John has been desperate to take his mum and Hadge to the races even though it is in Nicosia and at this time of the year it was going to be HOT but we had set aside today to go and go we would. To begin with we were unable to find the scrappy bit of paper with the directions which we had used about four years ago but after turning the place upside down we found them . We seemed to remember that they were a bit sketchy finishing at the Honda garage because the guy that provided them hadn't gone any further but knew that the garage was near the racecourse and we also remembered that the last time we went we managed to get channeled into the road that took you to the checkpoint and across to the North before we did a quick u-turn out of there but they were the best we could find. Of course things in Nicosia were bound to have changed in the interim but it was better to have something rather than nothing as otherwise things were likely to get a bit fraught in the heat!
We started our day with a brunch at Fry-Days in Polis - getting there just before 11.00am to secure our bargain breakfast for €3.50 which was a good start to the day and meant that we didn't need to panic about trying to find somewhere in Nicosia for lunch on a Sunday. We remembered that there were various eateries at the course and that they hadn't seemed too expensive when we were there last.
With full tummies we set off - with the temperature in the car outside our house in Drouseia showing 38 degrees we knew we were in for a hot old day but we were prepared!
We had decided to take our time and do a little sightseeing first - we went past areas or countryside which had been devastated by the fires last weekend. Can you believe that they were started on purpose by a youth who then went back a few days later to start some more and was caught red handed and then sang like a canary and implicated his mate? By the sounds of things he is a pyromaniac who 'like to watch things burn' well he did that all right and caused such awful devastation to flora and fauna. Thank goodness people's homes were not affected and that he has been caught.
On a more positive note we then took the old coast road as far as the Rocks of Aphrodite as we had not shown Janet and Hadge that view before. I never tire of that scene and today it was as beautiful as ever. Not quite so busy now that peak holiday season is over but still plenty of people swimming the three times around the rocks to achieve eternal youth or find their true love or whatever it is that swimming three times will achieve (stitch in my case!)
Clutching our trusty directions we headed off to Nicosia with the temperatures rising - fortunately the directions remained good even after four years and we found our way quite easily to the Honda garage and managed to avoid the crossing to the North instead finding the perfect parking space just outside the course which meant Hadge did not have too far to walk. We found ourselves a table right by the finishing line in the shade and with a view of the parade ring - perfect. All we had to do now was to pick ourselves some winners! This is a completely unscientific exercise in my case - I chose number one in this race because my neighbour is called Theodora and she is my friend! I did however cotton on to the fact that all the horses whose names began Hawaii were class acts and my wager on them came in twice although they were highly fancied so my return on my investment was small!
We had a great afternoon with eight winners in the first eight races - only the last two (with much bigger fields) preventing us from having a clean sweep. No begging letters please as our €2 omni bets only netted small returns ranging from €3.40 to €8.00 (although Hadge fared much better with his on the nose bet in the fourth race!) We calculated that at the end of the day it had probably only cost us about €10 each for a full day's entertainment.
If you are interested then parking, entrance and a racing card are free. The racing is on an all-weather course and they run anti-clockwise! The first race started at 4.00pm and there are ten races - the last of which was supposed to finish at just after 8.00pm but what with one thing or another it didn't run until more like 8.30pm - the later races are floodlit. Betting is unlike in the UK with no on-course bookmakers apparently, I have it on good authority it is more like the Tote (if you know what that means!!!).
We found a great little stand selling freshly cooked Koupes at a reasonable price and they only charged 80 cents for bottles of water. There are bars and other eating establishments but we didn't need them. It is a nice little course and has everything you need for a good day out if you like horse racing which we all do.
It was a long day - made longer when we got caught up in traffic which was heading for the big football match at the stadium we have to pass to get on the road to Limassol - Cyprus were playing Belgium and lost 1-0 apparently.
I have to apologise to all our lovely Nicosian friends for not letting them know we were going to be in their neighbourhood - we just wouldn't have time to see you all for a coffee. But I PROMISE that we will come and we will join you soon xxx
We started our day with a brunch at Fry-Days in Polis - getting there just before 11.00am to secure our bargain breakfast for €3.50 which was a good start to the day and meant that we didn't need to panic about trying to find somewhere in Nicosia for lunch on a Sunday. We remembered that there were various eateries at the course and that they hadn't seemed too expensive when we were there last.
With full tummies we set off - with the temperature in the car outside our house in Drouseia showing 38 degrees we knew we were in for a hot old day but we were prepared!
We had decided to take our time and do a little sightseeing first - we went past areas or countryside which had been devastated by the fires last weekend. Can you believe that they were started on purpose by a youth who then went back a few days later to start some more and was caught red handed and then sang like a canary and implicated his mate? By the sounds of things he is a pyromaniac who 'like to watch things burn' well he did that all right and caused such awful devastation to flora and fauna. Thank goodness people's homes were not affected and that he has been caught.
On a more positive note we then took the old coast road as far as the Rocks of Aphrodite as we had not shown Janet and Hadge that view before. I never tire of that scene and today it was as beautiful as ever. Not quite so busy now that peak holiday season is over but still plenty of people swimming the three times around the rocks to achieve eternal youth or find their true love or whatever it is that swimming three times will achieve (stitch in my case!)
Clutching our trusty directions we headed off to Nicosia with the temperatures rising - fortunately the directions remained good even after four years and we found our way quite easily to the Honda garage and managed to avoid the crossing to the North instead finding the perfect parking space just outside the course which meant Hadge did not have too far to walk. We found ourselves a table right by the finishing line in the shade and with a view of the parade ring - perfect. All we had to do now was to pick ourselves some winners! This is a completely unscientific exercise in my case - I chose number one in this race because my neighbour is called Theodora and she is my friend! I did however cotton on to the fact that all the horses whose names began Hawaii were class acts and my wager on them came in twice although they were highly fancied so my return on my investment was small!
We had a great afternoon with eight winners in the first eight races - only the last two (with much bigger fields) preventing us from having a clean sweep. No begging letters please as our €2 omni bets only netted small returns ranging from €3.40 to €8.00 (although Hadge fared much better with his on the nose bet in the fourth race!) We calculated that at the end of the day it had probably only cost us about €10 each for a full day's entertainment.
We found a great little stand selling freshly cooked Koupes at a reasonable price and they only charged 80 cents for bottles of water. There are bars and other eating establishments but we didn't need them. It is a nice little course and has everything you need for a good day out if you like horse racing which we all do.
It was a long day - made longer when we got caught up in traffic which was heading for the big football match at the stadium we have to pass to get on the road to Limassol - Cyprus were playing Belgium and lost 1-0 apparently.
I have to apologise to all our lovely Nicosian friends for not letting them know we were going to be in their neighbourhood - we just wouldn't have time to see you all for a coffee. But I PROMISE that we will come and we will join you soon xxx
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