Ok Folks
Unfortunately we had to return from our favourite place this week so thought I would write a little about our holiday for anyone who may be interested!!
We (us two and three boys) arrived at the Marinaki apts in the early hours. Costas from the Coconut had arranged our taxi as always, so this went smoothly. Although this is a tiring time to arrive, I love arriving to the sound of the waves in the moonlight, as we take our cases in and love the fact that we can wake up refreshed the next morning.
As always the apt was immaculate. We awoke to blistering hot glorious sunshine and the boys wasted no time in diving into the pool which is literally outside our door. As always, the first daylight glimpse of that beautiful beach and ocean made all those months counting down worth every minute!
As we have been coming to Arillas for 10 years, we always bump into other families that we have met and this was the case this time as we had a lovely couple staying above us who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with their family. We had met them the year before and they invited us to a party that was being held for them at the Marina hotel. For those of you who don't know, Dida and her husband at the Marina also own our apts. Their sons George and Tallis ( the greek dancers) run our pool area and snackbar during the day.
This family cannot do enough to help and are absolutely lovely. Of course their gorgeous daughter Marina is an absolute sweetheart as well. The party was a lovely greek affair. We felt very privileged to be there and it was very emotional watching the happy couple who were still so in love! It transpired that they had been coming to Arillas for many years and were thought of as family members and they had stayed at Dida's family home in Corfu on many occasions.
We also loved the Greek dancing at the Marina as always. We dined at many of the taverna's. The Horizon was excellent, as was Thallasis, Costas on the Beach and of course Brouklis. Incidentally, I met 'Sandie' off the forum whilst there who pointed out her house to me which looks just fabulous. We definitely missed the Arilla Inn being open but managed to catch up with Leo, the owner, at Ammos which does the most divine milkshakes I have ever tasted! Ammos is definitely worth a visit, It has a lovely chilled atmosphere with soft jazz playing as you gaze out onto the facing seafront. We were lucky enough to have a blissful half hour to ourselves as the boys were watching football in the Coconut under the watchful eye of Costas!
We spent our days lazing round the pool and doing absolutely nothing! As my lot are late sleepers I took the opportunity to go to the beach each morning with my book and ipod and enjoy the solitude before the www wrestling commenced in the pool!
We had a day at Aqualand which was great but tiring. Very busy,with long queues for most of the rides. Not sure if we would go again but well worth a visit.
Our nights consisted of dining out then going on to the coconut until late. Costas, Hannah and Perry are wonderful hosts and good friends and our holiday would not be the same without them. ( and the Pina Coladas and sambuca/baileys shots!!) I even snook on Costas computer one night to write a quick post (such is my Arrilas.com addiction!!) when I came back down Dimitris from the Brouklis happened to be at the bar and came over and informed me that I was 'sad'!! I thought I had got away with it!!
We always say hello to Yoata in the gift shop next door who is a genuinely lovely person. She has been so lovely with us and the boys and has watched them grow up. She still calls Lewis (who is 12) 'dirty knees' as she remembers him crawling into her shop before the coconut built a wall to separate them! She always sends a Christmas card and is so kind to always buy a present for them when they leave.
I also bumped into 'Cheryl'from the forum one night which was nice. Was looking out for 'Eggy' but never saw him unfortunately! I'm sure this is very boring for you so I do apologise but I know that I love reading about peoples holiday myself! All in all a great holiday which went far too fast. We have already left a deposit for next August so the countdown begins now!
Sounds like you had a wonderful holiday, lovely to read about!
Glad you had a good time Jo catching up with all your friends.
jo.glad you had a good time, all thats left now is to book up for next year.and the write was fab reading cant wait to get home from work and attack the ouzo......yammas
Hi Jo,
Reading about your family holiday was a lovely start to my day :-)
You all had a fab time as usual...when are you going down to the travel agents?! ;-)
Eileenxxx
Glad you had a nice holiday and thank you for your report. Definetly a nice start to my day too :)
Thanks for the post Jo, really enjoyed reading it, especially the line about arriving to the sounds of the waves in the moonlight, gave me goosebumps cos i know the feeling!!
Glad you had a fab holiday, enjoying all Arillas has to offer :-) !
Not boring at all!! How could anything about Arillas be boring?!
It brought back lovely memories reading about your holiday. We are on a countdown to ours.....four weeks to go.....
lovely to read Jo thanks for sharing it
Excellant Jo - Cartainly not boring at all !!
Sorry we missed each other. Glad you all had a good time.
Most afternoons can find me in the Malibu or Coconut after a lunchtime drink at Brouklis maybe.
( A good way to unwind if I'm busy in the morning )
I did see Sandy and she said she had bumped into you.
Take care
Negg
Glad you had a good holiday Jo.
We were in Arillas the same time as you in '02 & '03, I heard that after that you changed your job so had to change your holiday dates.
Anyway, whenever I go in the Coconut, [which is just about every night of my hols] I think of your boys dancing round the place, waving cocktail sticks in the air.
I bet they have grown a lot since then.
They also used to play in the pool at the Tria Adelphia with Tracey's twin daughters, [can't remember their names], I haven't seen them for a couple of years either, the girls are probably holidaying independently now, which is a shame as I always enjoy seeing familiar faces round the pool.
So please keep up your holiday tales, geat fun,
Carol
Hi Jo, it was so great to read your holiday report this morning. We know Dida & Spiros well, and the children of course. It sounds as if the party at the Marina was wonderful and very romantic. We have never stayed at the apts but they sound lovely. The views are spectaular. Never tried the milkshakes at Amos either so lots of good advice from you. I felt like I was there whilst sat reading it and it's really perked up our day. We go 10 Sept and can't wait. Love to watch the dancing and thinking Telis is amazing. Little Marina and Eva did a star turn in May too. I believe another is on the way, Anita due in Feb 08. Another dancer for the group! Thanks for your lovely report. So glad that you enjoyed it as much as always. : o )