Greetings Everybody!
It's been such a long time since I've submitted a post - I feel rather ashamed about my lack of contribution, but without droning on it's been an exceptionally busy time of year at work & I've found it hard to keep up on a regular basis!
Excuses over, I must report back regarding Christian's & my holiday which was just short of two weeks ago.
Our first visit to Arillas was last September & we stayed at the Akti & like so many of you, were enchanted & fell in love on the spot!
We decided that we wouldn't wait a year to come back (I don't think either of us could endure 12 months - way too long!) & I decided to book independently - booking for May as we were also really keen to see the Island during Springtime.
I booked our flights with Easy Jet - I'll post a bit more in that section when I have a bit more time & we stayed with the wonderful Dimitris in one of the Apartments above the Brouklis.
Notwithstanding our love affair with Arillas, the people & all that it offers to those who go there, his hospitality, kindness & attention to detail was second to none!
We arrived on Saturday night (about 7.00pm) and he was there with his beautiful wife Litsa & Bebis (a seriously handsome cutie) to greet us & show us our rooms.
The Appartment was a dream. In the kitchen he left us fresh flowers & had filled the fridge with water, beer, & fresh Coffee.
In our bedrooms there were Mosquito nets, an abundance of fresh towels & spare Mosquito Repellent.
The Apartments were not only cleaned to the highest order, it was the attention to detail that really took our breath away like table cloths in the kitchen, excellent cooking facilities, pegs to hang out wet beach clothes on the balcony & as I mentioned earlier, a posy of fresh flowers.
Dimitris himself couldn't have gone out of his way more for Christian & I.
One thing that I think worth mentioning is that we didn't feel under any pressure to eat at the Brouklis.
Because we were staying upstairs, in another establishment one might have felt the need to 'give custom' or pay lip service, but there was no pressure at all from the family to do this.
We ate at the Brouklis because we WANTED to & during our 9 day break, we ate there twice - which may not sound like much but our cooking facilities in the Apartment were so good, I cooked on a couple of occasions as an alternative.
Like many other Forum members, Christian & I have never had a bad meal in Arillas & the food at the Brouklis was mouth-wateringly stunning - in fact I brought a copy of the in-flight EasyJet magazine which gave the Taverna a serious thumbs up - & rightly so.
What is so refreshing is that Dimitris really believes & is genuinely enthused about the food he serves & describes the 'specials' so you the diner can really make an informed choice about what you're going to eat.
The last thing Christian said to Dimitris before he left is that he had never had a better meal in his entire life than he had at the Brouklis - infact I was a bit taken back about that as he's not meant to praise anyone else over me - just kidding!!
I had tears in my eyes when I was leaving, not just because I didn't want to say farewell to Arillas, but for all the love & affection bestowed on us.
The last thing Dimitris did was to give us both a small bottle of Ouzo each. What a thoughtful gesture & we were really touched by that act of kindness.
I aim to be a bit more of a faithful correspondent now that work has calmed down a bit & will post in other topics - my findings/experiences this May, but summing up I have to give the Brouklis Taverna & Apartments a serious 10 out of 10 & I for one will not stay anywhere else in future visits - of which there will be plenty!!
Thank you Arillas for welcoming us & making us feel so special & thank you Dimitris for absolutely everything you did & for providing this wonderful forum full of like-minded people with one serious addiction in common!
We love you!
Becky B.
Lovely report. Thanks.
Ditto.
(-'had tears in my eyes just reading your report, Becky.
Thank you very much for such kind comments.
I feel very strongly about this - like all of us who love Arillas the way we do & I'm going to try & make a more conscious effort when it comes to posting on the Forum.
I'm going to 'post' on various topics like Mozzies, food, walks, weather that sort of thing that might be informative to others, but had to write something today to add my voice!
Becky B.
A fantastic report Becky.
Glad you enjoyed your holidays..
riggers...
That was a really lovely heartfelt report Becky. Agree with you that Dimitris is a a superb host and is very enthusiastic about the food he serves. He is very observant and if he feels you might be missing something or need something extra he will always come up with a brilliant suggestion (i.e. last year Lynda ordered sardines for a main course, but... we also had sardines with the Meze so he suggested lemon potatoes to go with her main course to compliment the sardines. Very observant as Lynda wouldnt have made a fuss and order them herself - he knew just what was needed and she enjoyed her meal even more).
So glad you had a good time there and what a good recommendation!
Would like to hear how you got on with EJ as we fly with them in September.
Thanks Blonde Girl - it's great to be back in the fold again & feel all the warmth & good wishes from our 'Arillas friends'.
Lemon Potatoes - that sounds a bit scrummy! I don't think we had those, but the roasted vegetables with the Spit-Roast Lamb was to die for - as I mentioned, Christian was most fulsome in his praise!
I forgot to mention the desserts. I'm not at all a sweet toothed person & quite apart from that am usually well & truly 'stuffed' when it comes to choosing at the end of the meal, but on both occasions that we ate at the Brouklis I ordered the home-made Cheesecake which was divine.
Christian couldn't believe his eyes when he saw me tuck in - as to his knowledge I have never ordered a pudding when we've eaten out.
All I can do is share with everyone on the Forum - it's completely fab so do try it - if you've got room left that is!!
Becky B.
Smashing report Becky, thankyou. Thing is everyone in Arillas is so wonderful and friendly that it doesn't matter where you are you'll have a great time.
Jen
Spot on Jen - there's no way I'm going to disagree with that :-)
Becky what a brilliant report on Dimitris and Brouklis, like Angie i had a big lump in my throat reading that. I just love how he describes the specials, my mouth is watering again now thinking of them. I had my first ever Moussaka in May this year at Brouklis and it was delicious.
Glad you had a wonderful holiday and look forward to reading more
Sharon xx
We always have the best of times Sharon & I'm pretty sure we were there about the same time as yourselves - in fact I thought I might recognise you as I know you were going to watch the Football in the Coconut on the Wednesday night - we were there of course (not that I'm a massive fan) but Christian is pretty keen - but I didn't see anyone who looked like you & I think I read a couple of days ago that you watched the game where you were staying?
Is that right?
Anyway I will be trying to write about the different aspects of our holiday in the relevant sections.
All I've got to do is find the time now!!!
I can only agree with what you have said. wonderful place, wonderful people and a new generation who will be wonderful as he grows up because of the wonderful things that surround him.
Annie
Thanks for a great post Becky, the emotions of your visit came over so well. I wish I could write as good as that.
I did reply earlier, but I lost my post because I was in a queue of other members posting their replies. Has anyone else ever had that problem? You click on Post after completing the reply and you get the message that someone else has replied whilst you were typing yours. You click on Post again and someone else has posted a reply and you then seem to lose your post and have to start again.
Does that make sense, its getting late?
Anyway a fantastic report, Becky.
That has happened to me several times Terry. In fact it happened to me for the same reason this afternoon while trying to post on this thread. It must depend on the exact timing - sometimes when you press "post" you get a message come up in red saying while you were writing someone else has posted....then you get a second chance....other times like today....you don't.
What a coincidence - just happened to me with Sandy's post - but no red message like you say Sandy. Usually if I get the message I copy/paste mine into notepad so if it gets lost I can just copy it back. In fact, you can simply highlight it all and put it on the clipboard (with Ctrl C or Edit|Copy) and do the same. Might start doing that anyway.....
Back on thread I want to add my thanks to justjen's earlier post for a really moving and readable post by Becky. Quality not quantity - I should take lessons!
Phil
Only just got to read this, and like a few of you had tears in my eye's.
We hate leaving Arillas and I alway'.s cry on our last night as we leave our friends at Brouklis, and this time it was even harder after the lovely cuddle's that I had had from their lovely cute little boy.
Arillas just seems to surrond every body I know that go's with this feeling of belonging and love and that's the reason that we just cant keep away.
It's nice to have you posting again Becky, I often see your name in the early mornings so know your about. Thanks again for thre smashing report. Viv & Pete
Hi Becky,
Yes we were there at same time. We were on our way back from Vavilas, I wasnt bothered about the footie, but we heard this big cheer go up from the Coconut as we were walking up - Frank Lampard had just equalised!!! We called in the coconut and had one but we wanted to get back to Mathraki, we had told Akis we would watch it there if we made it.
Geoffrey with a G says I have to update my photo because he wouldnt have recognised me from it.
Sharon xx
A truly lovely heartfelt report, Becky, thank you! I bet Dimitris was really proud and happy after reading it too! Well deserved compliments!
Thanks again one & all for your responses & I really will make the effort over the course of the weekend to give feedback about all the other aspects of our holiday.
I'm even going to download some piccies & aim to get my photo on the forum tonight - that's going to be a bit of a challenge, but I'm feeling a bit bare & think I should!
A lovely report, so glad you enjoyed your holiday. Dimitirs is a fantastic host and treats all his guests with the same level of attention whether they are first timers or Arillas addicts. Now you come to mention it I think we may have been in the taverna the night you left as I remember Dimitris saying goodbye to a couple and saw him give them bottles of something. What a lovely man.
When I stayed above Brouklis in May 2002, Dimitris was also very kind to me. The first few days of the season it was very cold and I was frozen....he managed to find me a duvet from somewhere (hope it wasn't yours Dimitri!). More importantly, half way through my holiday I had a call from home saying my 20 year old daughter had been taken seriously ill and was in hospital. I had to rush home early and as you can imagine I was in a real state. Dimitris would not hear of me paying my bill as he said my family was more important and I could pay him next time. Can you imagine that in the UK? Or anywhere else for that matter. I shall never forget his kindness. And also the support of the Rainbow family. After sobbing all over poor Spiros, he phoned up and got me a new flight and organised taxis (sadly had to pay for all that!!) and young Jimmy even braved the far end of the beach to get me when an urgent call from home came through....
That is what Arillas is all about - the friendship and special way they all look after us and I for one am very grateful and cannot thank them enough.
Yes!
That was Christian & I that you saw Jean - just as we were heading off in the taxi & Dimitris was saying goodbye - armed with our Ouzo!
I was struggling to hold back my tears as I wanted to wail if I'm honest - only just managed to keep it together!!
I think you've summed it up Sandy in describing the horrendous sitiuation you found yourself in back in 2002.
For anyone to behave like that & offer the hand of friendship is truly humbling & sad to say, not the sort of behaviour one often sees in the UK - although I don't want to be cynical about this country if I can avoid it as it's an all too easy trap to fall into.
I couldn't have put it better myself - it IS what Arillas is all about & once found, impossible to forget...
PS: I wonder if it was his duvet?!?
I heard the donut man had a spare!! Am sorry, Sandy, am only jesting! No wonder you put down some roots there, that must have been a nightmare for you and their love and kindness such a comfort.
Just like to add my voice to the compliments, Becky, well done on a really moving report!
Also to Sandy, another heart-felt report, which makes us wonder at the Greek kindness.
Terry,
I have also had the red message come up that someone else has posted and that you may want to review it. Last time this happened to me I realised that you only have to look at the posts below the box you're typing into, and the new post is already there without having to go back at all, and that way you don't lose any of the work you have just done. Worked for me anyway. Hope this helps.
lynn x
Nice piccie Becky x
Sandy you made me cry!
Dimitris this is why you had such a reaction to the brouklis beware topic. You're a very special person.
Sharon xx
Thanks Sharon,
It's nice to be visable - it's only taken the best part of nine months to do & in the end Dimitris had to do it for me - I was struggling!
BeckyB x.