Discovering Cyprus

Day one of our visitors and the sun was shining - a few clouds around but still warm enough to take advantage of our outside space.  We started out up on the roof terrace for morning coffee and a discussion on how we would spend our time today.  John had his trusty itinerary to hand - which we keep reminding him needs to remain flexible!!  There are so many lovely places to visit but not all together in a very short visit.

First things first was breakfast and John took Sally and Tommy and Chivers on a hunt for fresh figs - although late in the season there are still some to be had - not so much flavour as those ripened in the summer sunshine but still tasty and John knows exactly where there are trees which still bear the fruit.  It is glorious for November and with visitors here we take advantage of that fact.

Breakfast was taken outside the kitchen where John and I opted for the shade!!  We are asked whether we sit outside everyday for breakfast - we shamefully admit that we dont because when you can do it all the time you tend not to - or at least we tend not to I know that Mum and Dad try to for as long as they can.  On the subject of Mum and Dad they have eventually managed to catch poor old Fred their adopted cat who has been in the wars recently fighting and who is nursing a massive abscess on his neck.  He is having an extended stay at the vets to get that sorted and then all things being well he will be neutered in an attempt to curb his dangerous wandering ways.

After a chilled morning we consulted the Itinerary and made our way down to La Plage to park up and walk along the sea front.  At this time of the year the sky is so blue and the sea is so blue - it looks fabulous and there were still tourists on the beach sunbathing although I didn't see anyone swimming.  Sally and I did dip our toes in and she declared it to be considerably warmer than our pool but then that isn't difficult!

We walked along the harbourside admiring the boats that are moored up and carried on walking past the restaurants - we plan to go for an early lunch at Molos on Monday before we have to take them back to Larnaca.  Sally wanted to scour the beach for pebbles having seen my fish sculpture in the conservatory.

Our plan was to walk as far at Yialos and sit right on the edge of the taverna and have a small snack - we were eating out this evening (which turned out to be a treat from Sally and Tommy for which we were very grateful).  Past Porto Latchi the beach was empty - just the way we like it and there were plenty of pebbles on the beach although whether we found the right ones only time will tell - a repeat visit might just be in order!

We spent a very pleasant couple of hours at Yialos but our snack lunch turned out to be much bigger than our guests had anticipated - the pittas were jam packed full and two plates of chips were one plate of chips too many!!!  When the clouds started to accummulate from the direction of Lara and the sun disappeared it felt a bit chilly to be sitting outside at the waters edge so we decided to make our way back home.

The weather out to sea was glorious but it was getting progressively cooler so home and a cuppa was in order before we got ready to go back out again!!  We agreed it is all very tiring being on holiday - the sea air and the sun takes it out of you - Tommy and John came back with their faces glowing!

 Our final destination today was Fitos and we had a fabulous night - made even more special by some impromptu entertainment as relatives of Fitos had brought a bazouki and a drum and were banging out some traditional songs in the corner.  Fitos was being mine host extraordinaire (we think Joanna must have been elsewhere) as we were present with 8 rather large free brandies at the end of the meal.  Tommy tackled a man-sized pork chop, as did John but Sally and I opted for fish - lighter thank goodness.  Tommy and Sally were amazed that the salad and dips, stuffed cabbage leaves, olives, cheesecake, coffees and brandies were all seemingly free of charge!