Yiannis' Tours were in full swing again today - at this rate our visitors are going to need a holiday to get over this holiday if you get my drift!!!! I think those of us who live here just want to show holidaymakers all the very best there is on offer and actually there is quite a lot. Previously Stan and Jackie have stayed down at the Helios in Paphos or more particularly on the road between Tombs of the Kings and Banana Bay so they are unfamiliar with this corner. John's mum on the other hand has been now on many occasions but we still manage to show her some new things when she comes.
Today we had the men in mind when we set off - we had decided to go and take a look around the Minthis Hills golf course and have coffee. This was originally known as Tsada golf course and in the early days was akin to playing on the moon!!! it was a rough old course with a tatty club house. There was some dispute over the building of a new club house on church land and so for a while it resided in a sort of portacabin affair! We hadn't been here for years, as I said although John would love to play time and finances just don't allow unfortunately but some months ago we had occasion to pass nearby and so we popped in and were gobsmacked by the transformation. It is beautiful and beautifully kept but they are building and building and building all around so one hopes that it does not become over developed.
We chose a comfy seat on the shaded terrace over looking the course to take our coffee. If you are planning to go then actually it is really quite reasonable if you take into consideration the service and surroundings. Jackie had a specialist tea and Stan, John, Janet and I had an Americano coffee with extra water as it was a little strong and so ended up having two large cups each - for which we paid €19.50 - 4 euros each for the coffees and 3.50 for the tea which is a even cheaper that up at the hotel.
After a while the boys got itchy feet and went off to explore and to check out pricing and get a ball for Stan's collection. Stan was well impressed and he said that when his lottery numbers come up he will definitely be back for a round - we said that if they came up well enough he could afford to buy the place outright!
I remembered that Mum and Dad had been to a wedding here at the golf course and so I asked where the church was situated and we decided to take a drive there to have a look. The road passes through part of the course so you run the risk of being pinged by a wayward golf ball. No such issues for us today fortunately!
There is an old monastery here dedicated to St Anthony which is abandoned now and a church which is obviously only used for weddings or special occasions - unfortunately it was locked so I can't tell you what it was like inside.
It is a pretty little place - I can imagine that weddings there are fabulous. I know that somewhere around the golf course there is a nice walk which I am going to check out for one of our discover days. There was a memorial to a Saint Barnabas but I couldn't find any record of him to be able to give you any history unfortunately.
We spent a little while here - taking photographs and enjoying a bit of cool in the shade of the arches before moving on - today was going to be our 'religious' day as our next port of call was to be the Monastery at Tala - Agios Neophytos.
We had thought that we had managed to get up to the monastery previously with Janet and Hadge but apparently not so this was a new experience for John's Mum. It was so busy today with a massive tour group of Greek Orthodox from the United Arab Emirates if their t-shirts were anything to go by.
We took a walk around the grounds which are so calm and peaceful but we ladies decided to forego the pleasure of donning one of the dresses which are offered if you want to go inside the monastery itself - there was obviously a one-size fits all policy which was ok if you were about 5 foot 5 inches and 15 stone!!
It was at this point that our tummies began to rumble and although we could have sat and eaten at the monastery cafe we had somewhere else in mind - the cafe today was heaving anyway - I don't think I have ever seen it so busy although there was one nice area still available for us had we changed our minds.
Our final port of call was also with the men in mind as Stan likes a cider and so we decided to call into the Aphrodite's Rock Brewery so that he could sample the ciders and John the beers and we could have a spot of lunch. When we arrived we thought our plans had been scuppered by a power cut but fortunately the kitchen is predominantly run on gas and actually after a short while power was restored. I took over the driving at this point - the men having supped a couple of pints!! Actually we had a nice lunch and a couple of drinks sat in the shade of the courtyard. It was so lovely to see Rebecca (formerly of the Blue Olive) and to catch up with her and daughter Charlotte and her partner Dan. We do miss them not being at the Blue Olive (which is now up for sale again).
Had the lemon drizzle pudding been available at the Brewery we might have stayed longer and had a pudding but it was not so we decided that we would makes Stan's day and stop at the Gelataria in Prodromi for an ice-cream. Apparently he has wanted to go here for days. His verdict on the ice-cream? Apparently he had died and gone to heaven!!! I don't know whether it was the end of the girls shift of they were packing up for the afternoon but the portion sizes were ENORMOUS today!
Another successful Tour but boy I am exhausted - I see a very early night coming on for me!!
Today we had the men in mind when we set off - we had decided to go and take a look around the Minthis Hills golf course and have coffee. This was originally known as Tsada golf course and in the early days was akin to playing on the moon!!! it was a rough old course with a tatty club house. There was some dispute over the building of a new club house on church land and so for a while it resided in a sort of portacabin affair! We hadn't been here for years, as I said although John would love to play time and finances just don't allow unfortunately but some months ago we had occasion to pass nearby and so we popped in and were gobsmacked by the transformation. It is beautiful and beautifully kept but they are building and building and building all around so one hopes that it does not become over developed.
We chose a comfy seat on the shaded terrace over looking the course to take our coffee. If you are planning to go then actually it is really quite reasonable if you take into consideration the service and surroundings. Jackie had a specialist tea and Stan, John, Janet and I had an Americano coffee with extra water as it was a little strong and so ended up having two large cups each - for which we paid €19.50 - 4 euros each for the coffees and 3.50 for the tea which is a even cheaper that up at the hotel.After a while the boys got itchy feet and went off to explore and to check out pricing and get a ball for Stan's collection. Stan was well impressed and he said that when his lottery numbers come up he will definitely be back for a round - we said that if they came up well enough he could afford to buy the place outright!
I remembered that Mum and Dad had been to a wedding here at the golf course and so I asked where the church was situated and we decided to take a drive there to have a look. The road passes through part of the course so you run the risk of being pinged by a wayward golf ball. No such issues for us today fortunately!
There is an old monastery here dedicated to St Anthony which is abandoned now and a church which is obviously only used for weddings or special occasions - unfortunately it was locked so I can't tell you what it was like inside.It is a pretty little place - I can imagine that weddings there are fabulous. I know that somewhere around the golf course there is a nice walk which I am going to check out for one of our discover days. There was a memorial to a Saint Barnabas but I couldn't find any record of him to be able to give you any history unfortunately.
We spent a little while here - taking photographs and enjoying a bit of cool in the shade of the arches before moving on - today was going to be our 'religious' day as our next port of call was to be the Monastery at Tala - Agios Neophytos.
We had thought that we had managed to get up to the monastery previously with Janet and Hadge but apparently not so this was a new experience for John's Mum. It was so busy today with a massive tour group of Greek Orthodox from the United Arab Emirates if their t-shirts were anything to go by.
We took a walk around the grounds which are so calm and peaceful but we ladies decided to forego the pleasure of donning one of the dresses which are offered if you want to go inside the monastery itself - there was obviously a one-size fits all policy which was ok if you were about 5 foot 5 inches and 15 stone!!It was at this point that our tummies began to rumble and although we could have sat and eaten at the monastery cafe we had somewhere else in mind - the cafe today was heaving anyway - I don't think I have ever seen it so busy although there was one nice area still available for us had we changed our minds.
Our final port of call was also with the men in mind as Stan likes a cider and so we decided to call into the Aphrodite's Rock Brewery so that he could sample the ciders and John the beers and we could have a spot of lunch. When we arrived we thought our plans had been scuppered by a power cut but fortunately the kitchen is predominantly run on gas and actually after a short while power was restored. I took over the driving at this point - the men having supped a couple of pints!! Actually we had a nice lunch and a couple of drinks sat in the shade of the courtyard. It was so lovely to see Rebecca (formerly of the Blue Olive) and to catch up with her and daughter Charlotte and her partner Dan. We do miss them not being at the Blue Olive (which is now up for sale again).
Had the lemon drizzle pudding been available at the Brewery we might have stayed longer and had a pudding but it was not so we decided that we would makes Stan's day and stop at the Gelataria in Prodromi for an ice-cream. Apparently he has wanted to go here for days. His verdict on the ice-cream? Apparently he had died and gone to heaven!!! I don't know whether it was the end of the girls shift of they were packing up for the afternoon but the portion sizes were ENORMOUS today!
Another successful Tour but boy I am exhausted - I see a very early night coming on for me!!
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