The Eighth Week

Day 54 - Friday 23.5.14

We were late up today as we didn't go to bed until 4am.

We drove to Sidari for lunch. Our friends Andy and Fiona own the beach bar Seamonkeys, it is a beautiful location and Poppy went for a swim - I wished I had put my cossie on as the water looked so inviting. Andy has said that we can park the campervan on their grass next to the bar one night and stay over - sounds like a plan!











Phil was delighted to find a Pukka Steak and Kidney pie on the menu. Not traditional Greek food, but he has not had one for three months.








We came back to the Marvel to say goodbye to Kes, Kath, Paul, Tracey and Arthur as they are all leaving tonight. Lynne and Gary arrived and we had a lovely chat with them. 21.1 deg at 9pm. Early night tonight!

Day 55 - Saturday 24.5.14

I took Poppy to the beach for a swim, booked a table for the Greek night tonight and said goodbye to Anne Byrne who is going home today. We went to the Marvel for lunch and to welcome Gill and Nigel who arrived this afternoon. Today has been hot and sunny, after a cloudy start.

 Tonight we went to the Marina for the Greek night with Gill and Nigel. We saw our friends, Wendy, Stuart, Janis, Charlotte, Darrell and Izzy there too.
















 The dancing was fantastic and tonight was Telis son's first night of dancing in public - he is a star in the making and I am sure he will be as good a dancer as his father before too long.

 I had Garlic prawns.












Gill and I Doing what we do best!









We called at the Nut on the way up and had a lovely chat with Joan and John. Then back to the Marvel to say goodnight to Ann, John, Gill, Nigel and Kostas. It was 20deg at 9pm.

Day 56 - Sunday 25.5.14

It was 20deg at 9am. We went over to the Marvel for a late breakfast so Phil would be there to watch the Monaco Grand Prix. Our friends (who we met in Italy) messaged us to say they were coming to see us. Terry stayed with Phil to watch the Grand Prix and Loretta and I walked to the beach with Poppy. She loved throwing the stick into the sea for Poppy. Then we went over to the Pool Bar for 4 o'clock drinks.
We all went to Brouklis Taverna tonight the fellers had Spit Roast Lamb as Terry has been wanting this since April. I had Pumpkin pie and Loretta had a lovely white fish with a lemon sauce. We were so busy chatting we forgot to take photos.     21 deg at 9pm.

Day 57 - Monday 26.5.14

Still 21 deg at 9am. We took Lynne and Gary to Sidari with us and went for lunch to Seamonkeys again.

Andy had just got back from Athens, where he had been for the Greek open darts championship and he and his partner won the Doubles. Here he is with his trophy.









Lynne and Gary went off walking, Poppy had a swim and then we came back to Arillas after buying some flowers. We went to the 4 o'clock club and Poppy had another swim. More friends Peter and Tracey arrived today.

 Our friends Joy and Cliff arrive tonight, it was their second wedding anniversary yesterday and Cliff had asked me to get some roses for her, for when they arrive.













Two more friends Karen and Ian arrived today - on their 30th Wedding anniversary. Karen loves writing in the sand so we did this for them. It took several attempts as Poppy kept walking over it - you can just see her paw prints, bottom right, I think she wanted to sign it!






This evening we said goodbye to our lovely neighbours Ann and John, then we walked down to have a drink with Karen and Ian to toast their anniversary. Then back to the Marvel to wait for Joy and Cliff. It was lovely to see them as we had not seen them since last summer when they came to stay with us in Grimsby for a weekend.

Day 58 - Tuesday 27.5.14

Gorgeous sunshine today 20 deg at 9am. Today is our friend Gary's 60th birthday! He wanted to keep it hush hush and no one to know. Well with a wife like Lynne and friends like us - that was never going to happen. We had a normal day, walking and swimming for Poppy, chatting and vino for us.

Then we went to the Marvel for Gary's surprise party!

Kostas arranged for Gary's cake - it had a naked lady on it! He loved it as you can see,

We went to the Coconut after the Party as there was a live band on.











 Gary had a flashing 60 badge but was too embarrassed to wear it so I wore it for him. I was quite flattered really as people thought it was my 60th - I wish!














Our lovely friends Lynne and Gary












We danced the night away!










Day 59 - Wednesday 28.5.14

20 deg at 9am. Lovely and sunny today.


 We went down to the beach Poppy had a swim and play with Gill.









Then we went for lunch and another Quiz at Sharon's pool bar. This week they raised over 100
euros for the Animal charity.












It was a good turnout. The Quizmaster was Dave Smith again, he did an excellent job - even if he was pedantic!





Tonight Phil and I went to Armourada for a friendly Darts knock out. I did rather well even if I do say it myself. I think they were all impressed - I got through to the final, might be because I had a good partner in Pete. While we were there I had the most amazing Moussaka, it is the best one I have ever tasted.

Day 60 Thursday 29.5.14 

'Today the 29th of May there will be this year’s first  festival in Arillas.
It takes place near the local Church and old school of Arillas village which is about one and a half km from the beach on the way to Magoulades on the main road.
The local church is dedicated to the The Ascension of Jesus, which was when the resurrected Jesus was taken up to heaven in his resurrected body, (Acts 1:9-11) in the presence of eleven of his Apostles, occurring 40 days after the resurrection.
The church on Analipsi "Ανάληψη" (Ascension) was build during the 50’s by the volunteer help and donations of the people of Arillas. Since then, we established the Arillas Analipseos Festival which is always on a Thursday 39 days after the Greek Easter Sunday.
The event starts at about 20:00  until late in the night.
 The Festival is organized by non profitable organizations based in Arillas those who are responsible for the Wine Festival in September and the Music festival in July or August. The Arillas Folklore dancing club is consisted by over 60 members from the ages of 5 to 60 years old . Every time they dance you can experience these different traditional Greek dances performed by this mixture of ages all with the same pride, something that we do not see any more in many countries.
The music from the Traditional  Live Band is combined with some BBQ with souvlakis , wine and loads of our Local Corfu Beer from our unique Microbrewery'. This information was taken from www.arillas.com.

19 deg at 9am. This morning Joy and Cliff came to visit us for a coffee and we decided to go to Akrotari for lunch - unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse and it started raining while we were there so no photos were taken. It continued to rain for the rest of the afternoon. This evening Cliff and Joy invited us to join them for dinner - another perfect Arillas evening! Rounded off by having drinks with Gill and Nigel too. The rain continued quite heavily and Kostas told me the Festival was cancelled.

This was some Sand Art on Arillas beach today. Someone has lots of patience.



The end of our eighth week - time is flying by so fast now!

The Seventh Week

Day 47- Friday 16.5.14


Nice morning - quite warm. We decided to go to Triadelphia for lunch, on the way to Beretta's supermarket. It was very quiet there but they would not let us take Poppy to an outside table. That is the first time she has been refused, we don't expect to take her inside but I cant see what harm it would have done, especially as we were the only people there. Had a few drinks in the Marvel with the gang this afternoon. Then we went home and had Spag Bol for dinner.

Day 48 - Saturday 17.5.14

Lovely day, but it had rained earlier this morning. My lovely friend Ann JP cut my hair this morning - nice and tidy again. I did some ironing as Phil was running out of shirts, pity there is no ironing fairy here. Then we walked down to Sharon's pool bar for lunch. Good crowd there including Dave Smith who was given a lolly by a little boy wearing a fantastic T shirt.

We were invited to take part in a pool match this evening at the Rainbow - 5€ to enter - winner takes it all. There were 8 of us, I was a bit apprehensive as I have not played for a few years. I was drawn against Anne Byrne for the first round. Luckily for me,  Anne potted the black on about her third shot - so I was through to round 2. I played against Paul Draper and he wiped the floor with me. It was a good laugh and Paul went on to win, then promptly spent most of his winnings on a round of drinks. We had a fabulous meal and then went to the Marvel for a nightcap and we were joined by Paul, Tracey and Arthur.

Day 49 - Sunday 18.5.14                         Half way through our trip today!

Beautiful sunny day. We walked down to the beach and went to Gratsella Taverna for lunch.. We met Dennis Up and Martin W off the forum site. Martin was having a drink with Viv Middleton.

Wonderful view

Our lunch at Gratsella

Poppy made friends with a cute little dog while we were there.

A new statue has appeared on the sea front

she looks a bit white - will be better with a tan.

Called at the Coconut on the way back and had a chat with Kostas, Paul Davo and Vicky. We stopped in tonight and had Chicken, chips and Greek salad.

Beautiful Sunset tonight!

Day 50 - Monday 19.5.14                        33 years today since my dad died - still miss him

Very cloudy today but 18 deg + The internet was down again! We have some more neighbours now and Phil thinks they are using all the band width. Caught up with some financial stuff and wrote my blog today as we haven't seen the sun all day. This evening we went to Thalassa and had a wonderful meal - it is one of our favourite places to eat. For starters we shared Tzatziki and Saganaki, for my main I had Fillets of Sole with an Ouzo and cream sauce, served with the most creamy mashed potato I have ever had. Both my sons would approve, they hate lumpy or fake mash. Phil had Lamb chops with a honey and balsamic sauce with home made chips. We both had Lemon pie for dessert. Washed down with a gorgeous white wine served in elegant glasses.

Called in at the Coconut for one on the way up.

When we are walking up the hill I love the sight of the Green tree at the Marvel,  it means we are almost home.

Day 51 - Tuesday 20.5.14

Beautiful day, hot and sunny 24 deg by lunchtime. We popped down to the Horizon to see our friend Janis and her family. It was a bit emotional as it was the first time we had seen her since Barry died. I am so pleased she decided to come to Arillas, it must be very hard for her to go to all the places they went to together. She is one brave, sensible lady and asked us not to be sad for her so we sat and chatted about some of the good memories we have. Janis was a bit worried that people would think it was too soon after the funeral to go away, I don't, I told her she can grieve anywhere so why not here with so many of their friends. We met Geoff Seddon for the first time, we have spoken on the internet several times. He is building a house in Dafni on Corfu, it has been 12 years in the building. He is due to retire soon and will realise his dream. 

On the way to the vets. We drove to Roda for a late lunch,  Lovely spot with a good view.

The mountains in the background are Albania







We drove on past Roda and stopped to admire this lovely view, towards Kassiopi.

We drove back to the vets at Roda for Poppy to be clipped. Her rash has cleared up, but the vet, Matoula, thinks that it will be more comfortable for Poppy to be shorn as she will dry quicker when she has been swimming. The vet's 14 year old son says she is a summer dog now! When you stroke her it feels like velvet. One good thing has come out of this, Poppy has a nodule on her leg which should not be there, so she has made us promise to keep an eye on it and if it gets any bigger it needs investigating. We would not have known about it if she had not had this drastic haircut as it is not in a place where you would stroke her.






We were all tired when we got back, and it was still 18.3 deg at 9pm.

Day 52 - Wednesday 21.5.14

Awoke to another sunny day and it is still 18.3 deg at 9am.

Today is Kostas name day, Kronia Polla Kostas, the Greeks make more of their name days than their actual birthdays - many cakes and presents were visible. This cake was for Kostas at the Coconut.

We went down to take Poppy for her first swim for a week - she loved it again. Then we went to Sharon's pool bar for lunch and to take part in an Animal Charity quiz. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and as usual the quiz was such a good laugh. There were about 40 of us taking part, our team was, Phil, Kes, Paul, Kath and I. Our team name was 'Two hats are us' (say it quickly). Dave Smith was an excellent quizmaster, he kept the crowd in order - well almost. Our friends Joan and John have arrived in Arillas with some of their family, it was lovely to see them again.

We bought a takeaway Gyros for our meal tonight and took it back to the apartment. Later we went for a goodbye drink with Sue and Paul, but we missed them they had already gone to bed as it was an early flight. We did see Sue and Eric who have arrived at the Rainbow so we stood and chatted to them. Then over to the Marvel for a nightcap and Phil had a game of darts which he won. It was 19.7 deg at 9pm.

Day 53 - Thursday 22.5.14

Glorious day again, wall to wall blue sky. 19.1 deg at 9am. 

We decided to go swimming - first time in the sea since we arrived.

These photos were taken on the walk, a nude lady and some artistic stones.

 The water was cool at first but once in, it was great. We hoped Poppy would come swimming with us - but as soon as she got out of her depth she turned round and went back and laid on the beach guarding our towels and watching us.

When we went to lay down on our towels, she wanted to play and kept finding sticks and laying them across Phil's feet he had quite a pile of them.








This evening we went to Thalassa for Kes and Kath's last supper before they fly back to UK.

We had a lovely evening, sat and watched the sun go down, good food, wine and friends. Perfect!

Sole in Ouzo and cream sauce

We ended a perfect evening with a nightcap back at the Marvel with Kes, Paul, Tracey, Arthur and Kostas - until 4am.

The end of another perfect week in paradise.