Cyprus Diary - 1
Wed 23/11/05
Left Sydney airport aprox 6:00pm.
Arrived Bangkok - 1hr wander around airport - Remy slept on chairs.
Arrived Heathrow, London - used MC to buy coffee, yoghurt & call home - left message. Flight delayed 2 hrs - Remy slept on chairs.
Arrived Larnaca
Thurs 24/11/05 - Met by Nefeli, Dimitri and little Nefeli. Drove through tourist nightlife of Limassol. Met Alexia and Dimitra at the house. Cramped into small lounge room next to closed off large formal dining room.
Went to Paphos
Fri 25/11/05 - Dimitri and Nefeli drove us top Dora's place. We all sat down to a beautiful lunch - kleftiko etc. Andrew and then Miriam arrived and sat with us. Visited Afroula and met her brother Andreas - my cousin - for first time - wiry Greek man - very Cypriot looking. Had fire at Dora's and fell Asleep in front of it.
Sun 27/11/05
Niko took Remy and I to Arodhes. Dropped us off at Talou and George's house. Talou really hadn't changed since the 70;s and 80's. Looks like a little old witch from Hansel and Gretel. George was really talkative and inquisitive about Aussie relos. Elou and Thrassos turned up. Lovely warm feeling from them. Thrassos took us for a walk around the village. We saw grandma's house from the outside. The stone house at the back had fallen during the late 90's earthquake. The church and a lot of other buildings had been rebuilt. We ate grapes and figs with Thrasso at his orchard. Back for a lunch of fish, lookanika, pork etc Niko turned up and took us home. That night Saki turned up with gifts for Andrew and Miriam. He made everyone laugh with his cheeky Cypriot wit.
Saturday 26/11/05
Rose early and went with Dora to meet Niko and friends at his orchard (pervoli) to pick olives with large combs. Great fun. The other people were very nice and open. Bobby was a riot - an early middle aged Cypriot woman who laughed and teased all morning - we ate lunch from the back of Niko's ute - olive and cheese and bread, tomatoes and cucumbers. We picked oranges, sweet lemons, mandarins and some carob. We borrowed Dora's car. Remy and I took off exploring Polis and Latchi. We eventually met Nikos at the mill and saw the new machinery making olives into oil. We explored some more and eventually made it back to Dora's (right at the chandelier shop). We saw papou again at the nursing home - old and a little confused - a shadow of his former self. - little glimpses of wit and charm bubbled up before we left.
Monday 28/11/05
Niko brought us to Polis. We hired a car and followed him to Souli Hotel at the far end of Latchi. We loved the apartment / large room - OK, small enough for 1.5 bed! Beautiful views of the sea - we're right on the sea. We followed him up to Neon Chorion and jumped into his ute for a jaunt up the mountain. We lit candles at Saint Minos and then went up to the top of the mountain - great views around the tip of Cyprus.
Back in the village we unsuccessfully looked for Thea Katerina at her cafe. Niko left and we walked around the village - visited the old watering fountain, the vrisi. We returned and went to Latchi for a feast of fish and kalamari - we took a stroll around the stone wharves as the sun set. Fell asleep around 7:30pm !
Tues 29/11/05
Had breakfast on the open terrace by the sea and then Rem and I jumped into the sea with our new goggles and his flippers. Later we came back up to or room, Rem did a watercolour and I roughed up a painting - Remy looking for pebbles on a pebbly beach. We took a drive up to polis to send postcards but the post office was closed (3:00pm) and so we had lunch at a tourist style cafe and played tavli on a small set we just bought. We then headed up the coast to Pachyamos which is as far up the northern coast as you can go before bumping into the Turks. The sun was setting and the road followed the sea. It looked dramatic through pour sunglasses. We ended up outside a beautifully built Byzantine style church at Pachyamos that looked brand new - even the Byzantine frescoes looked freshly painted...? We went inside and lit candles and made vague attempts to kiss icons and do our crosses - but a service was being held and amplified. We watched in a kind of embarrassed reverence until the gory detail of the frescoes made us stare in awe at heads being severed from saints by fez wearing Ottomans. We came back to the hotel and dressed up a little. We paid a visit to my cousin Bitsa who was warm and talkative and wanted to know about our Sydney cousins - she knew more about them than I did. Remy and I left a little dazed and tired. We watched TV and fell asleep.
Alky and Remy's Cyprus Diary - 2
Left Sydney airport aprox 6:00pm.
Arrived Bangkok - 1hr wander around airport - Remy slept on chairs.
Arrived Heathrow, London - used MC to buy coffee, yoghurt & call home - left message. Flight delayed 2 hrs - Remy slept on chairs.
Arrived Larnaca
Thurs 24/11/05 - Met by Nefeli, Dimitri and little Nefeli. Drove through tourist nightlife of Limassol. Met Alexia and Dimitra at the house. Cramped into small lounge room next to closed off large formal dining room.
Went to Paphos
Fri 25/11/05 - Dimitri and Nefeli drove us top Dora's place. We all sat down to a beautiful lunch - kleftiko etc. Andrew and then Miriam arrived and sat with us. Visited Afroula and met her brother Andreas - my cousin - for first time - wiry Greek man - very Cypriot looking. Had fire at Dora's and fell Asleep in front of it.
Sun 27/11/05
Niko took Remy and I to Arodhes. Dropped us off at Talou and George's house. Talou really hadn't changed since the 70;s and 80's. Looks like a little old witch from Hansel and Gretel. George was really talkative and inquisitive about Aussie relos. Elou and Thrassos turned up. Lovely warm feeling from them. Thrassos took us for a walk around the village. We saw grandma's house from the outside. The stone house at the back had fallen during the late 90's earthquake. The church and a lot of other buildings had been rebuilt. We ate grapes and figs with Thrasso at his orchard. Back for a lunch of fish, lookanika, pork etc Niko turned up and took us home. That night Saki turned up with gifts for Andrew and Miriam. He made everyone laugh with his cheeky Cypriot wit.
Saturday 26/11/05
Rose early and went with Dora to meet Niko and friends at his orchard (pervoli) to pick olives with large combs. Great fun. The other people were very nice and open. Bobby was a riot - an early middle aged Cypriot woman who laughed and teased all morning - we ate lunch from the back of Niko's ute - olive and cheese and bread, tomatoes and cucumbers. We picked oranges, sweet lemons, mandarins and some carob. We borrowed Dora's car. Remy and I took off exploring Polis and Latchi. We eventually met Nikos at the mill and saw the new machinery making olives into oil. We explored some more and eventually made it back to Dora's (right at the chandelier shop). We saw papou again at the nursing home - old and a little confused - a shadow of his former self. - little glimpses of wit and charm bubbled up before we left.
Monday 28/11/05
Niko brought us to Polis. We hired a car and followed him to Souli Hotel at the far end of Latchi. We loved the apartment / large room - OK, small enough for 1.5 bed! Beautiful views of the sea - we're right on the sea. We followed him up to Neon Chorion and jumped into his ute for a jaunt up the mountain. We lit candles at Saint Minos and then went up to the top of the mountain - great views around the tip of Cyprus.
Back in the village we unsuccessfully looked for Thea Katerina at her cafe. Niko left and we walked around the village - visited the old watering fountain, the vrisi. We returned and went to Latchi for a feast of fish and kalamari - we took a stroll around the stone wharves as the sun set. Fell asleep around 7:30pm !
Tues 29/11/05
Had breakfast on the open terrace by the sea and then Rem and I jumped into the sea with our new goggles and his flippers. Later we came back up to or room, Rem did a watercolour and I roughed up a painting - Remy looking for pebbles on a pebbly beach. We took a drive up to polis to send postcards but the post office was closed (3:00pm) and so we had lunch at a tourist style cafe and played tavli on a small set we just bought. We then headed up the coast to Pachyamos which is as far up the northern coast as you can go before bumping into the Turks. The sun was setting and the road followed the sea. It looked dramatic through pour sunglasses. We ended up outside a beautifully built Byzantine style church at Pachyamos that looked brand new - even the Byzantine frescoes looked freshly painted...? We went inside and lit candles and made vague attempts to kiss icons and do our crosses - but a service was being held and amplified. We watched in a kind of embarrassed reverence until the gory detail of the frescoes made us stare in awe at heads being severed from saints by fez wearing Ottomans. We came back to the hotel and dressed up a little. We paid a visit to my cousin Bitsa who was warm and talkative and wanted to know about our Sydney cousins - she knew more about them than I did. Remy and I left a little dazed and tired. We watched TV and fell asleep.
Alky and Remy's Cyprus Diary - 2