Tsilivi, Zakynthos

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Firstly, just like to sday Hello to Mary, the lovely receptionist at Mavrikos hotel in Tsilivi, Zakynthos (Zante). She truly is a gem and helped us along with bits and bobs...so Mary if you're reading this, drop us a line to say hello !
So....Zante. The flight with Monarch from Manchester had the MP George Galloway on with his presumably wife and possibly brother and sister-in-law. Flight delayed slightly, but with a tail wind we weren't that late on arrival. The heat after getting off the aircraft hit you like a steam train, and at 37c you can understand why.
Our hotel, The Mavrikos in the resort of Tsilivi was lovely and clean (more in a minute) and a cool beer soon got us in the holiday mood. Soon after we had unloaded our luggage into the drawers and cupboards we were ready to hit the town and ready for something to eat,so we headed to Pieros Restaurant, which had been recommended to us prior to us visiting Zante. Sure enough,the food was lovely, service excellent and is little wonder why we re-visited here a couple of times during our stay. One note with Zante in general is that food and drinks costs are simile to the UK, which, is expensive compared to what Brits have been used to over recent years.
The weather forecast was for more hot weather and sure enough, the following days didn't fail to disappoint. The pool, area at our hotel was relatively crowded and unfortunately the Brits there have taken to what Germans usually do (even though there were really only Brits in this hotel) and put their towels on sunbeds to reserve their favourite spots. So childish and spoils it for everyone, so we decided to head to the beach for most of the two weeks we were there, where sunbeds were a plenty. A good beach bar was called the LifeTime bar by the beach at Tsilivi where we also had lunch by the beach watching the world go by.

Our hotel's maid service was nothing short of dire, what with towels not being changed, room not being cleaned, bathroom not being wiped over and bed sheets not changed unless you ask for it. This is the only thing that lets this hotel down.

Later in the week, we rented a car to get out and about the island to different beaches so this was good and an enjoyable way of seeing other places. We also managed to meet up with Graham's old work colleague, David Cousins from his old British Gas days. In fact, we had made enquiries about another colleague who emigrated to Zante a few years ago, but was unable to find him pottering about his usual haunts, and ended up finding David instead who also was on holiday there. Such a small world.

One evening we visited, The Asian Palace Indian and Chinese restaurant in Tsilivi which is worth a vist if you like Indian food. We were sceptical at first, but found our food to be of good quality and very similar to what we eat in UK restaurants. On our second visit here, Graham opted for the notorious curry called a 'Phal'. Not only did it look evil, but it tasted evil, with the amount of chilli powder that must have gone into it. Its rarely seen on an Indian restaurant menu, and boy it lived up to its reputation as being one of the hottest things ever to go into my mouth, far exceeding the heat in a Jalfrezi curry! None the less....I'd be quite happy in having it again, so thumbs up to the Asian Palace.

A good place for breakfasts is Magdelenas in the centre of Tsilivi for a belly-busting English breakfast for such little money...so well done you guys!

As you can see in the photo, Graham was suffering at the hands of the powerful air-con in our hotel room one morning after waking up freezing cold...brrrr. Tracey on the other hand thought it would be funny to take a photo of someone suffering....she's such a meanie!

Anyway, to recap Zante...expensive for alcoholic drinks, Hotel Mavrikos maid service is actually quite dreadful (we've put a review on Tripadvisor), but the beaches are lovely and clean with crystal clear seas. Could'nt fault the food in all the restaurants we ate in, nor the service and try to visit the Balcony restaurant, again in Tsilivi for lovely views across the bay where food is the same cost as anywhere else.

Just be wary of the cost of food and drinks in Zante airport on your way home, buy it before you get to the airport. And with all the security scares about liquids passing through security...we brought a cold can of Pepsi through the scanner no problem, so judge for yourself whether you get yours taken off you or not...we didn't.

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