Saturday - goodbye Old Mother Hubbard

I know this is late being posted but I was helping out a friend last night and didn't get home till late!

Today was going to be one of those lovely recharge your batteries sort of day - a day to get things back into some semblance of order and one to address my empty food cupboards - for goodness sake just look at those two starving bubs - not a pick on them - wasting away through lack of nourishment - NOT - even if there is nothing much in the house to eat the cats ALWAYS have plenty of food in their bowls!

We decided that we would stop and have brunch this morning en route to Papantoniou's Supermarket in Polis (a) because there was no food in the house (b) because we were a bit late getting our arses into gear (c) because we were being taken out for a meal tonight by George and Pam and (d) because you really can't beat the English breakfast they serve in Fry-Days!

We were down in Polis for the shortest time possible as it was soooooo hot and sticky.  It is at times like these I really appreciate the cooler temperatures up in Drouseia but even here today when we returned it was nearly 38 degrees - interestingly the weather station is indicating rain although there is absolutely no sign of it anywhere around just at the moment!

We enjoyed a very lazy afternoon - well I use enjoy in the very loosest sense as John put himself through the pain of listening to Sheffield United limp to a very feeble 2-2 draw against a team which they should have beaten hands down and which meant they sit 5th in the league.

All was calm in the Wiseman household until we were Lola'd!  Bassam came round with various family members to have a look at what we should do about our flat roof so that we don't have to keep treating it.  Lola LOVES houses according to her brother Rabia so she was in and out like a whirling dervish declaring that she loved the bathroom, loved the bedrooms, loved the kitchen, loved the garden in fact loved everything and wanted us to adopt her - apparently she does that at everyone's house!!!  How quickly Elena and Bassam's children are growing up - the eldest Amoura now goes to the big school down in Polis, Rabia is sporting a very grown up buzz cut and is now taller than me and Lola is just Lola and as she says herself a Super Star!

We were being taken out this evening by our lovely neighbours Pam
and George - they do this every year as a thank-you for keeping an eye on their villa and for various little jobs that we might do for them whilst they are away.  It's nothing really - just what good neighbours should do but they are grateful and we enjoy their company so going out for a meal with them is always nice.

This evening we had chosen to go to Arsinoe Fish Tavern in Polis Square which at this time of the year is always buzzing and for an evening at least we feel like we are on holiday!!!

It is a good job George booked a table because within a short period of time the place was full and people were queueing and the staff were appearing with extra seats and tables to try and accommodate the diners.

Although there are other traditional dishes on the menu people mainly come here for fish - fresh fish of the day and once it is gone it is gone!  You are taken to a tiny area to inspect the fish and decide what you want.  Pam and George opted for sea bream, John chose the king fish and I got the chubby little red snapper that is pictured above.

We began the meal with a fresh village salad and hot pitta which had been oiled and herbed and cut into strips.

The fish was then served simply grilled with an accompaniment of pilafi and orzo and chunky chips.




We were then given melon and a cake made from semolina and rose water which looks very boring and sounds very boring but was a really nice end to the meal and cleansed the palate.  We were then served a free brandy both before and after the bill was presented!!!  John and I were a bit worried because fish here is generally expensive and particularly fresh fish so we hoped that the bill wouldn't be too much as we weren't paying but we were pleasantly surprised that, including two bottles of Agios Fotios wine (I know you shouldn't drink red wine with fish but white wine gives me heartburn!) the bill was €20 a head - bargain!!!

Pam was then keen to do a little shopping to pick up some gifts for her grandchildren and had spotted That Nice Shop from the restaurant so we wandered over.

Pam single handedly boosted the shop's profits for the year as she loved everything but was limited to little things as she will need to get them back in a suitcase and poor George already has a bad back from his tumble in Pomos the other week.

George and John patiently waited outside having found a seat where they could take advantage of the little bit of breeze that had begun to pick up.

It was a lovely evening, lovely food and lovely company.