Exploring Polis...

My wish for a good night's sleep and a lie-in went unheeded as I had very strange dreams about sharing a flat with someone who had tail-less cats the size of bulldogs (I think maybe I ate too much cheese for my tea).

We were a bit at sixes and sevens about what to do today because at craft on Wednesday someone had said that this end of the island was going to be without power all day.  We are very dependent upon electricity for pumping the water, heating the cooker and running the turbo fan on the gas fire so basically without it we are buggered.  We had the presence of mind to borrow a burner from Mum and Dad and John got up early to fill flasks with hot water in readiness.

We had power so we took advantage of the electricity to catch up on TV and grab a shower but we needn't have panicked because the power was unaffected here in Droushia.

We decided to pop down into Polis to take advantage of the sunshine and to investigate some of the streets we haven't walked down before as we are not entirely sure what other shops there might be lurking in the backstreets!  This was a clever plan of John's because on a Saturday afternoon in winter in Cyprus you will be very hard pressed to find anything open at all - maybe in the tourist areas but certainly not in Polis.

We stopped off to check the post en route and it was like Christmas with about half a dozen parcels and some post - it is sooo exciting to get parcels and thanks Laura for the SIX that you have sent (we have hidden the kitty treats and toys from Minnie Mou and Chivers until Christmas).

We got down into town just before 1.00pm which meant that John's favourite shop (Glykkis DIY) was open and we were able to get some more curtain track bits and pieces as my new curtains have arrived - only trouble is they don't sell the curtain hooks so we will need to find somewhere else to buy them.  

Apparently Polis was affected by the power outage and it was going to last until 5.00pm this evening but strangely there appeared to be random shops open when you wouldn't normally expect them to be.  We found a very very nice interiors shop that was having some sort of open afternoon and was serving tea and cake and opposite we found the 'Trading Post' where the lady takes in goods and sells them on your behalf splitting the proceeds so that the seller gets 70% and the shop 30% - that had all sorts of interesting bits and pieces in it but it was quite difficult to see as the rooms were small with low ceilings and they were without power.

Although I think there was an expectation that, at the height of the ex-pat influx, Polis would follow in the footsteps of Paphos and grow to be a much more cosmopolitan town, it has remained quite untouched by large-scale development (apart from the introduction of Paps' and Orphanides' Supermarkets) and as a result retains a certain charm.  You can wander around and come across reminders of the past all over the place and at the moment the municipality looks like it is in no rush to bulldoze them.

Whilst wandering around we were invited by one of the locals to admire his very bizarre collection of insects and reptiles which were preserved in bottles and jars.  This appears to be quite common practice for snakes as our neighbour very proudly showed us a snake he had caught and killed and put in a Gin bottle.  This collection embraced all kinds of lizards, locusts, fish, turtles and snakes - he seemed very proud of them - we thought it was a bit odd and I wasn't sure if he wanted to charge me for taking a photograph so I walk away a fair bit before sneaking a quick snap - hence it isn't awfully clear.  The most bizarre thing of all was that this collection was housed in a building advertising rooms for rent - how scarey - I would be terrified that I would end up pickled in one of his bottles!!

Our walk around Polis brought us back to the square which is very pretty and much quieter now that the tourists have more or less gone although there were still quite a few in the fish taverna enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

Feeling peckish we decided to return home via the Truckers Stop and treat ourselves to a late lunch of beef gyros and a frappe.  It is so lovely to be able to sit outside in the sun and read the papers and magazines that they provide.  Not sure that the Watchtower would be my normal choice of magazine but then beggars can't be choosers as they say and you never know when you might need God on your side!

This afternoon I had a go at making some chicken liver pate - I got some chicken livers in ready for Christmas but John found a recipe in one of the freebie magazines today so we thought we would give it a go.  Having had a late lunch neither of us are currently feeling hungry so we think we might have the pate with some toast and a salad for our tea.  We are hoping the TV will behave so we can watch X Factor - that is if I can stay awake long enough!!  Minnie Mou doesn't care either way - she is already in the land of nod!!