Tuesday February 12th...

We managed to get both cats in their new bed/scratching post but only when John got their attention with a treat!  Not that Minni Mou looks like she needs any more treats - the little porker.  She has been a good girl and taken all her antibiotic gunk but still has a bit of eczema and we are debating whether this might just heal up given time or whether we need to traumatise her and take her back down to the vets.

It was a really glorious day today - so very different from yesterday fortunately and we thought it would be a good idea to get Dad out and in the fresh air.  

John had been reading an article in the paper about the official commencement of the Limni Golf project which took place last week and thought it would be a nice little run out as Dad was interested to know what they had been doing in that area and we had been only a couple of weeks ago when we had seen them doing some tarting up of the existing buildings and we were told that they were be tarted up purely for a photo opportunity.

We decided that we would mooch down to Limni and take a look at what is going on then maybe go up the hill towards Makounta to see if we could see any of the new golf course development and then find somewhere for a cuppa and round off the trip with a quick visit to Paps.

So this is what tarting up for a photo opportunity looks like - clinical and somewhat surreal - I think I prefer the look of the original building personally even if it was falling down!  Apparently the squarish building behind the white and green one is to become a turtle information centre and the white and green one may be knocked down and replaced or turned into some sort of cafe.  Looking at the photographs now I can't believe how much they have done in just a couple of weeks - just goes to show what can be achieved when people set their minds to it.  The new luxury development with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player courses will be across the road slightly inland.

It is going to be a huge huge undertaking and you can go to the old mine building and have a look at the plan - I think you could actually go inside and express some interest.  It looks like it is going to have absolutely everything including a 'wellness' centre and a helipad, lord only knows where they are going to find the people with the money to use the courses or buy one of the luxury properties on the development.

We took Dad for a walk out along the pier to go and see what the fishermen were doing.  It isn't that many years ago that Dad used to be a regular fisherman over here in Cyprus but to be honest for a lot of the time it was too bloody hot to be sitting around in the hopes of catching something and he used to get exasperated by those fishing who used to take tiny little fish from the water and intend to eat them even through they wouldn't have fed a sparrow (that is if sparrows ate fish!).  At the end of the pier there were three or four people fishing each with two or three rods apiece but they said that the fishing was poor and the sea was pretty rough so it wasn't too surprising.  Still it was nice to be out getting the cobwebs blown away and Dad seemed to be walking a bit easier.  He says he things the TENS must have made a difference which is good.

We carried on up to Makounta which is a strange place - there are lots of people living in what look like temporary containers which have been turned into homes - on the internet it says that in 2001 around 60 Turkish Cypriot Roma crossed the island’s Green Line and settled in Makounta, primarily in tents and other makeshift accommodations. Eventually, the RoC government built twenty prefabricated houses for them in 2003.  

We saw some people foraging up in a field and I got the opportunity to practice my Greek and asked what they were doing.  I was invited to make my way through the wheat field to take a look at the 'xorta' (greens) that they were picking which looked a bit like lambs leaf lettuce.  The lady told me that she fries it with eggs and it is delicious - commonly known as green eggs.

It was so lovely this afternoon that we stopped at the refurbished Half Way House in Argaka and sat out on the terrace for a cup of tea.  This used to be a very old and traditional coffee shop and is now a very stylish place with a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.  We think we will be going back at some point to try the food - John is particularly keen to try the 'world famous pork chop' so that he can compare it with the whopper that you get at Fitos.  In fact he is keen to do an island wide pork chop fest!

On returning home and before it started to cool down too much John took Dad for a turn round the estate and Chivers went too.  The only trouble is that Chivers is a bit of a nightmare whipping in and out of your feet and we were worried that he might trip Dad up.  We do think he must have been a dog in a previous existence!

Dad wanted to take us out for a meal tonight and we were undecided.  John was quite keen to try the Half Way House but we were uncertain as to whether there was any heating and I wanted to try Molos in Latchi as Sheila had told me yesterday that she had been and had been very impressed.  In fact I have heard good reports from a number of people.  In the end Dad plumped for Molos and what a damn fine plump that was too!!  

Molos is next door to Faros and we have always had a bit of an allegiance to Faros but they are like chalk and cheese in terms of ambiance and food.  Molos is very stylish and modern and the food was more upmarket and we struggled to make a choice as there were so many scrummy things on the menu.  Dad went for Lamb Shank, John for Fillet Steak wrapped in Bacon and for me a Mushroom Risotto.  It was all delicious - Dad said it was the best Lamb Shank he had ever had.  The puddings weren't half bad either although to be honest we probably didn't really need them as we were STUFFED.