A Jolly Day Out...

So we were having a jolly day out with our friends Helen and Pete today.  Helen and I have known each other since we were 16 and worked together on the top floor of Boots as Saturday girls and then we moved in next door to them in Glenthorne Avenue about 1991 we think and John and Pete played football together.

They had two children Kelly and Chris and so we socialised a little but not that much as I recall because our lives were different but we remained friends through several house moves that separated us further and further - we have moved several thousand miles and still can't shake them off!!!!  Seriously though we realised today that we must have had a really good friendship - not having seen them now for several years it just felt like yesterday - we talked and talked and laughed and reminisced and the hours flew by.

It is March 1st and for the Cypriots they consider this to be the first day of Spring - if March is
anything like February we are going to be in for a long hot summer.  We just wanted today to be fine as rain and storms had been forecast.  The rain came in the night last night and stayed away for the remainder of the day thank goodness.

John went down to pick up the Garveys and when they arrived they had the obligatory tour of the house which to be fair doesn't take long - they made all the satisfying appreciative noises and Helen said that even though she had seen the photographs on the blog it exceeded her expectations which was fabulous to hear and remembering that she and I had such very different tastes (Helen minimalist and me cluttered) I was particularly chuffed that she liked the 'living' area because it is 'built for comfort' as they say rather than to grace the covers of a magazine.  John always reminds me that 'it is what it is' but that doesn't stop me hoping that we are making 'what it is' as nice as possible.

We decided to take a trip down to Polis and Latchi - we just had a quick spin around Polis and then parked up at La Plage for a walk to the harbour.

To say it was blowing a gale would be an understatement - we had no idea it was that windy when we had been sitting up on our roof terrace!  Still the sand laden skies meant that the temperature was still reasonable but we decided that we would probably be best to sit indoors to have a spot of lunch otherwise we could end up chasing our baguettes across the marina!!!

We slow walked to Molos taking in the views and stopping for the obligatory photograph by the old boat that is rotting away by the footpath!  It probably never thought it would be come a tourist attraction when it first set sail but nowadays the Spiridon is more famous for being unseaworthy than it ever was before.

Around by the boats it was quite a hive of activity - the good weather has got people getting their vessels ready - some of the tourists boats are up out of the water being refurbished so if you want to see what the bottom of the glass bottomed boat is actually like now is your chance.

It was too cold and windy on the harbour side to sit outside and eat our meal and the front of Molos had all the Scrabble players there and the only table in the sun seemed to have an aroma of drains nearby so we decided not to stay there but to go inside which was probably sensible.

We later regretted our choice of baguette lunch as this was followed a few hours later by one of Finnikas's meze but it seemed like a good idea at the time and we all enjoyed what we had.  We did feel a bit guilty that Helen and Pete were missing out on one of their meals at the hotel today but they weren't bothered and were glad that we were able to spend the time together - can't believe that they only have tomorrow as their last full day and then they will be returning home on Friday - I think Helen now wishes she had booked for two weeks instead of one but they are only here by virtue of the fact that their daughter is at home when they would normally be on Yia-Yia duty.

We decided to walk from Molos round the far side of the harbour for a bit of fresh air and to work off our lunches and to see what the fisherman were catching.  It was so sheltered that side of the harbour that we were really hot by the time we got to the far end (or at least as far as you can currently do as it seems to be being extended).  The fisherman there had caught a European Barracuda (Sphyraena Sphyraena) and was busy telling John all about it - John has fished on several occasions from here and caught nothing more than a tiny little fish!!!  This specimen was destined for the kitchen.

We returned home via the Bandstand so that we could try and get a view of Lara Bay which we had visited with Pete and Helen on their last visit.  It was much clearer but still not really clear enough to get a good view but the spot where we stopped yielded an extra bonus as it was full of all sorts of wild flowers including a different kind of bee orchid.

After a rest and a cuppa we changed and started our big night out in Droushia with drinks at the Droushia Heights Hotel - Helen and Pete remember the old one as they visited it when they stayed at our house.

Our evening meal was at Finnikas as we wanted Helen and Pete to experience a really traditional home cooked Cypriot meal.  We were not disappointed as they absolutely loved it except there was far too much and we really shouldn't have had lunch out.  Both Pete and I were groaning all the way back to Paphos that we had eaten too much and Pete even declined a drink when we returned them to their hotel saying he had no room left!!!

It was a brilliant day - we shall try and catch them before they return on Friday.