Cyprus Diary - 2
Alky and Remy's Cyprus Diary - 1
Wed 30/11/05
SMS from Karol - dawnish. After a few SMS, Karol wanted know why I was awake - she said this response brought tears to her eyes:
"was awake listening to the sea
wash the rocks
like the breath of life.
Thoughts of you and our timeless love.
Then your sms falls from the sky
with an electro flourish
that wakes me from my
predawn wandering..."
After breakfast we played tennis - difficult for me to run - back is still sore - then we went back top our room where I did some more painting - always a struggle - an inner dialogue ever shifting.
We took our supplies for lunch and drawing, grabbed the car and headed for the mountains. The road climbed through small tight villages with spectacular views. Eventually giving way to hillsides of granite and pine - clear and misty at different turns of a winding road - like life I suppose.n We came to a place called 'Stavros tis Psokas'. A small outpost with a cafe, some military and forestry buildings and an enclosure of horned goats called 'Mouxlos'. A little further on we came across a small stone church. We found a sunny wall and spread out a lunch of smoked ham, cheese, figs, bread, tomato and cucumber. Then we brought out the watercolours and painted the church and the views until it was time to start our descent home. We stopped in at the Elias Pub and saw Bitsa. Surprisingly Uncle George, Mum's brother, was there with his wife Thespo as well as Bitsa's parents. It was a very warm reception although George wasted no time in asking whether I was OK after the beating that my mother had reportedly accused him of giving me. I tried to change the subject and showed photos of the family back home. We left after a short time as AI felt things becoming awkward. The price of unlearnt negotiation skills or conflict management have led to a divided broken family on my mother's side. Later we went to dinner at Nikandros (Bitsa's cousin) - we sat by the fire and ate fish and macaronia.
Thurs 1/12/05
After breakfast Remy and I went to our room and painted. I did an impression of the large 'palace' by the sea at the foot of Akamas and Remy did a watercolour of himself throwing / skipping stones by the water - with the aid of the camera's memory of pics I had taken that morning. He's getting quite good at both watercolours and skipping rocks. Later, Uncle Niko rang and we met him at his pervoli to see his vegie garden and plant a few celery and lettuce seedlings.
We went on a late afternoon jaunt to Saint George Church just west of Paphos. We wandered around some ruins, took photos and had a late lunch at a taverna next to the church. It was high up looking down on a beautiful 'limani' with a handful of boats while the sun was sneaking towards the horizon.
We went to see Kato Paphos and the old castle with the draw bridge style entry. It was closed so we walked around the tourist shops. I tried to buy some sunnies (for the second time) and because they had no cases I refused to buy them. We fumbled our way through the Paphos evening traffic and found Dora's place. We went to see Papou and sat with him for a while. It was sad that we had no common language. Dora and I talked about Uncle George and all the troubles he's generated. Oh well - it's obvious that no one has any need for reconciliation.
Later Rem and I walked down to see Afroula. Monica and her daughter turned up as we arrived. It was nice and Andreas and his wife were there again. We chatted and ate. Andreas poured me some of his home made wine - bloody excellent. After we left I'm sure I was a little tipsy. Dora had a few young women drop by. I was impressed by their Cypriot beauty and their fast expressive language that bubbled up like an effervescence to create images that made us all laugh. Driving home I got royally lost and after finding the right road we were immediately surrounded by the densest fog. It made driving an exercise in bravado and caution. Lucky Rem had fallen asleep and didn't witness my suppressed terror!
Fri 2/12/05
Met with Nefeli and Dimitra after breakfast at Souli Hotel. We jumped into their 4WD and went up to the village. We saw the old farmhouse, the Aloni, and then saw Yiayia's grave. Later we wen t up to see our little carob field. It was beautiful and felt rather large with excellent panoramic views to the coast and mountains. Linda rang while we were there, excellent timing, I told Remy that she was a white witch! We ate a quick lunch of tomato and haloumi back a the aloni - yes it would be good to stat there for a while with the family.
We were dropped back at Souli and played pool. I rang Uncle George and invited him for a coffee.
He was about to eat and invited us up instead. We saw him and Thespo in a nothing little flat. There was a stench of sewerage near where we parked at the rear. He wasted no time in bitching, bitching and bitching. It was a mistake to have gone and we left feeling a chapter had closed. Remy and I went out to dinner in an authentically charming but very expensive Taverna!
Alky and Remy's Cyprus Diary - 3
Wed 30/11/05
SMS from Karol - dawnish. After a few SMS, Karol wanted know why I was awake - she said this response brought tears to her eyes:
"was awake listening to the sea
wash the rocks
like the breath of life.
Thoughts of you and our timeless love.
Then your sms falls from the sky
with an electro flourish
that wakes me from my
predawn wandering..."
After breakfast we played tennis - difficult for me to run - back is still sore - then we went back top our room where I did some more painting - always a struggle - an inner dialogue ever shifting.
We took our supplies for lunch and drawing, grabbed the car and headed for the mountains. The road climbed through small tight villages with spectacular views. Eventually giving way to hillsides of granite and pine - clear and misty at different turns of a winding road - like life I suppose.n We came to a place called 'Stavros tis Psokas'. A small outpost with a cafe, some military and forestry buildings and an enclosure of horned goats called 'Mouxlos'. A little further on we came across a small stone church. We found a sunny wall and spread out a lunch of smoked ham, cheese, figs, bread, tomato and cucumber. Then we brought out the watercolours and painted the church and the views until it was time to start our descent home. We stopped in at the Elias Pub and saw Bitsa. Surprisingly Uncle George, Mum's brother, was there with his wife Thespo as well as Bitsa's parents. It was a very warm reception although George wasted no time in asking whether I was OK after the beating that my mother had reportedly accused him of giving me. I tried to change the subject and showed photos of the family back home. We left after a short time as AI felt things becoming awkward. The price of unlearnt negotiation skills or conflict management have led to a divided broken family on my mother's side. Later we went to dinner at Nikandros (Bitsa's cousin) - we sat by the fire and ate fish and macaronia.
Thurs 1/12/05
After breakfast Remy and I went to our room and painted. I did an impression of the large 'palace' by the sea at the foot of Akamas and Remy did a watercolour of himself throwing / skipping stones by the water - with the aid of the camera's memory of pics I had taken that morning. He's getting quite good at both watercolours and skipping rocks. Later, Uncle Niko rang and we met him at his pervoli to see his vegie garden and plant a few celery and lettuce seedlings.
We went on a late afternoon jaunt to Saint George Church just west of Paphos. We wandered around some ruins, took photos and had a late lunch at a taverna next to the church. It was high up looking down on a beautiful 'limani' with a handful of boats while the sun was sneaking towards the horizon.
We went to see Kato Paphos and the old castle with the draw bridge style entry. It was closed so we walked around the tourist shops. I tried to buy some sunnies (for the second time) and because they had no cases I refused to buy them. We fumbled our way through the Paphos evening traffic and found Dora's place. We went to see Papou and sat with him for a while. It was sad that we had no common language. Dora and I talked about Uncle George and all the troubles he's generated. Oh well - it's obvious that no one has any need for reconciliation.
Later Rem and I walked down to see Afroula. Monica and her daughter turned up as we arrived. It was nice and Andreas and his wife were there again. We chatted and ate. Andreas poured me some of his home made wine - bloody excellent. After we left I'm sure I was a little tipsy. Dora had a few young women drop by. I was impressed by their Cypriot beauty and their fast expressive language that bubbled up like an effervescence to create images that made us all laugh. Driving home I got royally lost and after finding the right road we were immediately surrounded by the densest fog. It made driving an exercise in bravado and caution. Lucky Rem had fallen asleep and didn't witness my suppressed terror!
Fri 2/12/05
Met with Nefeli and Dimitra after breakfast at Souli Hotel. We jumped into their 4WD and went up to the village. We saw the old farmhouse, the Aloni, and then saw Yiayia's grave. Later we wen t up to see our little carob field. It was beautiful and felt rather large with excellent panoramic views to the coast and mountains. Linda rang while we were there, excellent timing, I told Remy that she was a white witch! We ate a quick lunch of tomato and haloumi back a the aloni - yes it would be good to stat there for a while with the family.
We were dropped back at Souli and played pool. I rang Uncle George and invited him for a coffee.
He was about to eat and invited us up instead. We saw him and Thespo in a nothing little flat. There was a stench of sewerage near where we parked at the rear. He wasted no time in bitching, bitching and bitching. It was a mistake to have gone and we left feeling a chapter had closed. Remy and I went out to dinner in an authentically charming but very expensive Taverna!
Alky and Remy's Cyprus Diary - 3