Day 3 - Hazel's holiday...

Today we planned a day in and around the village before going out in Kathikas for a pizza and a visit to the gin bar.

We do not let our visitors off Scot free - today Hazel was roped in to help when John was installing a bird repeller onto our neighbour's roof.  I ordered two as we have a problem with bird poo where they sit on the electric cables outside the front door and they were delivered to the UK and Hazel brought them over.  They are actually rodent repellers but Lakis has used them successfully in the UK to deter unwanted birds so we are going to give one a go.

We then went off for our bimble around the village via the community office to see Marianna and pay our water bill - which, for the past three months, was just over 30 euros so we cannot complain at that.  Marianna is to be a yia-yia (granny) around August 10th when her daughter is due to give birth to a little girl.  She is super excited as you can imagine - children are everything to Cypriots and yia-yia Marianna and Papou Savvas will spoil her rotten I am sure.  We also asked about the water pressure which has been exceptionally low.  Apparently there has been a 'blockage' probably due to the roadworks happening in the village.  Our water pressure turned out to be not just low but actually non-existent but Marianna did kindly ring me later to let me know the problem was being sorted and we would have our water back in the afternoon which we did.

We had a walk around the village on the roads which are passable on foot.  It is an old village with lots of houses falling into disrepair which could be so beautiful.  The house on the right was rendered at some point in its history but the bits that have fallen off reveal beautiful stone-work.  Sadly the inheritance laws here mean that this property could be owned by multiple owners so even if you thought you might like to buy it finding all of them and then getting them to agree is a bit of a nightmare.  I love the ones with a Juliet balcony and you have to wonder what stories they could tell if they could speak.

There is a beautiful old building in the centre of the village which used to be painted a rather nice purply-blue colour - it is now a rather garish green and it used to have a sign outside saying "please don't park under the balcony because it might collapse" - the sign has gone so we are hoping this means that the balcony has been reinforced and will not longer pose a threat.  

The ground floor was all open today and inside was Philippos's younger son Marios who is sprucing it up with a view to turning it into a coffee shop/bar - nothing that will rival the gin palace in Kathikas but at least something new and somewhere else to go in Droushia.

Inside it is a fabulous old traditional structure with bowing beams which are still standing the test of time.  Marios used to work in Petradaki so we are hopeful that he will bring some fresh blood and ideas with him.  Time will tell but I seem to think I could hear John already planting the seeds of bottled Real Ales being available!!!  You cannot blame a man for trying!!!  No idea when this is due to open but I am guessing fairly soon by the looks of things.

John went off to check the post and Hazel and I sought some shade under the vines at O Stathmos where Bambos has recently crazy paved the area.  This now makes for a very pleasant place to sit because you are no longer in danger of a wobbly table or a chair leg that disappears into the ground.  We were served by Bambos's younger son who must have been about two when we first came to this place and is now a strapping teenager.  How time flies.

We have noticed that to the side of the barbers something has changed because you can now see the remains of a village house where previously you could not.  We think maybe some trees have been cut down or part of the ceiling has fallen in - whatever has happened I took the opportunity to go in and have a nosey.  The roof which remains is fabulous - the layers of flaking paint are so colourful and the old shuttered window would make the most fantastic subject for one of my next pictures.  That colour blue is just so evocative of the Mediterranean - I love it but it takes years and years and weathering to get it to look like that.

This evening we were having a big night out in Kathikas and had decided to go in Kenny and leave him in the car park and get our local taximan Tassos to bring us home so we could all enjoy a little drinkie or two.  The atmosphere in Kathikas at night is lovely and vibrant but we should not forget the pain that village went through whilst it was being cobbled like ours is going to be and it has always had busy restaurants for as long as I can remember.  We chose to go to Imogen's and sit in the courtyard but have freshly made pizza.  Regular readers will know that pizza is not normally something I would chose but the ones which Paris makes are superb and you can order whatever toppings you like so everyone can have exactly what they want.  I have to say I reckon tonight's was the best I have ever tasted.

We finished off our evening at the gin bar where the local men had congregated to watch Olympiakos and Apoel play in their respective Champions League qualifying matches - the games were being broadcast simultaneously on large screens side by side.  By the time that Tassos came to pick us up it was only 10.00pm but we were all flagging!!!