An Evening at Fitos

It is bloomin' parky in the mornings so today we decided to have a nice warm and filling breakfast before we tackled the day.  It was John's favourite, cheesy scrambled eggs on a crumpet with a smear of Branston Sauce.  These smears are getting smaller as my treasured stock of Branston Brown Sauce becomes ever more diminished and it has absolutely disappeared from the shelves of any food shops in this neck of the woods.  It is possibly the only food item that I will not compromise on perhaps I should start a GoFundMe page but actually I really need a GoFindMe Page!

We were going to do our weekly shop today having done a quick stock check on the freezer and worked out the weekly menu.  It is Valentine's on Tuesday so we will have something nice together then.  It had been a bright start to the day but around lunchtime it began to cloud over and feel quite chilly.  The village is a ghost town save for a few hardy Brits (Rachel and Mark) out walking their rescue puppy.  They, like us, had hoped to find Marianna in her office but it was all locked up and seems to have been like this all week.  We only want to pay our water bill and get Lakis and Argy's.

In the winter we like to go and have a little treat by way of a cuppa and sticky in Coffee Island just down the road from Paps before we tackle the shopping.  I really like their Chamomile Tea and the Sesame Seed bar with Honey.  

It is a nice clean and warm place to sit.  We don't go out onto the terrace even though it is enclosed because this is the smoking area and where the old guys sit and play Tavli (backgammon) - we prefer to be inside.

It gives us an opportunity to talk over our plans for the forthcoming week, the meals we will have out and the meals we will prepare in so that we can ensure our shopping list is correct and we don't end up buying food we don't need.  It is amazing how much you can save by doing this especially as prices continue to rise.  I noticed on the way down that the price of fuel has started to creep up again.  When I filled up on Wednesday I paid €1.37 something and today it was over €1.40 something.

We did our shopping - Paps seems to be in the middle of some sort of refurbishment as they are installing new freezers and the deli counter has shrunk.  We think they had some issues after one of the storms and the freezers looked a bit ancient so it is probably not before time.  Anyway we couldn't find some of the things on our list - there seems to be areas yet to be restocked.

Driving back up the hill to Droushia I was surprised to see the bank had Giant Orchids (Barlia Robertiana) in flower.  I thought it was a bit early but apparently they flower from mid January to mid March so this is slap bang in the middle.

These orchids stand about 50cm high with a thick green stem and fleshy leaves at the base.  The flowers can range white, pale green, pale pink, pink, red and purple.  They are easily spotted unlike the bee orchids which will put in an appearance a bit later.  Sadly there is a tendency for the locals to pick them and put them on graves or have them as flowers in the house.

I am lucky enough to have a couple of orchids which flower in the garden.  I have never quite worked out how they ended up being there but guess they were introduced by a bird.  Hopefully they will put in an appearance I always get really excited when they do!

We were going out to Fitos again today.  We had arranged to meet up with Clare for an early tea and had booked our favourite table in the corner which meant we got a fabulous view of an amazing sunset - picture to follow.

After some deliberation Clare opted for the fish and chips which very sadly I have had to strike from my list of foods because although it is absolutely amazing and I love it, it doesn't love me and keeps me awake with indigestion.  I went for the beef pie which is equally as amazing.  John opted for the lamb tavvas but was a little disappointed that it was a bit fatty and not as good as the last time he had had it there.

We had a lovely evening and as I said were rewarded with a spectacular sky as the sun went down.  Looks like it is going to be another nice day tomorrow.