In the Old Town with Dip...

We had a day down in Paphos today as we had arranged to meet Dip and have lunch before he returns to the UK tomorrow.  As we always do we had saved up several things we needed to do down there and were getting them sorted whilst we were there.  John had ordered a specially cut piece of marble for a project he is doing at home.  We had gone to the marble man who had done our work surfaces in the kitchen.  When we did so, nine years ago, he had a scruffy little unit on the industrial estate with a pokey and dirty reception area where all the samples were haphazardly stuck to a board on the wall.  It was, what I think you would term, functional but that was all and so uninspiring that I never bothered to take a photograph!!!  OMG look at the inside now!!!!  Outside looks exactly the same so nothing prepared me for the ultra modern show rooms inside!!!  Slightly irritating that the piece wasn't ready although they promised we could pick it up on our way home and even more irritating is that John stood on it at home and it cracked in half so we will need to go back and get another!!!

We parked in the 'sunken' car-park and walked up past the old Turkish baths (Hammam) which used to house a cafe but that has gone and they just seemed to be locked up.

At road level the building opposite caught our eye not least for its state of disrepair - the first and second floors must have had balconies in a previous life which are now missing so there are doors to nowhere!!!  those floors are derelict and deteriorating - not sure that I would want to be in the barbers or the opticians below if the upstairs were ever to fall!!!

I remember the Yeovil Historian Jack Sweet encouraging us to look up at the buildings when we were walking along to really get a feel for what the buildings used to look like before the ground floors were turned into businesses.

We took the opportunity to have a look around the Old Town which has been and is still being refurbished - what has been done is nice enough but I still prefer it when it was ramshackle and had a definite middle Eastern feel to it.  Sadly apart from the market there are very few businesses that seem to be surviving and that is a real shame.

There used to be a lovely little Tea Room called Boo-Tea-Licious that struggled to keep going through the renovations but has now closed and Rainbow's End craft shop next door to it is moving around the corner.

Opposite was a largish 'department' store which housed Zako in the basement and then Next on the ground and first floor - apparently this is also due to close which is a bit of a bugger because today on the top floor they had what appeared to be end of lines from Debenhams and John managed to find himself a nice dress shirt that actually fitted - he really has to shop in places which offer proper UK sizes.

We met with Dip and took him to a traditional old Taverna in the centre of the Old Town which has been there since 1986 and which Dad used to love called Laona.  The owner is our neighbour apparently as he and his family come from Arodes so hence the name of the Taverna as the Laona Region incorporates Inea, Arodes, Droushia, Kathikas and Kritou Terra.  I am guessing that when we used to go there years ago it would have been his father that had served us.

We then took a walk round with Dip going up to the old Kinaros Hotel with its beautiful indoor courtyard housed in a super traditional old building with fabulous ornate balconies.  We had thought we might stop there for coffee but there didn't seem to be anyone around save for someone on reception dealing with some German visitors so we decided that we would walk back through Ibrahim Khan and then show Dip where the Garden grill house is located.

Ibrahim Khan is an lovely place now that it has been renovated but there was no-one walking around so I have no idea whether it will actually survive.

We continued walking picking our way through the roadworks - they are still working on the large carpark that is situated at the back of Next until we go to the grill house which is, thankfully, still there and exactly the same and still has the same proprietors - we sat in the back and just had a drink taking advantage of the last of the sunshine.

It had been lovely to catch up with Dip - we will see him again in the autumn - he has tasked us with finding him some more 'hidden gems!.  No pressure then!!