Friday February 8th - the Ladies hit Limassol...

It was an early start this morning as Jane was going to Limassol on a fabric hunt and Vicki and I were going along for the day.  I had to be at her house for 8.30am and John was being a star and taking Dad to see Frank in Tala this morning before going off to Badminton this afternoon with Trevor.

It was a bright day but with a cool wind and after about 35 changes of clothes I opted for (yes you have guessed it) the layered look.  It is soooo hard to dress for Limassol - you know it is going to be warmer but how much warmer exactly???  It gave me the opportunity to wear the top that my sister had given me for Christmas as it was floaty and therefore cool when I took my jacket off.

First stop, and found without any problem at all, was Jumbo's.  Whenever you go the store is full of stuff/tat to celebrate whatever the next celebration is likely to be so as you walked in there were shelves stuffed with all things red and heart-shaped in readiness for Valentine's Day and then there were shelves of kites in readiness for Green Monday and the traditional kite flying and then there were baskets and baskets of novelty glasses - for which particular celebration I have no idea but I have a feeling there could be a fancy dress party coming on!

I got a few bits in Jumbo's but unfortunately not all the things I had hoped for so John and I are going to have to go on a shopping trip ourselves.  We left Jumbo's and set off through Limassol to George's material shop - a left turn into Robert Kennedy Street after the 7th set of traffic lights I believe!!!

As you can see it was a clear bright and sunny day and we were so obviously yokels from the hills down in the big city as we were seriously overdressed!  Either that or being ladies of a certain age our hormones were getting the better of us!

George's was George's - rammed to the gunnels with fabric of every shade and weight and price but having said that I failed miserably to find anything that I thought would be suitable for the two little blinds that I have asked Jane to make for either side of the wood burner.  I don't really know what I am looking for but I know that I will know it when I see it!.

Jane was keen to make her friend Marianne a gift for her forthcoming 60th birthday and she wanted to make a bracelet so we wandered down the road from George's to the bead and button shop.  It is the bead equivalent to George's with every shape and colour you might ever want but they were quite expensive and we thought that Jane might either find something ready made which better fitted the bill or find something that she could deconstruct to make what she wanted so we left their empty handed and headed down towards the coast to find Debenhams and have some lunch.

It always amazes me that the big ships are so close to the beach in Limassol and today there were quite a few sitting just beyond the breakwater - it could be that it was quite windy (as you can see from the trees) and so they were in waiting for calmer seas.

We found Debenhams but finding a parking space was a bit of a different story as we had come in the truck and the truck is not easy to squeeze into the paltry parking spaces that were on offer.  We eventually managed to find the official Debenhams car park in a back street with a space suitable for the truck and parked up and went off in search of lunch.

The restaurant at Debenhams has great views out to sea and we managed to get a table by the window.  Jane and I shared two of the daily 'traditional' dishes of fasoulia and pastichio - both of which were really very good.  This was followed by a general mooch around the store.  It was the tail end of their sale and had we been looking to stock our wardrobes there were some great bargains to be had and at least we could guarantee that the sizing would be what we expected.

We decided, as it was such a beautiful day, to take a stroll along the sea front after we had eaten lunch.

There is an awful lot of work going on with the building of the new Marina and tarting up in general and on the front there is a park with lots of statues - this one in particular seemed to catch Vicki and Jane's eye!!

After some fresh air we all piled back in the truck and Jane made her way through the back streets so that we got back out onto the coast road and headed for My Mall.

We had taken Vicki to My Mall previously on one of her trips but I think that there are possibly a few more shops there now particularly on the top floor.

We were beginning to get a little shopped out - we had been up and on the road since about 8.30am after all and back at home Trevor was busy creating a gourmet Thai meal for him and Vix, Jane and Mark - well he was supposed to be that was assuming he had got through his afternoon badminton session unscathed. 

We managed to find our way out of My Mall car park but as had happened when I went with Mum the road that we needed to take to get back onto the motorway was incomplete and we were forced down through an industrial park without any signs for a diversion.  It took a little while to find the right way but we eventually did and got back to Arodes just before 7.00pm.

On my return home with the few bits I had purchased in Jumbo's I found both Dad and John shit shaved and showered and ravenous!!!  Dad was feeling a little better, well enough, he thought, to tackle a Fitos sized pork chop!  We had thought he might have liked to go down to Zouk's for a warming cottage pie but we were more than happy to just travel up the road to Kathikas.

In Fitos's we shared a table with Wheelie Helen and Al - we haven't seen them for a while so it was nice to catch up and it provided some company and some alternative conversation for Dad who must be getting fed up with just John and I to talk to.  

The pork chops and the wine were as good as always and we came home feeling well fed and watered.  I was exhausted - shopping and a trip to the big city can really take it out of you but a big Thank You to Jane for organising and for driving.