Corfuvian Flora And Fauna

Our hotel doesn’t really have any grounds, but what little space it has is robustly abundant with the flora and fauna of Greece.

 

I have to be honest that we were never been much of gardeners back at Castle Greysquirrel, we had a man that did to do the lawn and chop things back and I suppose the same can be said of The Towers, where the mowing and cutting back of the communal gardens was included in the deal.

 

But I sometimes think that perhaps, at times, Nigel yearns for things of domestic horticultural nature, if only to stroke,  as I have noticed him sighing a little and running his fingers through some of the plants as he walks through the pathway to our room.

His very favourites are the row of what look like very hairy green creatures, all they need are a pair of googly eyes each ……..

……. and he loves the grapes …….

 

…… and I have to admit it would be soooooooooo romantic to have our own grape bushes.

…. and as for lemons, well that would be almost too much, and by there hangs a tale …………

Holiday Noms

This is the life! While I get on with my book ……

……. Darrell and Nigel can review their latest comestible lunch time find from the mini supermarket up the road!

…… to wit one pack of Grape Must Cookies …….. or as the Greeks call them Moustokouloura.Or ….. as Nigel has christened them, belly button biscuits!  What is he like?

They are certainly a new delicacy on us, but Darrell and Nigel had to admit that the name doesn’t instantly conjure up the flavour of something that is overtly nom nom nom. From what they have gleaned from the internet, and I quote “ ……. they are classic Greek cookies eaten as a tasty accompaniment with coffee or tea. They have the distinctive taste of must, which is taken from pressed grapes before they are made into wine. The quality of the must determines their taste, as they don’t have any added sugar” …… a description, I have to say, that still fails to get the gastric juices flowing!

But the proof of a Moustokouloura is in the eating, and they were, according to Nigel and Darrell OK, moist, and not unlike a soft, not very gingery gingerbread. The cloves in the list of ingredients also put them off a little, but they said that they couldn’t really taste them.  So on their Richter Scale of Greek Beach Noms the much mentioned Moustokouloura scored a passable 5 out of 10 seashells! Happy Days!

Holiday Reading Of A Rather Mind Fuddling Type Nature

Darrell and Nigel raided the hotel magazine collection yesterday which in turn lead to some very “bizarre” beach discussions and not a little debate…….

…… a distraction, I suppose, from the normal de rigueur snoozing, swimming, rubbing in of sun protection products, sandcastle building and naturally, wondering what we should do for lunch.

  It has to be said that as strangers to a woman’s magazine it was all a bit of a revelation.

Darrell absolutely forbade me to study the comfy shoe pages to closely, he said Hugh would have been horrified, as he is oft heard to say (Hugh, not Darrell) there is no pain without gain, and for Hugh platforms are still very much en vogue!

And there will certainly not be any lift and heave ho chairs at The Towers, tempting though it is at times to “ …….sit, relax and snooze”, knowing Nigel the engine would be worn out in a week, and for the moment Darrell insists that style must come over any kind of substance!

However, I did think he lingered a little too long over the stunning faux red diamond elephant on its polished mirror base ……..

…….. and with it’s lucky upturned trunk …….

I don’t care if it is a unique limited edition of just 300,000.  If I can’t have comfy shoes, The Towers is certainly not being graced by an red glass elephant, no matter how many artisans were involved in it’s design and production.

But I think it was Nigel who was the most hypnotised …….. by Shreddies, the original flatulence filtering garments!!!!!!!!!

……….. I daresay that at times the wearing of said garments would be most welcome ……particularly after one of my Three Bean Cobblers …..

…… I just hope he has forgotten all about them by Christmas ……… because I am not sure what Santa would make of being asked a coupe of pairs, just to see if they really work after quadruple helpings of sprouts!

Ahhhhhhhhh Happy Days!

We Love A Foreign Crisp

This should have been Mondays post but it got lost in the Greek ether, probably something to do with the heat!

There is nothing we like more than a mooch round a Greek Mini Mart ………

We always play “first one to spot the Marmite” and this year Nigel won the honour.  However, that is as far as it goes, when we are in foreign climes we like to eat as the natives, Marmite may be our savoury spread of choice back at The Towers, but in Greece (or any other country for that matter) it does not pass our lips). We are not the sort of Brits who seek out a full English on holiday, that would just be toooooooooo rude!  But it is reassuring to know that the staples are there in an emergency type of situation.

We also very much enjoy looking for the odd exotic crisp or two ……. the Honey Butter, I have to say was an acquired taste …….

…… and the Fou Dou Nia just sounded so un-Greek, but for some reason Nigel did not make a considered purchase of these delicacies …….. I think it may have been the “possible” peanut flavour he wasn’t quite savouring!

It was the tomato ketchup flavour Ruffles that had him getting his wallet out, we can now get tomato ketchup stix and Cheetos from the select Polish shops of Evesham ……

……. but you know we are really on a Greek Odyssey when we have a packet of Tomato Ketchup Ruffles as part of our five a day holiday beach picnic!!  What are we like, if not very, very predictable?  Nom nom nom!

Our Hotel

We are quite happy with our hotel. As far as hotels go we have simple needs, our room doesn’t have to have all the whistles, bells and flutes as we aim to spend as little time as possible in there, and any time we do spend, we are generally showering, changing or asleep, just so long as it’s clean and tidy …… and so far, we seem to have had clean sheets and towels almost every day.

And speaking of bathrooms/showers, ours can be described in one word as bold.  I have it in mind that one day the shower room chez Towers will echo with a Moroccan flavour of a tiled type nature …….. but perhaps not as repetitive a design as our said bathroom/shower.

The hotel have a restaurant, but with so many other eating establishments in town to tempt our palates we are quite happy to just enjoy our breakfasts in situ.  There is also a large library of magazines and books left by fellow holiday makers which we have all availed ourselves of, with some very interesting reading and ensuing conversations, but of that another day!

The side of the hotel along the road (and pool) is in the guise of a Greek longboat, which we have learned is called a trireme, with oars and a mast and evil eye, it is quite impressive ……

……. but hard to fit into one photo!

The pool area is a most welcome place to return to after a day on the beach. Nigel has demonstrated his impressive butterfly leg kick and drew gasps of admiration when he circumnavigated the whole pool underwater  including all the curved bits ……. well, as he said, anyone can do a length underwater, what is he like?

The pool area also includes a bar, but we have availed ourselves of it’s comforts only once (so far).  The barman reminds us of Mateo from Benidorm but only Greek. I think the cocktails may be a little stronger here, and the nuts are complimentary, but, for us, it doesn’t quite match the ambience and atmosphere of The Malibu Bar, just across the road.  Happy Days!

A Room With A View

Arillas, as Darrell so succinctly summed it up, can be described as bijoux. It’s probably the smallest resort we have been to in all many our Greek Odyssey's, but having said that, it is perfectly formed!

There is only one road into the village, and I would say we are bang in the middle, with a beautiful view of the sea front to the right ……..

……. with a few bars and shops leading down.

To the left, we have the top end of the road, again with a couple of bars and restaurants, and some very lovely shops, that sell, according to Darrell, high end holiday produce …….. no tat.

I would say that you could do the whole village in about half an hour, but it’s plenty enough for us…….
……. especially, when directly in front of us, we have our Corfuvian bar of choice, The Malibu Bar, with all it’s charms.

It’s so close, Nigel suggested that if we could set up a simple pulley system, we could order a final nightcap cocktail from the bar and by the time we got to our room they would be ready to send said nightcap up to us, to sup sur la balcony.  What is he like?

We think that “woffies” are waffles, a misspelling rather than a Greek pudding we have yet to try.  We also have to admit that the music can be quite loud as the night goes on, but it makes us feel that we are really are in the heart of things ……. and anyway, how many people can say that they have been able to take part in a quiz by shouting down the answers from the comfort of your room, oh happy,happy days!

Poor Darrell …….

While Nigel and I appear to be immune from the attentions of the native mosquitos, poor Darrell has become something of a martyr to them,  a prime target for feasting upon to put it bluntly, much to his dismay. 

Darrell prides himself on his well turned calves and neat ankles, but at the present moment the overall effect is a bit spoilt by a fine gathering of the itchy, red blotches.  He is not amused!

 

As a result he is now sporting a repellent wrist band on each wrist and both ankles and the rest of him is doused with a liberal application of mosquito spray …..

…….. and I think we have enough repellent plug-ins to supply the whole hotel.

However, when I told him that I thought I had read somewhere that the consumption of alcohol can lower your exhalation of CO2, the thing that attracts the mozzies to you, it was a no brainer, all the cocktails are on Darrell tonight!