A Day to Ourselves...

My birthday continues with a day dedicated to me, well me and John.  It started with a visit to Beauty by Kate which I had booked some time ago and which, thanks to the generosity of Diana and Rob, will be paid for with my birthday voucher.  In fact the voucher not only paid for my facial but went towards paying for one of Kate's new range of massage candles.  Not only do the candles smell absolutely beautiful but apparently you can use the melted wax for massage afterwards.

Kate has recently been to a trade fare so has come back armed with all sorts of luscious goodies - the candles being one and then some happy pills for your feet and some lovely eye covers to make sure you relax properly when your eyes are closed.  I got to test out one of the eye covers when I was waiting for my face mask to do its stuff and I can confirm that the dark and the weight do make sure you relax.  I shall have to have a pedicure to give my opinion on the happy pills but I did get to sniff them and they smell absolutely lush.

My facial is my little treat to myself - if I could afford to I would go more often because my skin definitely looks better afterwards and I just love that one hour when I feel special and pampered.  I was not blessed with nice skin - I got acne from a very early age and so I hated my skin and never really looked after it as a result.  Now I can see sun damage and lines and wrinkles but I am hopeful it isn't too late.

From Beauty by Kate we traveled down to Pissouri to grab an hour or so with our No1 Stalkers Bill and Wendy.  They have recently had a trip of a lifetime out to Vietnam and Cambodia visiting their son and his girlfriend and experiencing what those countries have to offer.  They are two places that I would so loved to have visited - we managed Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo but never managed Vietnam and Cambodia.  It was so great to catch up with them and Wendy had made the most delicious banana cake to tied us over before we went off to lunch.

Next week Wendy and Bill start a new project - they are opening a gift/craft shop in Pissouri which will sell only handmade products which are created here in Cyprus.  The shop is really taking shape and will look fantastic when all the products have been unpacked and put in their places.  The shop is just off the main square next to the Bookies and is called O Vrakas Gifts as it is a joint venture with Haris from the O Vrakas Taverna.  We wish them all the very best and are sure that they will make it a success and a very positive addition for the people of Pissouri and the tourists that visit.

We had to leave to quickly really but we had arranged to go for lunch to a new venue called The Extreme View Cafe which is located north of Nikoklia heading towards the Troodos and then we were having Sean and Sharon round for another one of our Crib challenges.

We took the old road back towards the airport which meant that we had to pass by the Rocks of Aphrodite.  Today it was very windy and the wind was whipping up the waves and the sand underneath so that it took on a beautiful pastel colour.  I never tire of this view - it is such a stunning piece of coastline.

Trying to find the cafe was a bit of a challenge particularly as we thought we had to pass through Nikoklia and all the roads are being dug up.  We called from the Nikoklia Inn and was told that we were about 10 minutes away - it was a proper Cypriot 10 minutes and we did on a couple of occasions think we would just give up and turn round and go back.

We did find it in the end and knowing now where it is would be able to find it again easily.  It is a cafe in the middle of nowhere but it is set in a very beautiful and fertile part of the island and we passed horses and goats and sheep and cattle en route.

Marios who runs the establishment is a very interesting guy telling us all about the history of the area and the history of the cafe.  His mum and dad live below and he travels from Paphos every day to be there.  The food is good honest Cypriot food and John really enjoyed his pork chop which was cooked in locally made honey and locally grown oranges.

We were oh so very tempted to take home with us the little terrier puppy that was at the cafe with its mum and dad.  It was the cutest thing and so very friendly.  One day I am sure we will have a dog but at the moment our lives are just to busy and the cats would never forgive us.

We had a very pleasant lunch and will return again - it was really nice to go somewhere new - we used to do it all the time but recently we haven't and we keep saying we must never take the island for granted so we will take time out to go up roads we have not been up before and see things we haven't seen before and eat places we haven't been before.

The less said about the cribbage which followed the better, Sharon and I never picked up a decent hand all evening.  We were thrashed 4-0 and will have to do better next time!!