*****LONG POST ALERT*****
Hi Everyone,
I was going to post this earlier seeing I got back on the 28th but taking the new year festivities into account this is the first time in days I have had a clear head, no strict New Years resolutions for me but I am keeping off the beer this week just to let my body catch up, anyway Christmas in Arillas (does that rhyme?)
I know this has been talked about countless times on this forum but Corfu is not a nice place to get to in Winter, my Swiss flight left Manchester at 9am and I arrived in Corfu at 7:30 in the evening local time, all flights went well and were bang on time but in total door to door it took me 12 hours, 3 take-offs and landings and 3 times through security which is just as bad in the rest of Europe now as here. Fortunately drinks were free on all the flights so I did manage to get plenty of rest in between airports.
Taking all the above into account my compliments go out to Zurich airport and Swiss Airlines both were a model of efficiency and incredibly easy to use, I recommend them of anybody needs to get out there in Winter.
I was picked up from the Airport by my Mum and Paul (who were late) and once on our way the first thing I noticed was how beautiful Corfu town was, all the tree’s had been lined with White Christmas lights and this theme was continued all the way to Arillas. I am unsure if this is a new thing to Corfu but there were decorations everywhere and it all looked simply delightful, Christmas seems to be quite a big celebration out there to. From what I was told the decorations don’t go up until the week before Christmas so its all kept in spirit.
Finally arrived into Arillas at 9pm, exactly 12 hours after I left home and once again the doorsteps and trees were all lit up, it was lovely but cold, very cold at night. Being very tired after my long journey I sat watching TV drinking Metaxa (3 star) and getting very confused watching the 10 ‘o Clock news on BBC 1 at midnight, that 2 hour time difference plays hell with the TV schedules.
Woke up nice and early on Christmas day to the smell of English bacon cooking, I asked my Mum for some orange juice and she simply went outside picked some oranges and made me the freshest orange juice I have ever had, very nice but being sweet toothed I did need to add a small spoonful of sugar, makes me laugh when I think that Tropicana costs nearly £2 back at home.
Once I had my orange juice I then noticed the weather, it was beautiful, clear blue skies and sunny (it was like this the entire time I was there) so I sat outside having my breakfast overlooking the sea on Christmas day, fantastic. It was actually warmer outside than inside during the day, these houses just aren’t built to keep in the warmth. I was lucky with the weather as it can be very cold and nights got very very chilly, even saw some ground frost.
Whilst Paul cooked Christmas lunch we took the dogs for a nice long walk through Arillas and over to San Stefanos. When I was last over in march I was shocked to see how Arillas looked in the winter, cold and deserted so I was pleasantly surprised by Arillas in December, it was still totally empty but looked very similar to how it did in Summer, there was the odd sole walking about and some brave German girl swimming in the nude (really) it had not lost any of its charm. The sunshine probably helped as in March it rained all the time and the worst months are yet to come but to me it just looked like any normal day early in the morning before anyone gets up. No offence to the local Greek people but last time I saw Arillas in Winter it didn’t look anything like a tourist resort, to be honest it looked like a hurricane had hit it (most of the tourist parts are abandoned in Winter), San Stefanos was even worse which I suppose is a testament of all the hard work the Greek people do in reopening for the summer. One other thing I noticed is that the cliff path from Arillas to San Stefanos is collapsing badly and if the winter weather takes a bad turn I think it may soon become impassable which would be a shame and its well know how accident prone I can be, that path and me have definite issues.
During our walk with the dogs I took a video so everybody can have an idea how it looks, once I have got the clips off the video camera I will upload them for everybody to see, the deserted beach and the winter sun falling on the sea look incredible. I will pass on the links as soon as I can and hopefully Dimitris may be able to host some of the videos here on his website.
Thanks to a visit to the British Corner Shop in Corfu Town we had Christmas lunch with all the Trimmings followed by homemade Greek Wine and cakes, they only thing missing was parsnips but I suppose that would just be picky. Paul made a fantastic Christmas day spread and it shows that its doesn’t matter where in the world you are on Christmas day just as long as you are with family.
I’m aware this post is getting quite long and if you’re still here I won’t keep you much longer. The rest of the time was spent driving around in the day and curled up in front of the fire at night, a godsend on the cold nights. Besides the lovely daytime weather the one thing that surprised me the most was how much was still open. I totally expected the whole northern part of the island to be shut down but this simply wasn’t the case, true Arillas was pretty much deserted but the Mistral, 3W’s & Town Pizza all opened in San Stefanos and in Sidari, numerous bars and shops were still open including the Red Lion and Bed Bar, even in Roda we could easily get a drink and a snack. I was not expecting this and all the establishments did have big signs in the windows saying:
“We are Open!”
So this may be a new thing and very welcome it was to as there were customers everywhere we went. Obviously the selections are much more limited now, only Mythos on draught and don’t expect menu’s for food but the prices were less, the welcome just as warm and the pool tables were free for to locals, this I loved!
The night before I came home we went to Mon Amour which was superb, seeing that there is a separate thread for that and this post is already far to long I shall post there.
I had a fantastic time over in Arillas for Christmas, the flights were hard work but it was worth it, hopefully next year I will go for longer and catch the ferry. I’m still surprised with how much was still open and how Christmas was celebrated, in fact on our way from the airport we had to stop in Avliotes (the decorations here were breathtaking to) to let 2 Santa’s followed by a large procession pass with all the kids following and singing, it was just something I was not expecting to see but lovely all the same.
I will try and get the videos and pictures posted as soon as I can and hopefully you will find them interesting, I shall remove all the boring family snaps. If I have brought one memory back with me it was of sitting outside in the bright sunshine on Christmas Day drinking wine to the sound of the sea, awesome.
A belated Merry Christmas & Kali Chronia to you all!
Joe
Topic: Christmas In Arillas (Read 8525 times)