Tuesday - Christmas Shopping in 26 Degrees!!

As John and I had the day together today we had earmarked it as our day to do our little bit of Christmas Shopping.  We don't do much but we do something because otherwise Christmas Day is a bit of a parcel non-event!!!  We had gifts to get for each other, gifts to get for Mum and Dad and our '€5 secret gift' for the 'secret gift' parcel swap game which we will be playing.

We were up shit, shaved and showered with a big old bacon and egg pitta inside us and on the road before 10.30am!!!  En route to Paphos we encountered traffic lights just outside Kathikas.  Traffic Lights are a bit of a novelty here in Cyprus and vehicles paying attention to them is a bigger novelty.  A case in point is yesterday when we were taking Klaus and Sheila down to Oniros.  Traffic Lights had been erected our side of Fitos's Kiosk as they are resurfacing the roads in and around Kathikas.  The traffic lights were red so John, first in line, stopped as any British driver would do, the vehicles behind him however didn't so we were passed by cars and a van.  We had no idea whether or not we should go or whether the lights were simply warning us of a problem not expecting us to stop.  We will never know as we eventually ignored the lights ourselves and made our way down to Peyia noting that the lights were, in fact, red at both ends.  Today however, traffic did stop at the lights and good job too as they were there working properly i.e. controlling the flow of traffic!

On the subject of car journeys we had an interesting one on Saturday when we went through Peyia en route to Nicky and Mark's.  We followed an old white Mitsubishi Saloon car careering its way from the Peyia Tavern down to the UK shop where it managed to make a right turn.  All the time we were following it the driver, clearly drunk as a skunk, weaved all over the road at speed, hitting a metal barrier causing sparks on more than one occasion then slammed into a green wheelie bin losing his/her wing mirror before disappearing into a side road.  We were convinced that the car was going to roll, crash or both and thanked the Lord that there was no incoming traffic as there would have been carnage.

Our trip to Paphos was uneventful by comparison thank goodness except for the fact that we were stopped in Kathikas by the Police - fortunately they were just checking for car tax (which is not displayed on your windscreen over here).  As we carry all our car docs with us (as advised by Mum and Dad) we had no problem and were waved on our way and we made our way to the Euro Shop where neither of us managed to find our 'secret gift' - either that or John was telling porkies!  It was interesting in the Euro Shop as they had obviously had someone in shop lifting so there were a couple of police men in there at the time.  It is impossible to go to the Euro Shop and not buy anything so we may not have found any pressies but we still had a basket full!  We then stopped in Sports Direct where we managed to pick up a couple of 'wrap ups' - neither John nor I like this shop much - we know the goods are cheap and cheerful - it's the disinterested staff that really let the shop down.

We then went on a mission to find a Paphos Post (normally available in the Euro Shop) because John had spotted a couple of vouchers in there for the new Dynamite Shop and we were planning on heading there in time for coffee and a snack.  We eventually managed to find some in the Superhome Centre and extracted the vouchers - John is a Northerner so the chance of free coffees and 20% off our purchases was just too good an opportunity to miss!

I don't really want for anything much in terms of Christmas presents but Sheila had mentioned a book shop in Paphos which had a top floor dedicated to art supplies and it was situated opposite the Kolios Butchery and we were stopping off there for a new ten litre carton of red wine for Christmas.  I left John getting the wine and went and had a look.  I couldn't find the pastel pencils that Sheila has, in fact we couldn't find any at all and the assistant said she would have to order them in although I am not entirely sure she had any real idea about what was in stock as John managed to find a tin of what looked like pastel pencils but it wasn't a make that I was familiar with so I decided to leave it.

We took a spin around Debenhams - which is not somewhere I go often but at least you can rely on the clothing sizes here.  Mum has set me a challenge to try and find a top to go with a pair of trousers she has bought - they are from Marks and Spencer with a fine orange and olive green check so something plain on top is required - I actually think the choice in the Debenhams down in Kato Paphos is better and there is that other shop which replaced Peacocks opposite but we weren't going down that far today.  From here we took our lives in our hands and crossed the dual carriageway to take a mooch in Pop-Life which is such an Aladdin's cave of 'stuff' - I so wouldn't want to have to do a stock check in that shop!! 

Clutching our vouchers - don't forget we are pensioners after all - we went back up the road to the new Dynamite shop which Mum and I found on Thursday.  John had to admit that it is a nice shop but if you are walking up and down the stairs rather than using the lift then you have to watch out as the black tiles and subdued lighting can make it difficult to see where the edge of the step is.  The coffee shop is very nice and we were only peckish so opted for a ham and cheese toasty at the princely sum of €2 each!!  My caramel latte and John's double black coffee were free of charge and we were told to keep hold of the voucher until it runs out at the end of January - BARGAIN!!!  

We then took a good look round the shop bumping into Hilary's Mum Eileen and Nicky's Mum Liz who were indulging in some retail therapy.  They didn't have a voucher so John gave them ours as we had another in the car anyway!  We had a good look round the eight floors - did we buy anything?  did we find a top to go with Mum's trousers?  I can't tell you at this stage - let's just say our 20% off everything Voucher came in quite handy!!

Having got our Christmas Shopping sorted we decided to make our way back home.  Mum was playing pickleball so we decided not to swing by Emba as Dad would probably be having a snooze.  We wanted to get a key cut and drove through Chloraka but the DIY shop where they do key cutting was closed so we decided that we would check out the Green Hills lounge bar in Peyia on our way home and as we were passing through Kissonerga John wanted to take a look in the Cotton Traders shop as he likes the Polo shirts in there - for which we have to thank Mum as she has bought him several for Christmas, Birthdays etc.  Did we buy anything - can't tell you I'm afraid as walls have ears!!!

So here is John in the Green Hills lounge bar in Peyia.  When we arrived we were the only ones there so got prime seats which took advantage of the absolutely stunning views.  We only stopped for a drink but took a look at the menus to check them out.  We started a bit of a trend because shortly after we arrived several others arrived and we realised that this is obviously a place to go to see a stunning sunset.

We have had a lovely day - it just goes to prove that we can spend the day together without falling out!!!  Our Christmas present shopping for here is done - we still have stuff to do for family and friends in the UK although not that much to be fair as we cut it right down before we left because it is difficult when we are so far apart.