Drouseian Day Out Part 1 - damp so delayed...

Today was the first Drouseian Day Out of 2018 and we had been keeping our eyes on the weather forecast as it was our turn to chose and we intended to go to Limassol to see the flamingos on the salt flats near Akrotiri.  We were going to visit Kolossi Castle, the Environment Centre, the Monastery of the Cats and then go to visit the Lovely Louise to have lunch at her tea room which is attached to the old Metropole Hotel.

We had checked the forecast all week and again this morning and it said that in Limassol there would be some early rain and then it would clear before returning to rain later in the afternoon so that seemed ok.  We had to call in to see Dip en route so that he could borrow some tools and as we made our way down to Paphos the weather got worse and worse and worse - verging on MONSOON conditions.

I rang Louise who said that the weather was appalling and set to be so for the day but we thought we would chance it because normally the weather is better when you travel in that direction however as the rain lashed down and the wind buffeted the car as John nipped in to see the Bobster and I made a command decision that unfortunately rain was going to stop play and we would have to reschedule our visit to the birds.

It seemed the most sensible thing to do as the road were awash - this is when you realise that there is no drainage in Cyprus - it rains, it floods, it disappears somewhere but it isn't managed!  Surely now Dip would appreciate what we were saying about winter weather!!!

We decided to convene for coffee at the Mall and plan the remainder of the day.  Rob wanted to go to the Beer Sellar in Geroskipou but Athos doesn't open until 12.00 and so we had some time to kill, in fact we were probably too early for some of the shops in the Mall to be open but at least in there we would be dry!

The rain had poured into the carpark down the slope from the main road so we were corralled down one side of the entrance to avoid the wet!

We are good at making the best of a bad job so there was no point in being downhearted although the change of plan proved a bit expensive as we purchased things in the Mall which we hadn't anticipated!!

Mad people that we are we opted to sit outside to have our Costa Coffee but as it happens not quite so mad as the heaters were on above our heads and then they came and lit the patio heater to the side of us.  It was toasty warm and my bucket of coffee warmed my hands and my insides!!!   We decided that we would do a bit of shopping then head to the Beer Sellar stopping at Debenhams if we were still too early and then find somewhere for lunch and then wander back home having rearranged our flamingo trip.