee, amazing. - [Versailles] I grow
up here with my father. In this place, We have the
base from my grandfather, my father, me and uh, we
continue with my kids. - [Julia] How old are your children? - [Versailles] Eight and five. - [Julia] Amazing, so you
are handing down this. - [Versailles] Yes, the
work with bees, yeah, we continue, I think. - [Julia] What a life, what an existence. It's beautiful. Perithia was built as the
village that couldn't be seen. But now thanks to the love of these guys, it's finally getting the
audience it deserves. What a special, magical place. And ironically it was tourism, that drove the original settlers away from this village, made it a ghost town. They were chasing the tourist dollar heading to the coast, heading to the sea. And now it's tourism that
brought everybody back and breathed new life into this place. With a heavy heart, I'm saying
my goodbyes to Perithia, but the South of the Island beckons an another majestic Venetian import. - [Julia] I am in the
Greek Island of Corfu, and it's not what I was expecting. If I told you that I'm
standing here looking out over the Island of Corfu. I wouldn't believe me. Look at it. It's so lush and green. And as far as the eye can
see those olive trees. I followed the Corfu trail South, to the wild west coast of the Island. This is the tranquil side of Corfu, the peaceful side, still steeped
in history and tradition, not invaded by tourism. The landscape here feels
like one endless olive grove. The Venetians brought them
here in the 16th century, and now there are as many
as 4 million olive trees on the Island. Not surprisingly today, Olive oil is the most important product of Corfu. Brothers Spiros and Yorgos Daphnis, were born into the olive oil business. And they're the architects of an olive oil revolution on the Island. I didn't understand until now how important the olive tree was to Corfu and there are
so many olive trees here. - The olive tree for
Corfu and the Corfiots was and remains a living symbol. The majority of the trees around us are between two and 500 years old, while the oldest olive trees are even more than 1,500.
And you know what, Julia, the incredible feeling even for us is anytime we go for harvesting to realize how many persons or how many
generations before of us did exactly the same
thing to the same tree and how many times this
tree gives back again, and again and again, with
generosity, its own fruits. It's like a contract
between human and nature. - So Julia, let me show you
actually our real mother. Well, it is. - [Julia] This is your real mother. - Yes, yes - [Julia] I like her already. Oh it's just like steps. - [Both Brothers] Yes. - [Julia] I could do that. This wonderful ancient tree
was where the boys would play as youngsters and as adults work together now on business ideas. - If I say that we have a great duty today not only to continue this
tradition, but to develop it, to deliver something better,
from what we receive. - [Julia] When the two
brothers took control of their family business they inherited a struggling product. Years of prioritizing
quantity over quality had left the reputation of
Corfiot olive oil on its knees. They produced a lot of it,
but it wasn't very good. - It was like a bet for us,
make it something better, to change it. So it's like we sail in an unknown waters. So we started with a great vision and a passion that we will succeed. - [Julia] Spiros and Yorgos turned the rule book on its head and completely changed the
way olive is harvested. - What happens in the past is
simply setting under the trees with black plastic nets and waiting until the all fall alone on the ground. We have to show everybody else that there is an alternative way of collecting the fruits when
they are healthy and fresh. We are using the machine
that my father right now is working with. Oh, the uh, old, uh, - [Julia] Old style. - Old but symbol a way of collecting the fruit. Julia, would you like to try? - [Julia] Of course. - Let me makes you
produce it for a minute? - [Julia] Yes. There we go. We've got lots
of young lovely olives. I mean, it's very rewarding,
but it takes a long time. I need to have a go with that machine. - Will you try, really? - [Julia] Yes. Of course. - Are you sure? -[Julia] Yes, I am sure. - Wow. (Machine motor roaring) - [Julia] This clever bit of kit gently tickles the olives from the trees. I am gonna get all the leaves, I'm not sure about the olives. The brother's philosophy
is all about freshness harvesting the olives when they're alive when they're young and full of flavor. I'll tell you what, that is hard work. - I couldn't do that
for 12 hours, respect. - Thank you very much. - [Julia] Once they are collected the olives the brought
here to the processing area they're washed, squeezed and
the olive oil is extracted. It's a really nice process to watch. And it smells just very earthy. Within a few years, Spiros and Yorgos, have turned Corfu olive oil from a product with a dreadful reputation, to one of the very best
award-winning oils in Greece. - What I want you to do Julia is, I want you to take one last deep breath from the olive oil, just like this. - [Julia] Yeah. - And then I want you to
take an olive oil drop in your mouth, close your
lips, keep it closed. And then, - [Julia] That's hard for me. - for 2-3 seconds, I want
you to turn it around, so to feel it everywhere in your mouth and between your teeth. Take a fast and deep
breath like, like that. - [Julia] I have been to yoga classes that are less complicated. Okay. - Take an olive oil drop, close your lips. Perfect. Let it slowly go down, (both sniffing) take a deep breath. You must feel a bitterness
in the back of your tongue, - [Julia] I do, I am
feeling the bitterness. - And a spicy sense in your throat. - [Julia] Yeah, all of that
very spicy, very bitter. - Something I forgot to tell you. - [Julia] I thought you were my friend, I thought we bonded today. - Ah, well. - [Julia] It certainly
packs a peppery punch but olive oil is also thought
to have health benefits. In fact the legendary
Greek physician Hippocrates described it as the perfect medicine. - Yamas - [Julia] Cheers, yamas. I'm not ready to leave this
corner of Corfu just yet. I came here to discover
secrets of the Greek islands and one particular local
secret has definitely caught my attention. Eva, who works at the olive farm has offered to tell me more. - [Eva] Everyone comes here
from the village daily. Say it's very nice. - [Julia] It's beautiful, the sunset is - [Eva] Yes. - [Julia] Just lovely here. - [Eva] Also, here we do specific things some of the locals do. - [Julia] Oh, okay. This isn't quite what I was expecting. What are we going to do with that? - [Eva] Well, this is something that the local people use here, whenever they come in this beach. - [Julia] It's, it's not clay. - [Eva] Yeah, exactly.
- [Julia] It's clay. - [Eva] Well. -[Julia]
Okay, so what do we do? Where do we, where do we put it? - [Eva] Ah you take this one and you put it into your skin like this. - [Julia] Oh, and it's good for you. - [Eva] Yeah yeah yeah, it's very good. - [Julia] This clay comes
from the cliffs around us and the local swear it's the best thing to draw toxins from the skin. That's a good noise. So am I going to look 10
years younger after this? - [Eva] I'm 20 years younger. - [Julia] I love you. I'm going to go for the face. I'm going to try it on face. - [Eva] Of course, it's very nice. - [Julia] Let's get the blood running. Didn't really picture
doing anything like this on my visits to Corfu. - [Eva] But as you come you have to. - [Julia] You do. Do what
the locals do, embrace it. I've seen a lot on this island, that's been left by
other cultures, but this this is undeniably Corfiot. The water is just so lovely, so warm and obviously of the old clay look at me like 30 years younger, at least. I'm really sad that my time's
come to a close here on Corfu. It may be the least Greek
of the Greek islands, but it's no less special for that. Getting off the beaten track here in Corfu has been a real surprise. I wasn't expecting it to be so lush and so green. And the
Corfiots aren't embarrassed by all the other cultures
that have left their mark on the island. In fact, they've embraced those influences and made them their own. And that's what makes Corfu so unique. Next time, my journey takes me to glamorous Santorini, the supermodel of the Greek islands and possibly scenic, gorgeous views. I'll be on the hunt for the locals tip for the top spot to see its famous sunset in the memory bank and
escaping the crowds for a walk on its wild side. It is definitely unspoiled
this island, isn't it. It's quite mad, really?
