Kronia Polla Philippos!!!

We went off down to Polis early this morning because we had to go and collect Hadgie Bear (explanation will follow).

It is another fine bright and hot day and we only wanted to be out briefly but as we travelled along just by the turning for the Evgenios Hills we encountered a traffic jam and to be fair these are quite rare in our neck of the woods and normally caused by goats crossing.  We couldn't see what was occurring so just had to sit and wait hoping that we weren't upended by a boy racer careering down the hill towards Latchi.  Fortunately we weren't!!!  

It was really too hot to be sat in the car hanging around so it was with some relief that we moved off quite quickly.

The reason for the stoppage was soon revealed - in their infinite wisdom the roads department are resurfacing this one which will be nice when it is finished but it only appears to be a small stretch and when you consider that just a little further up the road it is falling away and will cause a major catastrophe if not dealt with correctly (rather than just have the ropey bit filled with sand as they seem to have done thus far) you can only wonder why this is happening here and now?

The tarmac has been laid on one side and was being rollered as we went by - the other side of the road has been scarified in readiness - we decided that we would be better returning home cross country to avoid this as inevitably some of the stray hot tar ends up in the tyres or on the bodywork.

We parked up and walked into Polis Square - amost being run over by Di and Rob who were down in town too.  Poor Bobby had been to the clinic for a fasting Cholesterol test this morning and had come off second best - its probably the heat but at least his 'wobble' happened in the best place if he was going to have one.  We were both a bit concerned but he seemed ok when we chatted to him through the car window.  They were off to top up sugar levels with a cake and I wanted to go and have a little look round the Blue Oyster Gift Shop if it was open which it was and we were going to pick up the memory bear which Chrissy had made for John's Mum out of one of Hadge's shirts and some really awkward red sequinned material which we had hoped she might turn into a waistcoat and bow tie - which she did!!!

The gift shop was open and I was looking for inspiration because I want to buy something to go in John's Mum's Summerhouse/Gin Palace which will be a little bit of Cyprus back in the UK - I saw a couple of things so nearer the time of her visit I will go back and revisit.

Mr Hadgie-Bear is superb - he will keep Mr Ron Bear company until Janet comes over.  He is resplendent in his waistcoat and bow-tie and Chrissy has used the shirt material we gave her and supplemented it with some nice black and white as a contrast for his nose, ears and paws.  She really has worked wonders and I know that he will be loved and treasured and that a few tears will be shed when we hand him over.  It is a lovely way to remember somebody and I must thank Laura Pamment for planting the seeds for our memory bears when she showed us the picture of the one she had made from the pyjamas of her late grandfather.

We had a quiet afternoon because this evening we had been invited to help celebrate Philippos' (Finikas) 65th birthday at the taverna.  He had invited Di and Rob but they couldn't make it which was a shame and we would have enjoyed sharing the experience with them so we suspected that along with 'Mukhtar' Chris we would be the only other Brits there but having been invited we thought it was important to go even if that was the case.  We always said to one another that we would do these things because we wanted to be accepted by the village and known by people who lived here.

We walked down through the village taking in the fabulous view across the bay as the sun was setting.  We had anticipated that even though we had been asked to be there at 8.00pm we could still be sitting there at midnight without having had anything to eat but Philippos had it all in hand and the kleftiko and souvla was well on its way.  We think the fact that he had his grandchildren there meant we were able to eat a little earlier than might otherwise have been the case.

Well as it turns out we had a fabulous night - Philippos's daughter in law (who we had not met before) decided to keep us company and sat with us whilst we ate and his son Marios ensured we were never without a drink.  The food kept coming and coming, fresh and hot and delicious and we really enjoyed it - we even sampled the snails to keep the locals happy and amused but will not be rushing to have them again!!!  We were made to feel very very welcome by everyone that turned up.  You can probably see that I am the only woman on the 'mens table' but not even that seemed to matter.

People came and went - everyone introduced to the two mad 'Inglese' people eating snails and drinking zivania and through it all Philippos smiled and smiled and smiled.  Apparently they continued to party until 2.00am by which time according to Philippos there was some pretty raucous singing and dancing going on but John and I slipped away around 10.00pm.  I shall be back there again tomorrow for Ladies Lunch - I do hope that (a) they haven't forgotten and (b) wont be nursing hangovers!!