A Trip to Old Town

Today we had decided to take the Clan down to Paphos Old Town to revisit the market area which has changed beyond all recognition since we first started visiting.  Indeed John and I got quite disorientated trying to find places that we would have recognised like John and Roula's linen shop.  The shop is actually still there but no longer run by John and Roula and now selling clothes.  The new proprietor told us that Roula is working at Alpha Mega.  Covid forced her and John to close their business which had been a feature of the market for years.

Even though we didn't really want anything in the market it was interesting walking around the streets looking at the buildings which have been renovated.  It has obviously become a cafe culture hotspot and is far removed from the warren of dusty old buildings and streets it used to be however some of the old traditional workshops and businesses have long disappeared sadly.

We wandered up a street which used to house a scruffy little shoe shop with bargain shoes and which I used on many an occasion.  That too has gone and the bigger smarter one a couple of doors down has now been turned into a taverna.  The shoe shop must have covered over all the original features of the building which have now been exposed and so it is a charming and interesting place just to wander around.  The owner came and chatted and made us welcome and we stayed for coffee.

We were having a takeaway this evening, Thai from the Farmyard, but we needed a little something to tide us over and we found a tiny little traditional establishment which sold nothing more than loukmades and koupes.  We decided to introduce the Clan to the delights of koupes - meat ones which were cooked fresh and served as above - a sort of Cypriot equivalent of a hot Cornish Pasty in a bag,  They were absolutely delicious and only 2 euros each so a nice, cheap, tasty and different snack.

We did a quick nip into the Mall to have a final run around Jumbos where Jackie and Janet were thrilled to see that they were beginning to put their Christmas decorations on display - they had told me later in October so this was a nice surprise.

We returned home and John settled to watch the Blades on TV.  The less said about this game the better, not only did they lose having put on a miserably mediocre display but Chris Bassham broke his leg - it was an horendous freak accident which left him with his foot dangling at an unnatural angle and which has, more than likely, ended his career.

I went off to pick up the takeaway.  We were eating it at the Corner House and it was warm enough to sit outside.  We are keen that the Clan do that as much as possible whilst they still can because once they return on Wednesday they sure as hell wont be doing it back in the UK.

We had the presentation of the Annual Droushia Golf Challenge - this year John was the victor - he was somewhat surprised not having played golf since he last played with Stan last year.

The takeaway from the Farmyard went down really well and it is good to see everyone finding something that they like.  Fortunately Jackie seems to make a note of the places we eat and what we eat so they can refer back when they come back which is a brilliant idea.