Day 46...

Full Blog today as we are back from Emba.

You know that we went out for a meal with Mum and Dad last night and you know the reason why but I will go back a little bit and fill you in on the rest of yesterday.

We were waiting for the guy to come and replace our hot water pump and he had said if he was coming for 10.00am he would ring us otherwise to expect him at around 4.30pm.  Well we didn't hear from him so we took the opportunity to do a bit of a mega-shop down in Polis.  We started at the GB shop where our neighbour Trish works - it gave me the opportunity to catch up with her as I haven't seen her at all since we arrived. Without boring you, if you are looking for traditional English goods that you can't do without like Marmite, then this is the place to go - it stocks all sorts and at quite reasonable prices.  From there we went across town to visit Bambos the Butcher.  His sister works for the company that built our kitchen and she said we had to make ourselves known to him.  This we did and as a result he very kindly added to our meat purchase a sample of his homemade sausages! 

From the Butchers we went across the road to checkout the football stadium for ENAD Polis which is about to become John's local team!  This is next door to the supermarket Orphanides which is the one I prefer.  I think that the staff have all been on a customer satisfaction training course as they are all very chatty and very amenable.  We did the bulk of our shopping there - including getting a carrier bag full of lemons for one Euro (Sorry I know that is soooooo Ex-Pat!!!). 

From there we went across the road to Paps supermarket because it has a little coffee shop which does fantastic frappe and not only that John got the world's biggest piece of apple cake to go with his coffee!  Last stop Chilly's for some frozen bits and pieces and our mega-shop was done.  I have been asked about the cost of living here.  It isn't as cheap as it used to be thanks to the Euro but we find if you are not brand dependent and you embrace the local produce then you can actually eat quite reasonably.

Once home I decided that I would make some home-made lemonade as I had seen a recipe in the local SPLASH magazine.  The remainder are going to make a Tarte au Citron for Father's day when Mum and Dad come up and stay for the night.  A bit messy sorting out all the lemons but absolutely worth it as the lemonade is really refreshing and because the lemons are quite sweet I didnt have to use too much sugar so hopefully Mum will try some.

The 'pump' guy pitched up mid afternoon - he was lucky that we were in and he was doubly lucky that I heard him calling from outside!!!  Anyway the new pump was fitted and tested and took about 20 minutes - time will tell whether it is now sorted!!!

We then headed down to Emba for our evening out courtesy of the MCC.  On the recommendation of Hils and Keith we decided to go to a Taverna in Geroskipou which used to be called Mrs Nikki's (and was one of our favourites) and is now the Agios Spyridonas Taverna - it is a Mezedopolion which means it is a Meze house so serves a little of all sorts from the kitchen.  This is a very traditional way to eat in Cyprus but one which is fast disappearing or the quality of the Meze has deteriorated as it has become tailored to the tourist market.  However, this was superb - in fact John thinks it is the best Meze he has ever had in 20 years.  We sampled all kinds of food - beautifully presented - and served by a young boy Andreas who was charming.  We would not hestitate to recommend it - and with our favourite wine Agios Onoufrious at only 8 euros a bottle what more can we say????

Sat out having a drink last night I kept commenting on how strange the Moon looked.  Dad said it was a slow moving bank of cloud!!!  Little did we know that we were witnessing a total eclipse of the moon!!!  So onto today, which was a bit of a red letter day, as we were due at Immigration at 10.00.  I had gone over and over and over the paperwork that was required and gone absolutely belt and braces and had everything I could lay my hands on. 

We arrived early and were quite optimistic when the woman called out quite a bank of numbers up to 23 (we were numbers 40 and 41).  And then nothing.... and more nothing.... and lots of Mr Fixits jumping the queue and still nothing...  Not only did we have an appointment for 10.00 so did the world and his dog!!  Eventually we went in at 11.45am.  Fortunately my belt and braces approach worked and within about 15 minutes we were signed, sealed and delivered and given our residents paperwork!!!

From there we raced back to Emba to pick up our bag and also a workbench that Mum's neighbour Ray had kindly donated to John.  

Then we went across to Ang and Richard's in Trimathousa.  It was Richard's birthday today and he has been a bit poorly so it was good to catch up with them. 

Richard and Ang are from Keinton Mandeville and I guess you could say they are the reason why we are now here in Cyprus because 20-odd years ago they let Mum and Dad stay at their holiday home along the Tomb of the Kings Road and it was as a result of that holiday that Dad bought their place in Med Valley and the rest, as they say, is history.  They are going back to England in a couple of weeks so we are hoping they get the opportunity to come up and see us, together with their daughter Julie and grand-daughter Chloe, before they leave.

Finally back home at good old Droushia.  We now have dragonfly visitors and I love them! 

Convinced that the pump issue is resolved we put our stuff back into the 'loft' and managed to get the spare room ready for Mum and Dad to stay on Sunday. 

John built his boy-bench which we will need to stain tomorrow.  I did washing and cooking!  I had contemplated sitting in the sun for a few minutes as I really need to get my legs brown for Ellie's wedding - no such luck too much to do!!!

We have had a lovely tea, are relaxing with a glass of wine and counting our blessings that the pool man isnt pitching up at 7.00am tomorrow because he has been called to the Army!!! 

Mum is coming up with Shirley for lunch tomorrow - it is a shame the garden furniture we ordered from Winters today wont be here until Monday - still I am sure Shirley wont mind.